Mensur Suljović
Mensur Suljović | ||
---|---|---|
Hungarian Open | 2003 | |
Newark Xmas Open | 2010 | |
Bullshooter European Ch'ship | 1999, 2000, 2004 | |
SDWF European Ch'ship | 2004 | |
Bullshooter World Ch'ship | 2005 |
European Tour Events
Austrian Darts Championship | 2019 |
Danish Darts Open | 2018 |
International Darts Open | 2016 |
Players Championships
Players Championship (BAR) | 2019 |
Players Championship (DUB) | 2017 |
World Series of Darts
German Darts Masters | 2018 |
German Darts Corporation
GDC Halle | 2007 |
GDC Hurth bei Koln | 2007 |
GDC Ramada Hotel Koln | 2008 (2x) |
GDC Wiesbaden | 2007 |
2016 Breaks into the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time
2017 claims his first major televised title after winning the Champions League
2017 Reaches a career-high ranking of world No. 5Men's Darts | ||
---|---|---|
Representing Austria | ||
EDF European Ch'ship | ||
2012 Podčetrtek | Men's singles | |
2012 Podčetrtek | Men's cricket | |
2015 Santa Susanna | Men's cricket | |
2016 Podčetrtek | Men's singles | |
2016 Podčetrtek | Men's cricket | |
2015 Santa Susanna | Men's singles | |
EDU European Ch'ship | ||
2000 Riccione | Men's singles | |
2003 Salou | Men's singles | |
2004 Hamburg | Men's singles | |
2004 Hamburg | Men's cricket | |
2005 Sopron | Men's singles | |
2008 Hamburg | Men's cricket | |
2000 Riccione | Men's cricket | |
2003 Salou | Men's cricket | |
2006 Umag | Men's cricket | |
2007 Prague | Men's cricket | |
2008 Caorle | Men's singles |
Mensur Suljović (
Nicknamed The Gentle, Suljović is noted for his unorthodox throwing action and favouring double 14 as his finishing double where possible. Suljović plays for Austria and has been called the number one Austrian player in the PDC, but he does not actually have Austrian citizenship.[2]
Suljović reached his first major final in 2016 at the European Championship. He went one step further in winning his first TV title at the 2017 Champions League of Darts, defeating two-times world champion Gary Anderson on two occasions.
Personal life
Suljović has been living in Vienna since 1993. He escaped from war-torn Serbia to live in Austria together with his older brothers. They owned a coffee shop where he started playing darts.[3] He is married to Enisa with two children and owns his own pub called The Gentle in Vienna. Despite the fact that he represents Austria, he does not have Austrian citizenship. He applied two times without success in 2014 and 2020. The reason for the first rejection was that his pub employed a waitress who had no work permit, the reason for the second was that his tax consultant missed the tax filing deadline. [4]
Career
BDO
Suljović first appeared at the
PDC
Suljović qualified for the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship through the German Darts Corporation Order of Merit. He defeated Andy Smith in round one but lost in the second round to eventual winner John Part. He then qualified for the inaugural European Championship where he beat Roland Scholten in the first round, but lost in the second round to Robert Thornton.
Suljović topped the GDC rankings for a second straight year and played in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship where he beat Peter Manley in the first round and lost 4–0 to Mark Dudbridge in the second round. With other results falling his way, Suljovic moved into the top 50 of the PDC Order of Merit.
In 2009 the GDC was replaced with the European Order of Merit, but Suljovic still continued to perform well, including another second round showing in the European Championship, again beating Scholten in the first round but losing to Colin Lloyd. His consistent performances on the European tour earned him qualification for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship but he lost in the first round to 2004 finalist Kevin Painter.
His performances in 2010 did not match previous years. He attempted to qualify for the 2010 UK Open but was unsuccessful and also failed to qualify for the 2010 European Championship.
However, Suljović qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship and defeated Michael van Gerwen by 3 sets to 1 in the first round. Following that, he upset world #2 James Wade 4–2 in the last 32.[5] In the round of 16, he was beaten 4–0 by Wes Newton and bowed out of the competition.
