Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professionaldarts player.

Newton's first PDC major was the2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 toMark Thomson in the last 32.^[2] He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Open in 2003 and 2004 and reached the first final of his career at the Golden Harvest North American Cup, but lost 4–0 toJohn Part.^[3] Newton qualified for the2004 Las Vegas Desert Classic and was beaten 2–1 byWayne Mardle in the first round.^[4] HisWorld Championship debut came in2005 when he lost 3–0 toGerry Convery in the second round.^[5] His first semi-final in a major event was at the2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic where he knocked outGeorge Walls,Mark Walsh and Ray Carver, before losing 4–0 toPhil Taylor.^[6] Newton suffered a broken collarbone by slipping in the shower shortly after the event which kept him out of action for three months but returned to play in his firstWorld Grand Prix, losing 3–0 in the second round toColin Lloyd.^[7][8]

His second attempt in theWorld Championship ended with a second round 4–3 defeat toKevin Painter.^[9] He reached the semi-finals of theLas Vegas Desert Classic for the second successive year but was denied a place in the final asJohn Part beat him 4–2.^[10] Newton's form saw him make his debut in theWorld Matchplay but he could only average 82.38 as Part comfortably beat him 10–2.^[11]

Newton lost in the second round of the World Championship again in2007 this time 4–2 againstColin Osborne.^[12] In June, at a Players Championship event atHayling Island he reached his first final on thePDC Pro Tour but was whitewashed 3–0 byTerry Jenkins.^[13] He couldn't translate his form into the major events, however, as he only reached the last 16 once which came inLas Vegas where he lost 8–7 to Jenkins.^[14]

Newton suffered a 3–0 first round exit in the2008 World Championship to qualifierJamie Caven.^[15] He won the Wildcard Qualifier for the2008 Grand Slam of Darts, beatingColin McGarry in the final. He was drawn into Group F withTerry Jenkins, Colin Lloyd and AmericanDarin Young where Newton defeated Lloyd and Young in his first two games to stand a great chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. However, Newton would go on to lose to Jenkins 0–5 and Young beat Lloyd to pip him to second place and knock Newton out.

Newton entered the2009 PDC World Championship as the number 31 seed and defeatedDenmark'sPer Laursen in the first round, before falling toRaymond van Barneveld in round two. After the tournament, he fell outside the top 32 on thePDC Order of Merit, eventually dropping as low as 36th. Newton won the WDF-rankedLas Vegas Open on 25 January 2009.

Newton made the second round of the 2010 World Championship after defeatingJarkko Komula in the first round 3–0. However, he came up against an in-formAdrian Lewis in the second round, falling to a 2–4 defeat.On the weekend of 7/8 November 2010, Newton won two Players Championship tournaments in the same weekend, only the fifth player to do so. This followed qualifying for the Grand Slam of Darts on the evening of 6 November. As a result of his double win, Newton broke into the top 16 in the Order of Merit for the first time in his career. At the Grand Slam, he was knocked out in the group stage after defeatingMichael van Gerwen and losing toTed Hankey and Phil Taylor.

Newton continued his progress at the 2011 World Championship, defeating Darin Young,Brendan Dolan andMensur Suljović on the way to the quarter-finals. He then led Terry Jenkins 4–3 in his quarter-final, before Jenkins fought back to win 5–4. In March 2011, Newton moved into the top eight of the PDC Order of Merit, following a win in a Pro Tour event in Crawley.^[16]

At the 2011UK Open, Newton progressed to his first televised final. On the way to the final, he beatJohn Henderson, Michael van Gerwen,Raymond van Barneveld,Dave Chisnall andDenis Ovens, but succumbed to James Wade losing 8–11.^[17] As a result of his run to the final, he qualified for the2011 Grand Slam of Darts by right.^[18] After the UK Open, it was announced that Newton had appointed three-time world finalistPeter Manley as his manager.^[19]

At the 2011World Matchplay, Newton beatAndy Smith in the first round 10–2, making it past the first round for the first time in the tournament. Newton then beatJustin Pipe 13–8 in the second round, hitting a 9-darter, before losing 5–16 to Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals.

Newton breezed through the first round of the2012 World Championship by whitewashing Kurt van de Rijck 3–0 and playedJustin Pipe in the last 32.^[20] He won the first two sets but then seemed to become distracted by Pipe's slow style and lost the next three. Newton managed to take the match into a deciding set but could not break Pipe's throw and lost 3–4.^[21]

At the firstUK Open qualifier in February, Newton beatKim Huybrechts 6–3 in the final to receive £6,000. He also beat Kevin Dowling,Andy Brown,Robert Thornton,Jerry Hendriks andRichie Howson on the way to the final.^[22] He also won theeighth qualifier three months later with a 6–2 victory overJustin Pipe in the final.^[23] In theUK Open itself he lost to eventual winnerRobert Thornton in the quarter-finals.^[24] At theWorld Matchplay, Newton beatJames Hubbard 10–5 in the first round,^[25] before throwing the first televisednine-dart finish of his career in the 11th leg of his last 16 match againstJustin Pipe. However, despite being 9–7 up in the game, he went on to lose 10–13.^[1]

