John Henderson (darts player)

John Henderson
File:John Henderson signing a fan's Opposuit following his win over Peter Wright.jpg John Henderson signing a fan's Opposuit following his win over Peter Wright File:John celebrating with his Red Army.jpg John celebrating with his Red Army
Personal information
Nickname	Highlander
Born	(1973-05-04) 4 May 1973 Scotland
Home town	Huntly Scotland
Darts information
Darts	24g a180 Hendo Darts
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean intro followed by Rockin' All Over the World by Status Quo
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2004–2010
PDC	2002–2003, 2011–
Current world ranking	31
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2005, 2010
World Masters	Last 32: 2005
Zuiderduin Masters	Last 24 Group: 2010
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 32: 2014
World Matchplay	Last 16: 2011
World Grand Prix	Quarter-final: 2011
Grand Slam	Last 32 Group: 2010
European Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2015
UK Open	Last 16: 2013, 2015
Players Ch'ship Finals	Last 32: 2011
Other tournament wins
Belgium Open 2009 British Open 2008 Didam Open 2009 German Open 2009 Granite City Open 2003 Hal Open 2010 Scotland National Championships 2009 Scottish Masters 2004

John Henderson (born 4 May 1973) is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.

Darts career

Henderson briefly played in the Professional Darts Corporation, playing one tournament in Scotland and then the 2003 UK Open where he lost in the first round having won his Preliminary match. Henderson then qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship, where he beat Stephen Bunting in the first round before losing in round two to Martin Adams – hitting a record 13 180s (for a five-set match) in the 3–2 defeat. Henderson then reached the quarter finals of the 2005 British Open and the Last 32 of the 2005 Winmau World Masters.

Henderson reached the final of the 2007 British Open. He beat Tony O'Shea in the quarter finals and Ted Hankey in the semis before losing to Gary Anderson in the final. This was followed however with failure to qualify for the 2008 BDO World Championship and an early exit from the 2007 World Masters.

2008–2009

2008 was a good year for Henderson, reaching the semi-finals of the Norway Open and the quarter finals of the WDF Europe Cup. On 20 September 2008 Henderson captured his very first title, winning the 2008 British Open. He scored notable wins over Edwin Max and Dave Chisnall to earn a spot into the televised stages which were shown live on Setanta Sports. He then defeated Gary Robson in the quarter-finals and Mareno Michels in the semis before avenging his defeat over Anderson twelve months previously by beating him in the final to win the £3,000 top prize. The win also helped Henderson finish fourth in the BDO International Grand Prix, earning him another £2,750 for his efforts. He also shot up the world rankings as a result of the win, moving him into the WDF's top 20, . He then captured the German Open in 2009, beating Stephen Bunting in the final which elevated Henderson to seven in the WDF rankings.

2010–2011

Henderson then qualified for the 2010 BDO World Championship, winning one of four places available from the Inter-Playoff Qualifiers in Bridlington. He was defeated in the second round by Scott Waites. Henderson failed to qualify for the 2011 tournament, but did qualify for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts where he finished third in his group. After being defeated by Mervyn King he was accused of standing in front of the oche, however after watching the match again, King admitted that he had over-reacted and apologised to Henderson in a pre-match interview.

On 15 January 2011 Henderson came through qualifying at the PDC Q-School event and has therefore left the British Darts Organisation. On joining the PDC he said "It means everything to me the first two days were hard and I felt a lot of pressure today but to qualify, so I'm delighted I did it."

In the 2011 Derby championships he hit the 9 darter in his second leg of the second round beating Andy Hamilton 6–5 and earning £800.

Henderson qualified for the 2011 World Matchplay where he beat Colin Lloyd 10–7 in the first round, before losing to Andy Hamilton 13–11 in the second round. He defeated on form Justin Pipe 2–0 at the World Grand Prix 2011, he went on to reach the Quarter finals losing to eventual runner up Brendan Dolan

2012 onwards

Henderson reached his first PDC World Championship in 2012, but was beaten by three-time World Champion, John Part, 0–3. He only managed to win 2 legs during the match, with Part stating afterwards that "John struggled and wasn't himself". His best result on the 2012 Pro Tour was in reaching the quarter-finals of the 16th Players Championship event, where he lost to Nick Fullwell 2–6. Henderson was beaten in the last 16 of the Qualifier for the 2013 World Championship. He was ranked world number 39 after the World Championship.

