Mervyn King

Mervyn King (born 15 March 1966) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Nicknamed The King, he has reached seven PDC major finals and reached a peak of No. 4 in the PDC Order of Merit. Early life King first took up the game at the age of 12, playing with an old rolled-cardboard dartboard given to him by his father. His father insisted that he played darts using competition distance and height. By the age of 13, he had ambitions to become a professional player as he was playing county darts at Superleague level. His first county A game was at the age of 14 and he won his local men's singles league at that age. Additionally, King hit his first ever nine-dart leg of 501 aged 14 in a practice match with his father. BDO career King made his professional debut as a 28-year-old in the 1994 World Masters where he lost in the last 32 to Andy Fordham. His first title in the BDO came in the 1996 French Open where he beat Leo Laurens in the final. King has won several Open titles since he came onto the darts scene in 1995, including the Dutch Open in 1997. He made his debut at BDO World Darts Championship in 1997 as a 30-year-old. He reached the semi-final of the event beating Ronnie Baxter and Roland Scholten before losing to eventual champion Les Wallace. He won £8,700 for his performance.