Ryan Meikle v
Wikipedia - Ryan Meikle
Ryan Thomas Meikle ( born 13 August 1996) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the last 16 at the 2019 Players Championship Finals.
In his youth career, Meikle won six titles on the PDC Development Tour and made the semi-finals at the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.
History
Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, Meikle is a barber by trade, hence his nickname of "The Barber". He won a PDC Tour Card by qualifying from the second day of Q–School in 2016.
He made his PDC European Tour debut in the 2016 International Darts Open in Riesa, Germany, where he whitewashed Michael Rasztovits 6–0. He was scheduled to play world number one Michael van Gerwen in the next round, but an ankle injury forced Van Gerwen to withdraw, giving Meikle a bye to round three, where he lost 6–2 to Yordi Meeuwisse.
In 2018, he won his second PDC Development Tour title, defeating Rowby-John Rodriguez 5–3 in the final of Development Tour 11 in Wigan.
Meikle made the semi-finals of the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship but lost 6–3 to Adam Gawlas.
He qualified for the 2020 PDC World Championship where he lost on his debut against Yuki Yamada. He played his last season on the PDC Development Tour in 2020. During his six years on the tour, he has won six PDC Development Tour titles.
Meikle was able to qualify for the 2021 PDC World Championship but again lost in the first round, this time to Keegan Brown, 3–0 in sets.
In his third World Championship appearance, Meikle was able to win his first round match for the first time, defeating Fabian Schmutzler 3–0 in the 2022 edition before losing against Peter Wright 3–0.
At the 2023 World Championship, he defeated Lisa Ashton 3–2 in a deciding set in the first round. He then lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3–1.
Despite failing to win his opening game at the 2023 UK Open and failing to qualify for any further major tournaments, Meikle was able to stay in top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit and continued on the Pro Tour in 2024. He made it to the fifth round of the 2024 UK Open, reaching the last 32 for the first time. He was also able to qualify for the 2024 Players Championship Finals as the fifty-ninth seed. He defeated the sixth seed Gary Anderson 6–5 in a deciding leg in the first round, before losing to Martin Schindler. He qualified for the 2025 PDC World Championship. Meikle defeated Fallon Sherrock 3–2 in the first round but lost to Luke Littler 3–1 in the second round.