Suljović did not advance beyond the first round of the
Suljović played in his third
2014
In the
2015
Despite having a higher average (98.91) and higher checkout percentage (60%) than his opponent
On the 2015 Pro Tour, Suljović had previously reached the last four at the first European Tour event of the year, the German Darts Championship and at the seventeenth Players Championship, losing to Michael van Gerwen and Ian White, respectively.[33][34] At the final European Tour event, the European Darts Grand Prix, Suljović caused another upset with a 6–4 second round win against world number one Michael van Gerwen, with an average of 109.7.[35] He then saw off Mervyn King 6–5 and Joe Cullen 6–4 to reach another semi-final, where he missed one dart at the bullseye in the deciding leg to complete a 132 finish against Wright in a 6–5 loss.[36] Suljović concluded his year by beating Jamie Caven 6–3, Michael Smith 10–3 and White 10–6 at the Players Championship Finals to reach his second major semi-final of the year, where he was thrashed 11–1 by Adrian Lewis.[37]
2016
Suljović and his second round World Championship opponent David Pallett both missed darts at doubles to complete nine-dart finishes in a close match in which there was never more than a set between the players.[38] Suljović took the final set by three legs to one, but was thrashed 4–0 by Adrian Lewis in the third round.[39] He lost in the semi-finals of the Dutch Darts Masters and a UK Open Qualifier, and at the UK Open itself was knocked out in the fifth round 9–5 by Mark Webster.[40] Suljović and Rodriguez got to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but only won one leg between them as they lost both of their singles matches to the top seeds of England.[41]
He lost 11–5 to
In the second round of the European Championship, Suljović was 8–3 ahead of Ian White and hung on to squeeze through 10–9.[46] He then produced the performance of his career to beat his idol Phil Taylor for the first time. Suljović averaged 105.50 as he eased past the 16-time world champion 10–3 and then saw off Peter Wright 11–8 to play in his first major final. Van Gerwen averaged 111.62, the highest ever in a televised final and over 25 points higher than Suljović, as he won 11–1.[47] He qualified for his first Grand Slam of Darts and had a chance of getting out his group going in to the final round of fixtures, but was defeated 5–3 by Raymond van Barneveld.[48] Suljović was now ranked the eighth best PDC player.[49]
2017
His second round tie with Mark Webster at the 2017 World Championship went to a deciding set in which Webster won all three legs to eliminate Suljović 4–3.[50] Suljović got through to the final of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy after Daryl Gurney missed four darts to beat him in the semi-finals. In the final Michael Smith was 3–0 up, before Suljović took four legs in a row. He was waiting on 56 at 4–4, but Smith completed a 132 finish and won the next leg to defeat Suljović 6–4.[51] Austria played England in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Cup for the second successive year. Suljović thrashed Adrian Lewis 4–0 and Rowby-John Rodriguez lost 4–1 to Dave Chisnall, before Austria were defeated 4–2 in the decisive doubles match.[52]
Suljović won through to another European Tour Final at the 2017 European Darts Matchplay, including wins over in-form Gurney, Chisnall and Reyes, before falling to van Gerwen 6–3.[53]
At the 13th and 14th Players Championships Suljović reached the quarter-finals and the last 16 stage, losing both times in tight games 6–5.
In the next European Tour Event, in his home town Vienna, Suljović beat Ronny Huybrechts in the second round, before losing to Mervyn King.[54]
In the last European Tour Event before the summer break Suljović reached the semi-finals. Wins over Kist, Henderson and a walk-over (as his opponent Cullen withdrew in the third round) put him into the semis, where The Gentle lost to eventual champion Wright 6–3.[55]
At the
Suljović did not participate in the Players Championships events ahead and following the World Matchplay.
In early September, Suljović lost to Beaton in the second round in the following European Tour Event.[57] A loss to Cross in the third round ended Suljović's campaign in the 2017 German Darts Grand Prix, with Cross averaging nearly 110.
Suljović achieved his best run in a major TV event by winning the 2017 Champions League as a debutant. Three consecutive wins over Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall in the group phase made Suljović top the group, with the best three-dart average of all participants. In the semi-finals, the Austrian defeated Raymond van Barneveld 11–9, including a sensational 160 checkout to close out the game, with van Barneveld waiting on 32 after nine darts, after Suljović already missed tops for a 157 checkout to win at 10–8. In the final, Suljović faced Gary Anderson for the second time in the tournament. After crushing him in the round robin stage 10–3, the final proved to be a tougher affair. Another close scoreline of 11–9 in favour of Suljović led him to be crowned champion of a major TV event for the first time. His winning dart also happened to be on his beloved double 14.[58]
Suljović reached the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix for the second time in his career, losing 4–3 in sets to Simon Whitlock. He reached the quarter-finals of both the European Championship and the Grand Slam in 2017.
