Assessing the Darts Career of Swindon-born Lee Evans

35-year-old Lee “Evz” Evans has made a dent in the world darts rankings of late but still has plenty of scope for improvement. Swindon-born Evans, who now resides in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, has played darts professionally since 2014 and there’s been huge strides made in the last decade.

Evans started out with the BDO in 2014 before switching his allegiance to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in 2015 and hasn’t looked back since.

2015: A breakthrough year for Evans’ darts

Although he was unable to qualify for a PDC Tour Card that year, failing to break the last 64 at the PDC’s Q School, Evans left a lasting impression at the 2015 UK Open. He knocked out the likes of Nick Fulwell and Ronny Huybrechts, brother of Kim, to set up a third-round clash with Vincent van der Voort. Evans raced into a 4-1 lead but somehow failed to win another leg, as van der Voort ran out a 9-4 winner.

Evans built on that run at the Gosport Open, overcoming Richard Kirby in the final. In October 2015, he capped a solid year by making the last 16 of the European Darts Grand Prix, before losing to PDC journeyman, Ian White.

Evans ended 2015 ranked 114th in the world darts rankings and came into 2016 with ambitions to break the top 100. He quit working as a labourer and bricklayer with his father to commit full-time to his darts career. He reached the third round of the 2016 UK Open before losing to Jamie Caven. He also reached the last 16 of the 10th PDC Players Championship, beating van der Voort and Marvyn King along the way, before a 6-0 hammering by Dave “Chizzy” Chisnall.

From disappearing to cracking the world top 100

It was very quiet for five years after this period. Evans appeared to go off the radar, only appearing in 2017 and 2018 at the UK Open too, reaching the second round on both occasions. However, Evans returned to winning ways in 2022 by lifting the Birmingham Open. The following year, Evans would go on to finally secure a PDC Tour Card, which was lift-off for him.

It’s very difficult to break into the upper echelons of the PDC, especially when you consider the professional darts tour has been dominated by the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price for the best part of a decade. However, 2023 was the year that Evans began to mix it with the biggest names in the sport.

Evans just about secured entry into the Players Championship Finals that year, but was beaten 6-2 by fourth seed, Dave Chisnall at Minehead. Just for losing in the first round, Evans received £3,000 in prize money, which demonstrates the stratospheric jump in earnings when you qualify for PDC premier events.

This year has been another step forward too. In December, Evans reached the second round of the PDC World Championship at London’s Alexandra Palace. He whitewashed Sandro Eric Sosing 3-0 to set up a second-round encounter with eventual world champion, Luke Humphries. Evans lost 3-0 in sets but two of the three sets went to best-of-five legs.

In March, Evans enjoyed a run to the third round of the UK Open. He whitewashed Dutchman Chris Landman 6-0 to reach the third round, where he slipped to a 6-3 defeat against Ricky Evans.

As of May 2024, Evans finds himself 67th in the world darts rankings. When he opted to play darts full-time, his ranking was almost double this, so it demonstrates how well he’s performed in the last 18 months. Making progress in premier events like the UK Open and the World Championships is vital if Evans is to crack the top 50 and try to make the top 32. In doing so, Evans would make Swindon even more prominent on the sporting map, after the football club and the Swindon Robins speedway team.