Dean Winstanley

2013

His first year as a PDC player saw him finish 33rd on the ProTour Order of Merit after all 33 Players Championship, UK Open and European Tour Events had been played.^[15] This was enough to see him qualify for the World Championship as the third highest non-qualified player.^[16] The week before the tournament Winstanley practised intensely with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, playing two four- to six-hour sessions a day at the Ducthman's home with the players aiming to take out 5001 in 50 turns.^[17] Winstanley beat Mervyn King 3–2 in his debut, recovering from 1–2 down in sets and 0–2 in legs in the decider, also surviving one match dart to eventually win the final set 6–4.^[18] In his second round match, whilst trailing Vincent van der Voort 0–2 in sets and having won only one leg in the match, Winstanley hit his first televised nine-dart finish and the fifth in World Championship history. He eventually lost 2–4 having had darts at doubles to win both the fifth and sixth sets.^[19] Winstanley won the Best Newcomer at the annual PDC dinner in January 2013.^[20] His only quarter-final of 2013 came in May at the Players Championship One, where he lost 6–1 to Robert Thornton.^[21] Winstanley suffered a surprise 4–5 defeat to qualifier Dave Weston in the first round of the UK Open.^[22] Winstanley produced an encouraging 5–2 victory over Kim Huybrechts in his opening group game of the Grand Slam of Darts but followed it up with 5–1 and 5–3 defeats to Michael van Gerwen and Van der Voort to finish third and exit the tournament.^[23]

2014

He qualified for the 2014 World Championship through the 2013 ProTour Order of Merit and fell 2–0 down to Richie Burnett in the first round, before missing one dart to square the match at two sets all and was instead beaten 3–1.^[24][25] Winstanley was ranked world number 36 after the tournament.^[26] He enjoyed a good run at the UK Open by beating Andy Boulton 9–2 and reigning BDO world champion Stephen Bunting 9–6, before losing to Kevin Painter 9–5 in the fifth round.^[27] Later in the month he reached his first final since joining the PDC at the second Players Championship where he was beaten 6–1 by Michael van Gerwen.^[28]

Winstanley earned a place in the European Darts Trophy, where he overcame Gino Vos, Jamie Caven, Ian White and Peter Wright en route to reach his first appearance in the semi-finals of a European tour event, but lost there again against Michael van Gerwen.^[29] He defeated Michael Smith 2–1 in sets at the World Grand Prix, before being eliminated 3–1 by Van Gerwen in the second round.^[30] A first round exit at the European Championship followed and Winstanley was knocked out of the Grand Slam in the group stage after failing to win any of his three games.^[31] However, he found his form at the Players Championship Finals by averaging 103.94 in a 6–3 triumph over Simon Whitlock and then beat Jelle Klaasen 10–5 to play in his first major PDC quarter-final.^[32] He took an early 3–0 lead over Vincent van der Voort, but went on to lose 10–8.^[33]

2015

Winstanley secured narrow 3–2 and 4–3 wins over Wayne Jones and Darren Webster in the 2015 World Championship to reach the third round of the event for the first time.^[34] He dropped the first two sets without winning a leg against Vincent van der Voort, but improved to trail 3–2. Winstanley missed one dart to take the tie into a final set and was instead defeated 4–2.^[35] He lost 5–3 to William O'Connor in the second round of the UK Open.^[36] Winstanley did not qualify for the rest of the PDC majors in 2015 and could not get past the last 16 in any Pro Tour event.^[37]

2016

At 2–2 in sets and 4–4 in legs in their first round 2016 World Championship match, Ronny Huybrechts broke throw with a 164 finish with Winstanley waiting on 40 and then took out 104 to win in the next leg.^[38] He lost 9–3 to Vincent van der Voort in the third round of the UK Open.^[39] After this, Winstanley only reached the last 64 of five events and was beaten each time, eventually falling outside of the top 64 in the world.^[40]

On 15 November 2016, Winstanley was fined £3,000 and suspended from the PDC until May 2017 for posting a live recording of an event showing inappropriate behaviour.^[41] Having lost his PDC Tour Card, he was subsequently unable to enter the 2017 Q School.^[42]