Leighton Bennett

Leighton Bennett
Leighton Bennett
Personal information
Nickname	Boom Boom
Born	31 December 2005 (age 18); Lincoln, England
Home town	Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Darts information
Playing darts since	2014
Darts	18g Target Darts
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Boom Boom Boom" by The Outhere Brothers
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2019–2020
PDC	2021–; (Tour Card: 2024-)
Current world ranking	100 2 (28 April 2024)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 32: 2020
PDC premier events – best performances
UK Open	Last 160: 2024
Other tournament wins
BDO World Youth Championship	2019
Cambridgeshire Open	2018
WDF Europe Youth Cup Boys Singles	2019
JDC Advanced Tour	2021 (x4)
Newark Open	2023
PDC UK Q School	2024

Leighton Bennett (born 31 December 2005 in Lincoln, England) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. He won the final of the 2019 BDO World Youth Darts Championship.

Career

BDO

In August 2018, Bennett won the Cambridgeshire Open, aged 12; in the semi-final, he beat Ricky Evans, before seeing off Rhys Hayden in the final.^[2] In October 2018, he booked his place in the final of the 2019 BDO World Youth Darts Championship. He beat Nathan Girvan 3–0 in the Final to become 2019 BDO World Youth Champion. In 2019, Bennett started competing on the men's BDO tour. He reached the Final of the Luxembourg Open and was also a Semi-finalist in the Welsh Open, French Open, German Open, Antwerp Open and Polish Open. Bennett qualified for the 2020 BDO World Darts Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to compete in the Men's tournament. He also became the first player to compete in the Men's tournament and Youth final in the same year.

PDC

In 2024, Bennett entered the UK Q-School. He made it to stage 2 after making a quarter-final on the third day of stage one. He would go on to automatically win a tour card after beating Thomas Cromwell 6–3 in the final on the third day of stage 2, securing his card for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.^[3]

As he had gained a Tour card, Bennett made his debut at the 2024 PDC Players Championship series in 2024. At Players Championship 1, Bennett won his first round match against Brett Claydon 6–3. In his second round match against Lukas Wenig in the Players Championships, Bennett hit a nine-dart finish en route to a 6–5 victory. In the third round he was defeated 6–5 by Cameron Menzies. At PC2, Bennett beat Boris Krčmar 6–2 before losing to Jonny Clayton 6–4 in the second round. At PC3, he shocked Dave Chisnall with a 6–1 first round win, then defeated Pascal Rupprecht 6–5 and Arron Monk 6–1 before being defeated in the last 16 by Peter Wright 6–1. At PC4, Bennett played Wright again, but lost 6–5 in the first round.

World Championship results

BDO

2020: First round (lost to Scott Mitchell 1–3) (sets)

BDO (Youth)

2019: Winner (beat Nathan Girvan 3–0) (sets)
2020: Runner-up (lost to Keane Barry 0–3)

WDF (Boys)

2022: Semi-finals (lost to Charlie Large 1–2)

Performance timeline

Tournament	2024
PDC Ranked televised events
UK Open	1R

References

^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
^ "Leighton Bennett: 12-year-old darts prodigy wins £1,000 first prize at BDO event". BBC Sport. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^ Gorton, Josh (13 January 2024). "Baetens & Bennett become latest duo to secure Tour Cards". PDC. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

External links

[PDC_Rankings-1] "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

[2] "Leighton Bennett: 12-year-old darts prodigy wins £1,000 first prize at BDO event". BBC Sport. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.

[PDC13Jan-3] Gorton, Josh (13 January 2024). "Baetens & Bennett become latest duo to secure Tour Cards". PDC. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

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