Henderson qualified for the 2013 UK Open by finishing 50th on the Order of Merit to enter the event in the second round. He enjoyed his best ever run in the tournament by beating Dave Place, Scott Rand and Kevin McDine to advance to the last 16. He played James Wade and lost 9–4. Henderson reached the quarter-finals of a Players Championship played in Killarney for the second consecutive year as he beat Mark Webster, Ian White and Justin Pipe before being whitewashed 6–0 by Darren Webster. He qualified for the 2014 World Championship through the ProTour Order of Merit having claimed the ninth of sixteen places that were available to non-qualified players. Henderson started his first round match brightly as he took a 2–0 lead against seventh seed Dave Chisnall which included a 132 finish of bull, bull, double 16. He threw for the match in the third set but lost the leg and the set as Chisnall fought back to level the game. Henderson survived four match darts from Chisnall in the final set as he pulled off a big shock win in a performance he rated as the best of his career. Another tight match followed against Mark Webster with Henderson missing three darts at tops to seal a 4–2 win, and then went on to lose the deciding set to bow out of the tournament 4–3.

At the 2014 UK Open, Henderson was beaten 5–1 by Jelle Klaasen in the second round. He beat Steve Hine 6–4, Peter Wright 6–5 and Simon Whitlock 6–2 (with an average of 106.12) to reach the quarter-finals of the German Darts Masters, where he lost 6–2 against Adrian Lewis. In the rest of the year he lost in the last 16 of two Players Championships and qualified for three European Tour events, losing in the second round in two and the opening round of the other.

The opening four sets in Henderson's first round 2015 World Championship match against Vincent van der Voort went with throw to send it into a deciding set. Van der Voort hit a crucial 157 finish with Henderson waiting on 80 for the match and from there the Dutchman won back-to-back 14 dart legs to knock him out. A pair of last 16 finishes helped Henderson enter the UK Open at the third round stage and he eliminated Steve Douglas 9–7 and then retained his composure when Daryl Gurney won five legs in a row to lead 8–7 by beating him 9–8. This matched Henderson's best ever run the event, but it came to a sudden end when he lost 9–2 against Peter Wright. At the German Darts Masters, Henderson defeated Michael Smith 6–4 and then averaged 102.48 in a 6–0 whitewash over Andrew Gilding. He improved upon that in the quarter-finals by averaging 107.72 during a 6–1 victory against Brendan Dolan and knocked out Adrian Lewis 6–4 to reach his first PDC final. Henderson played world number one Michael van Gerwen and he sent the match into a final leg decider, after being 3–0 down, which he lost without getting a dart for the title. He suffered first round exits at the World Matchplay (10–2 to Phil Taylor) and the World Grand Prix (2–0 in sets to Gary Anderson), but then defeated Robert Thornton 6–4 at the European Championship. Henderson then took advantage of a poor performance from Rowby-John Rodriguez in the second round to thrash him 10–2 and reach his first major quarter-final in over four years, where he lost 10–4 to Peter Wright.

After taking the opening set in his first round match at the 2016 World Championship, Henderson went on to lose 3–1 against Darren Webster.

World Championship results

BDO

• 2005: Second round (lost to Martin Adams 2–3)
• 2010: Second round (lost to Scott Waites 1–4)

PDC

• 2012: First round (lost to John Part 0–3)
• 2014: Second round (lost to Mark Webster 3–4)
• 2015: First round (lost to Vincent van der Voort 2–3)
• 2016: First round (lost to Darren Webster 1–3)

Personal life

Outside darts he makes and tests slings for chemical offshore companies as he is only a part-time darts player. He has expressed his desire to go full-time on the circuit, which joining the PDC has potentially allowed him to do.

Henderson currently plays darts for the Masada Bar in the Aberdeen Darts Association. His official stage name is "The Highlander", but he is also often referred as "Big John".

He is a fan of Glasgow Celtic

He is engaged to Veronica Hughes and has no children.

External links

• Profile and stats on Darts Database
• John Hendersons Official Website
• Management Website
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