Peter Manley

Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is a darts player who plays under the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed "One Dart" (as he was once known to have a knack for hitting doubles with his first dart), Manley is one of the most outspoken players on the darts circuit. He is perhaps most infamous for his refusal to shake Phil Taylor's hand after losing 7-0 to him in the 2002 World Championship Final. This led to fans booing him on stage for many years, however this changed in 2005 when he changed his entrance theme from Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" to Tony Christie's "Is This the Way to Amarillo". This led to a far more relaxed Manley and a far more positive crowd response, even though they still boo him once the music fades out.

Darts career

Despite being ranked number one in the PDC world rankings for over a year Manley has managed to win only one major tournament with the PDC, the 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic. He has managed to reach the World Championship final three times, but lost them all to Phil Taylor and two of those defeats were heavy 0-7 reversals. After beating Phil Taylor in the semi-finals of the 1999 World Matchplay, he lost 17-19 to Rod Harrington in the final. He has been a semi-finalist in the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix since, and has also qualified for all three seasons of the Premier League, finishing 3rd in 2005 with 12 points. However, he was knocked out in the semi-final by Colin Lloyd, 13-7. He failed to progress from the group stages in 2006 and 2007.

Controversy

Despite being chairman of the Players' Union (the Professional Dart Players Association - PDPA), Manley is often the subject of controversy with fellow players, most notably Phil Taylor in the aforementioned incident, and in the 2006 PDC World Darts Championship where in a semi-final match against Taylor's protegé, Adrian Lewis, he muttered words to his opponent, resulting in Lewis leaving the stage in anger. After a while, he returned and the match continued where Manley won. This incident sparked a few days of animosity in the lead-up to the final between Manley and Taylor, with the vast majority of darts players and fans incensed at Manley's behaviour. Manley attracted more hate when, during an interview on Sky Sports, he said that he didn't care what other people think as he'd made his money (£25,000 for reaching the final). Manley was thrashed in the final 7-0 by Phil Taylor. In the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, he exchanged words with Wynand Havenga in the second round, possibly pertaining to his opponent's prolonged celebrations upon winning a set. He later lost the match but appeared to apologise for his attitude afterwards. Further controversy with Lewis erupted in the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic, where words were again exchanged onstage. Manley tried to minimize the incident after the match, but Lewis continued to complain after he left the stage.

Personal life

Manley was born in Cheam, England, but now resides in Carlisle. He is married to Chrissy Manley (nee Howat), a fellow dart player nicknamed 'two darts', and has a daughter, Sarah, along with Chrissy's daughter Michelle. Manley asked Chrissy to marry him after winning the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2003 and they tied the knot in Las Vegas the following year. Fellow darts players were in attendance at the wedding with Wayne Mardle as best man.

References

External links

• Peter Manley's Official Site