Leo Laurens is a retired Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation

British Darts Organisation

The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....

 events. By the end of 1993, Laurens became number one in the WDF world rankings after all of the BDO's top players broke away to form the World Darts Council (now the Professional Darts Corporation

Professional Darts Corporation

The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...

). Despite his new accolade, Laurens never managed to win a major title.

Laurens made his World Championship debut in 1989, losing in the first round to American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Rick Ney

Rick Ney

Rick Ney is a retired American professional darts player who competed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.He reached the final of the prestigious News of the World Darts Championship in 1986 losing to Bobby George. He made four appearances in the World Professional Darts Championship - with his best...

. He returned a year later, beating Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's Bob Sinnaeve

Bob Sinnaeve

Robert "Bob" Sinnaeve is a Canadian darts player who won his national title five times.-Early career:Sinnaeve took up darts in 1973 as an alternative to bowling, as he felt the darts circuit would give him more time to spend with his wife, Judy...

, before losing to Mike Gregory. His best performance came in 1997, where he reached the quarter finals after beating Ritchie Davies

Ritchie Davies

Ritchie Davies is a Welsh former professional darts player from Aberdare. Davies is most well known for his run at the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship, where he reached the final.-Darts career:...

 and Richie Burnett

Richie Burnett

Richie Burnett is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.-BDO career:...

. He lost to reigning champion Steve Beaton

Steve Beaton

Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...

.

He also played in the Winmau World Masters

Winmau World Masters

The Winmau World Masters is one of the longest running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments, which began in 1974 - even before the current World Professional Championship...

 in 1988, 1993 and 1995, losing in the first round on each occasion.

External links

• Stats on Darts Database