Kevin Kenny (born 1961) is a former professional
dartsDarts is a form of sport where darts are thrown at a circular target hung on a wall. Though various different boards and games have been used in the past, the term 'darts' usually now refers to a standardized game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
player who played for
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
MerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. Taking its name from the River Mersey, Merseyside came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974, after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, and the county consists of five metropolitan...
, and was also a two time semi-finalist at the
BDOThe British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation.It was founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE in the front room of his home in Muswell Hill...
World Darts Championships and a semi-finalist at the
News of the World Darts ChampionshipThe News of the World Individual Darts Championship was one of the first major organised darts competitions, which began in 1927. It became England's first national darts competition from 1947 until its demise in 1990...
in 1983. Kevin also won the 1990 Welsh Open.
Kevin is fondly remembered for his quarter-final match against Jocky Wilson in the
1991 BDO World Darts ChampionshipThe 1991 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey from 4–12 January 1991. Phil Taylor was the reigning World Champion and started off well in the early rounds, before losing in the quarter-finals to Dennis Priestley who took the title.The...
. Jocky was a former World Champion, winning it in 1982 and 1989, and this was only Kevin's second appearance at the Lakeside.
Kevin Kenny (born 1961) is a former professional
dartsDarts is a form of sport where darts are thrown at a circular target hung on a wall. Though various different boards and games have been used in the past, the term 'darts' usually now refers to a standardized game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
player who played for
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
MerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. Taking its name from the River Mersey, Merseyside came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974, after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, and the county consists of five metropolitan...
, and was also a two time semi-finalist at the
BDOThe British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation.It was founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE in the front room of his home in Muswell Hill...
World Darts Championships and a semi-finalist at the
News of the World Darts ChampionshipThe News of the World Individual Darts Championship was one of the first major organised darts competitions, which began in 1927. It became England's first national darts competition from 1947 until its demise in 1990...
in 1983. Kevin also won the 1990 Welsh Open.
Kevin is fondly remembered for his quarter-final match against Jocky Wilson in the
1991 BDO World Darts ChampionshipThe 1991 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey from 4–12 January 1991. Phil Taylor was the reigning World Champion and started off well in the early rounds, before losing in the quarter-finals to Dennis Priestley who took the title.The...
. Jocky was a former World Champion, winning it in 1982 and 1989, and this was only Kevin's second appearance at the Lakeside. However, the match went to 3 sets all, 5 legs all, with Kevin winning the deciding leg. He also hit a 170 finish in that final set, to achieve the highest checkout of the tournament.
Kevin also could have played for
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
as his mother was born there, and with the home internationals only days away, his mind was on Scotland until he got the call from the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
squad.
After the big split in darts when the
PDCThe Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organisation, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the officially-recognised British Darts Organisation...
was formed, Kevin stayed with the BDO and went to
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
to represent England in the WDF World Cup in 1993. At the time, he was a full international anyway, but it was doubtful whether he would have taken his place in the four-man team (home internationals had a team of 12, whereas the world cup was squads of 4). Kevin represented England 12 times, winning 11 of those matches. He retired from competitive darts in 1995 aged just 34, the age when most players are just reaching their peak.
Other notable achievements was twice being on the winning team in the Champions Cup, a darts event which yearly finds the best pub darts team in the land. The fact that he and teams from
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
won it twice was quite special due to the size of darts in the city at the time, compared to places with more darting pedigree like
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
,
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
and
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. And secondly winning the county men's individual averages twice, a feat which at the time had only been equalled by five-time World Champion
Eric BristowEric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
(who became great friends with Kevin and also represented Merseyside with him as well).
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