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Our series continues and Joe looks at a true legend of the oche and his darts, The Viking, Andy Fordham!

Andy Fordham Signature Darts

Posted: 22.07.19 in DPC Darts Shop category

Our series continues and Joe looks at a true legend of the oche and his darts, The Viking, Andy Fordham!

One of the most iconic players in world darts, the career of Andy Fordham is one for ‘The Viking’ to look back on with pride. For the 2004 BDO World Champion from Charlton, his career is certainly a distinguished one: BDO World Champion, Winmau World Masters Champion, British Matchplay Champion, Welsh Open Champion, twice the British Pentathlon Champion. He’s certainly had a career that many a player would love to replicate.

On his debut as a professional player at Lakeside in 1995, Andy reached the semi-final, losing out to former world No.1, Richie Burnett. In 4 of his first 7 appearances in the BDO World Championships, he fell at the semi-final, before he broke his curse in a dramatic tournament in 2004, in which he defeated Brian Derbyshire, Tony West and Daryl Fitton, before taking on Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final; a contest seen by some as one of the greatest matches to be played upon the famous stage.

The hard-fought semi-final saw Andy fall behind 3-0, and 4-2, before an inspired comeback saw him prevail as the 5-4 winner. In a dramatic final, Fordham defeated Mervyn King 6-3, with a classy 139 checkout to take the eighth set, before finishing the job on double 8 to win the final set 3-2 and claim the title. Three consecutive first round defeats in his next three appearances at Lakeside saw Andy fall drastically down the rankings, with major concerns for his health becoming apparent. Withdrawal from competitions led to Fordham fall further still down the rankings, only playing in invitational events, such as the Zuiderduin Masters in 2007, losing both games 5-0 with a tournament average of just under 65.

 

 

After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the PDC, Fordham returned to the BDO, but was never able to recapture his glory days, slowly falling off the rankings. Fordham has not competed in a competitive ranking event since October 2018, after his 3-0 first round exit in the Winmau World Masters, at the hands of Richie Edwards.

In 2015, Andy was awarded a place to play at the PDC Grand Slam of Darts, winning one of his three group games. In his opening match, he fell to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Adrian Lewis, with an impressive 99.26 average, with Lewis himself averaging 103.34. Andy tasted victory in a 5-2 victory over Wayne Jones, before a 5-2 loss to semi-finalist Michael Smith saw him eliminated at the group stage, sitting in third place.

Andy Fordham is a long term member of Team Winmau. He joined Winmau in 2005, after his successful year on the tour in 2004 that saw him crowned World Champion, and since then has signed consecutive contract extension that has kept him with the brand today. Andy’s darts, while not the darts he plays with in competition, are one of the most popular barrels on the market, due to their simplistic design and wide range availability.

The darts are coated with an Onyx finish, with white painted groves. The darts come in a stylish box, with a set of Prism Force stems and Prism Andy Fordham flights. 

 

The darts are available in 23g (38.1mm x 8mm) and 25g (40.6mm x 8mm) are stocked by Darts Performance Centre.

Follow Andy Fordham and keep up to date on his progress in the world of darts:

Andy Fordham Twitter

 

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Author: Joe Reid

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