Newton reached his second PDC major final in September'sEuropean Championship inMülheim, Germany.^[26] He beatTomas Seyler,Kevin Painter and thenAndy Hamilton in the quarter-finals to face his room-mateBrendan Dolan in the semis.^[27] Newton produced a superb comeback to take five successive legs from 6–9 to down to triumph 11–9, before losing toSimon Whitlock 5–11 in the final.^[26] At theWorld Grand Prix, he was a dart away from exiting the tournament in the first round toRonnie Baxter, but his opponent missed and Newton went on to win 2–1 in sets, before beatingIan White 3–1 in the last 16.^[28][29] He once again produced a comeback in his quarter-final againstPaul Nicholson, as he took the match 3–2, despite being 0–2 down.^[30] In his semi-final againstMichael van Gerwen, Newton was heavily out-scored in a 1–5 defeat.^[31] Newton qualified fromGroup 1 of theChampionship League with a 6–3 victory againstAdrian Lewis, in a group that contained the top eight players in the Order of Merit.^[32] However, he finished 7th in theWinners Group, winning just two of his seven matches.^[33] Newton topped Group G in theGrand Slam of Darts with wins overMartin Phillips,Wesley Harms andTerry Jenkins to face BDO playerChristian Kist in the last 16.^[34] Newton trailed 3–7, but came back to tie the match at 9–9, before failing to hold his throw to claim the win.^[35] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Newton finished seventh on the Order of Merit to qualify for thePlayers Championship Finals where he lost toGary Anderson 4–6 in the first round.^[36][37]

Newton dropped just one set as he cruised into the quarter-finals of the2013 World Championship.^[38] He faced third seedJames Wade and won the first two sets before losing the next four, which included four missed darts to lead 3–1. Newton produced a fightback to level the match but missed two darts to hold throw in the third leg of the deciding set and lost the next leg to exit the tournament.^[39] By reaching the final of the European Championship last year, Newton qualified for thePremier League for the first time.^[40] He could only win two matches out of his first eight and went into week nine knowing he needed to beatAndy Hamilton in order to avoid relegation.^[41][42] Newton lost the match 7–5 and blamed his scoring throughout the season as the reason for his early exit.^[43]

Newton won his first European Tour title in April, theEuropean Darts Trophy inSindelfingen,Germany, by defeatingPaul Nicholson 6–5 in the final. Newton described it as the best win of his career after the match.^[44] A tough draw at theUK Open saw him beatSimon Whitlock 9–4 in the third round, before meetingAdrian Lewis.^[45] Newton threw a nine-darter to level the game at 4–4 and the match went into a last leg decider with Newton missing three darts to win, before Lewis stepped in to triumph 9–8. Both players averaged over 100 during the game.^[46] He reached the final of the fifthPlayers Championship by beatingMichael van Gerwen 6–4 in the semi-finals, but lost 6–1 toPeter Wright.^[47] He was beaten 6–4 byJelle Klaasen in the first round of theEuropean Championship and squandered 5–2 and 7–4 leads overJamie Caven in the opening round of theWorld Matchplay to lose 10–8.^[48][49]Newton advanced to theWinners Group of theChampionship League by winningGroup 3 with a 6–4 success overDave Chisnall.^[50] He qualified for the play-offs by finishing fourth in the table before losing 6–1 toPhil Taylor.^[51] Newton lost 9–4 to Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals of thePlayers Championship Finals.^[52]

Newton reached the quarter-finals of theWorld Championship once more and missed two darts to take a 4–2 lead overPeter Wright. The match went into a deciding set with Newton losing it 5–3 in legs to bow out of the event via a 5–4 defeat in the quarter-finals for the third time in four years.^[53] In thePremier League, Newton won two out of his first three games, but couldn't win any of his next six to be eliminated after week nine for the second year in a row.^[54] Newton had a poor season by his standards as he failed to win a PDC tournament for the first time since 2007. He did beatRonnie Baxter andPaul Nicholson at theWorld Matchplay, before losing 16–6 toPhil Taylor in the quarter-finals, but then suffered first round exits in theWorld Grand Prix,European Championship and theMasters and could not qualify for theGrand Slam for the first time in five years.^[55] His season did finish on a positive note at thePlayers Championship Finals when he knocked outJustin Pipe 6–1,Brendan Dolan andTerry Jenkins both 10–5, before succumbing to an 11–6 defeat againstAdrian Lewis in the semi-finals.^[56]