At the "not liked World Championship" (as he says) in 2018, Suljović beat Kevin Painter 3–0 and Robert Thornton 4–2 to progress to the Last 16 stage, where he won only a few legs against Dimitri Van den Bergh.[59]
2019–present
Suljović suffered a 1–3 defeat by female darts player Fallon Sherrock in the 2020 PDC World Championship, making him only the second male to be defeated by a female in a main PDC World Championship tournament.[60]
In 2022, Suljović faced Michael van Gerwen in the third round of the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship. With the score 3–1 in sets and 2–2 in legs, van Gerwen rejected a dart at the bullseye from 121 to set up double 16. Suljović then took out a 161 finish to make it 3–2. He lost the game with an average that was above 100 for most of the game, but he ended with 98.90. Van Gerwen averaged 107.66.[61]
World Championship results
BDO
- 2002: Second round (lost to Mervyn King 1–3)
PDC
- 2008: Second round (lost to John Part 1–4)
- 2009: Second round (lost to Mark Dudbridge 0–4)
- 2010: First round (lost to Kevin Painter 1–3)
- 2011: Third round (lost to Wes Newton 0–4)
- 2012: First round (lost to Paul Nicholson 1–3)
- 2014: First round (lost to Mark Webster 2–3)
- 2015: First round (lost to Michael Smith 1–3)
- 2016: Third round (lost to Adrian Lewis 0–4)
- 2017: Second round (lost to Mark Webster 3–4)
- 2018: Third round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 0–4)
- 2019: Second round (lost to Ryan Searle 1–3)
- 2020: Second round (lost to Fallon Sherrock 1–3)
- 2021: Third round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4)
- 2022: Second round (lost to Alan Soutar 2–3)
- 2023: Third round (lost to Michael van Gerwen 2–4)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 2016 | European Championship | Michael van Gerwen | 1–11 (l) |
Winner | 1. | 2017 | Champions League of Darts | Gary Anderson | 11–9 (l) |
Runner-up | 2. | 2018
|
World Matchplay | Gary Anderson | 19–21 (l) |
- ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
PDC world series finals: 1 (1 title)
Legend |
---|
World Series of Darts (1–0) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 2018 | German Darts Masters | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 8–2 (l) |
- ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
Performance timeline
BDO
Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BDO World Championship | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | ||
Winmau World Masters
|
4R
|
Prel.
|
QF
|
DNQ | 2R
|
PDC
Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranked televised events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC World Championship | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 3R | DNQ | ||||||||||
UK Open | DNQ | 1R | QF | QF | 5R | DNP | 5R | 6R | 5R | 6R | 4R | 5R | |||||||||||||||
World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R
|
DNQ | QF
|
2R
|
QF
|
F
|
2R
|
2R | WD | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | DNQ | SF | 1R | SF | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||
European Championship | 2R | 2R | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | F | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | DNQ | ||||||||||||
Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | RR | QF | SF | DNQ | 2R | RR | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship Finals | NH | DNQ | SF | 1R | 2R | WD | 3R | WD | 1R | 1R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
Non-ranked televised events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Premier League Darts | Did not participate | 9th | 6th | DNP | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | Not held | DNQ | QF | SF | QF | 1R | 2R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
Champions League of Darts | Not held | DNQ | W | SF | DNQ | NH | |||||||||||||||||||||
PDC World Cup of Darts | NH | QF | NH | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | QF | 1R | QF | QF | F | 2R | RR | ||||||||||||
World Series of Darts Finals
|
Not held | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | 1R | DNP | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year-end ranking | 58 | 47 | 50 | 50 | 46 | 44 | 40 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 26 | 30 | 55 |
PDC European Tour
Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | ADO 1R |
GDC 2R |
EDO DNQ |
GDM 1R |
DDM DNQ | ||||||||
2013 | UKM 3R |
EDT SF |
EDO 1R |
ADO 1R |
GDT 2R |
GDC DNQ |
GDM 1R |
DDM DNQ | |||||
2014 | GDC DNQ |
DDM 1R |
GDM DNQ |
ADO SF |
GDT DNQ |
EDO 1R |
EDG 1R |
EDT 1R | |||||
2015 | GDC SF |
GDT DNQ |
GDM 3R |
DDM 2R |
IDO 2R |
EDO 2R |
EDT 2R |
EDM 1R |
EDG SF | ||||
2016 | DDM SF |
GDM 2R |
GDT QF |
EDM QF |
ADO 2R |
EDO QF |
IDO W |
EDT F |
EDG 3R |
GDC SF | |||
2017 | GDC QF |
GDM 3R |
GDO QF |
EDG 3R |
GDT F |
EDM F |
ADO 3R |
EDO SF |
DDM 2R |
GDG 3R |
IDO 3R |
EDT WD | |
2018 | EDO 3R |
GDG 3R |
GDO 3R |
ADO SF |
EDG 3R |
DDM QF |
GDT 2R |
DDO W |
EDM QF |
GDC SF |
DDC WD |
IDO 3R |
EDT WD |
2019 | EDO SF |
GDC 2R |
GDG QF |
GDO QF |
ADO 3R |
EDG 2R |
DDM 2R |
DDO 3R |
CDO QF |
ADC W |
EDM 3R |
IDO 3R |
GDT 3R |
2020 | BDC QF |
GDC 3R |
EDG SF |
IDO SF | |||||||||
2021 | HDT 2R |
GDT F | |||||||||||
2022 | IDO 2R |
GDC 3R |
GDG DNQ |
ADO 1R |
EDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
EDM DNQ |
HDT DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
GDT 3R |
2023 | BSD DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
ADO QF |
DDC DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
EDM DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
HDT DNQ |
GDC DNQ |
Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded |
References
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