Newton lost the first two sets against qualifierCristo Reyes in the opening round of the2015 World Championship, but rallied to level at 2–2. The deciding set went to a sudden-death leg which Reyes won to produce a result referred to as one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history.^[57] However, there was controversy after the final leg had to be restarted due to confusion over whether the players had to throw for the bull beforehand or go straight in. Both players were visibly irritated by the mistake and Newton posted a series of angryTwitter messages after the match, although he accepted that Reyes deserved to win.^[58] Newton dropped to world number 16 after the event and didn't get a wildcard for thePremier League which meant he missed out of the event for the first time since 2012.^[59] After failing to get beyond the last 16 in any event he was ranked 22nd in the world in July to miss out on qualification for theWorld Matchplay for the first time since 2008.^[60] In fact he could not reach the remaining major events of 2015 after being a firm fixture in them during the previous five years. He had not reached the quarter-final stage of any PDC tournament in over a year.^[61]

In a rematch from last year, Newton drewCristo Reyes in the first round of the2016 World Championship and won the first set despite averaging just 67.31. In the fourth set Newton finished 341 in six darts to break through and went on to wrap up a 3–1 victory with an average of 77.80.^[62] In the second round he could not win a leg againstJames Wade until the third set in a 4–0 defeat.^[63] He qualified for theUK Open, but lost 6–4 toRob Cross in the second round.^[64]

In July, Newton revealed his dip in form coincided with a shoulder injury, but stated that it had felt better in the last few months. He also said his confidence and form could not get any worse.^[65] Newton fell outside the top 32 in the world rankings during 2016 and, after the UK Open, failed to qualify for any of the major events. He only reached the last 16 of two Pro Tour events throughout the year.^[66] Newton stated that if he could not qualify for the2017 World Championship it would be a disaster after he had played in the previous 12, but he failed to do so after losing 5–2 toBarrie Bates in the second round of the qualifier.^[65][67] He was the world number 59 after the event.^[68]

In August, he won the inaugural Neon Newport Masters event, in a field includingGerwyn Price, former world championRichie Burnett, and former World Championship finalistsAndy Hamilton andMark Dudbridge .^[69] In December 2017, it was confirmed that Newton would drop off the professional darts circuit after failing to retain his tour card.^[70] In 2018 he entered the PDC's Q-School qualifying event in an attempt to win back a tour card, but was unsuccessful. He is currently playing on the PDC's Challenge Tour for second-tier players.^[71]

As of March 2018 he has participated in theBritish Darts Organisation and is currently ranked world number 29.

He qualified for the2019 BDO World Darts Championship, where he lost in the preliminary round toPaul Hogan.

Newton currently resides inFleetwood, and uses the nickname The Warrior for his matches. His younger brother Dale Newton is a former professional player and they both played in the2006 World Championship.^[72] Newton's dad Colin is a high-level amateur player. With his close family all playing darts, he actually attributes his career to his cousin Leon, exclaiming "he used to visit every summer when we were little and teach me how to play, stand and throw correctly even though he was 5 years younger than me. I owe it all to him".^{[citation needed]}

Newton and his partner Stacey have two children, Fraser Wesley and Zac.^[73] In the early part of his career he juggled playing darts with his job as an accounts clerk until he turned professional in 2009.^[72][74]

He is a supporter ofFleetwood Town^{[citation needed]} andLiverpool.^{[citation needed]}

• 2005: First round (lost toGerry Convery 0–3)
• 2006: Second round (lost toKevin Painter 3–4)
• 2007: Second round (lost toColin Osborne 2–4)
• 2008: First round (lost toJamie Caven 0–3)
• 2009: Second round (lost toRaymond van Barneveld 1–4)
• 2010: Second round (lost toAdrian Lewis 2–4)
• 2011: Quarter-finals (lost toTerry Jenkins 4–5)
• 2012: Second round (lost toJustin Pipe 3–4)
• 2013: Quarter-finals (lost toJames Wade 4–5)
• 2014: Quarter-finals (lost toPeter Wright 4–5)
• 2015: First round (lost toCristo Reyes 2–3)
• 2016: Second round (lost toJames Wade 0–4)

• 2019: Preliminary round (lost toPaul Hogan 1–3)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]
Runner-up	1.	2011	UK Open	James Wade	8–11 (l)
Runner-up	2.	2012	European Championship	Simon Whitlock	5–11 (l)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2013	European Darts Trophy	Paul Nicholson	6–5 (l)

Wes Newton televised nine-dart finishes

Date	Opponent	Tournament	Method	Prize
26 July 2012	Justin Pipe	World Matchplay	3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12	£2,500

• New Official website
• Wes Newton PDC profileArchived 27 July 2013 at theWayback Machine
• Wes Newton player profile at Darts Orakel

• 1977 births
• English darts players
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Blackpool
• Sportspeople from Fleetwood
• Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders
• British Darts Organisation players
• PDC ranking title winners
• Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games
• 21st-century English sportsmen

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