Andy_Baetens
Andy Baetens
Belgian darts player
Andy Baetens (born 24 February 1989) is a Belgian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the reigning 2023 WDF World Darts champion, becoming the first Belgian player to win a world title. Baetens is also a four-time winner of the Czech Open and bronze medalist of the WDF Europe Cup. In the period from May 2023 to January 2024, he was the leader of the World Darts Federation men's ranking.
| Andy Baetens | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "The Beast from the East" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1989-02-24) 24 February 1989 (age 35) Nieuwerkerken, East Flanders, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Erembodegem, East Flanders, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | Datadart Orion 23g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 2014–2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2024– (Tour Card: 2024-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2014–2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 104  1 (28 April 2024)[1] (PDC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 32: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Trophy | Last 16: 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finder Masters | Last 24: 2016, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dutch Open | Runner Up: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 128: 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Baetens took part in the first international tournaments shortly after he start playing darts. He advanced to the quarter-finals at the Antwerp Open during 2015 edition. In 2016, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the Polish Open. With his final victory over Darryl Fitton at the Czech Open in 2016, Baetens was able to win his first major title before he finally made his breakthrough on the tour in 2017.
With the Romanian Classic, the Belgium Masters and the England Masters, Baetens won three World Darts Federation tournaments and was able to qualify for his first 2018 BDO World Darts Championship. He also reached the semi-finals of the German Masters and the final of the Denmark Open. At the 2018 BDO World Darts Championship, he entered the tournament in 13th place on the seeding list and defeated Scott Baker in the first round. In second round he surprisingly defeated Scott Mitchell by 2–4 in sets. In the quarter-finals, Baetens missed six match darts and lost to Scott Waites by 5–4 in sets.
Baetens back to international tournaments at the 2020 Dutch Open, where he advanced to the quarter-finals. He beat Dirk van Duijvenbode and Mario Vandenbogaerde, until Brian Raman stopped him in the deciding leg of the quarter-finals match. In September 2021, he won the Catalonia Open and FCD Anniversary Open. In November 2021, he took victory at the Czech Open for a second time.
In April 2022, he played at the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship. In the first round he beat Dave Parletti by 3–1 in sets. In the second round he beat Scott Marsh. His average for the match of 102.79 was the third highest in the history at the Lakeside Country Club.[2] In the quarter-finals he played against Thibault Tricole and finally lost by 3–4 in sets.
At the end of September, Baetens qualified for the 2022 Belgian Darts Open via the Host Nation Qualifier. There he lost in the first round match against Madars Razma. After few weeks, Baetens won a title at the Bruges Open. In November 2022, he won Czech Open for the third time. In the final duel against Antony Allen, he beat him by 5–0 in legs. He qualified for the 2022 Winmau World Masters, where he reached the fourth round, and for the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship. At the World Championship he defeated Sebastian Bialecki, Gary Stone and Jonny Tata to the reach his first world championship semifinal, the first for a Belgian at the Lakesidd. He then beat Dennis Nilsson to become the first Belgian in a world darts championship final. In the final he beat Chris Landman to win his first world title. In the period from May 2023 to January 2024, he was the leader of the World Darts Federation men's ranking. He is the third Belgian in history to finish the year in first place in this ranking, after Leo Laurens and Brian Raman.
In January 2024, Baetens entered the PDC European Q-School, earning an automatic two-year tour card following victory in the final on day three of the second stage.[3]
WDF major finals: 1 (1 title)
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | World Darts Championship |  Chris Landman |
6–1 (s) |
- (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
BDO/WDF
- 2018: Quarter-finals (lost to Scott Waites 4–5)
- 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to Thibault Tricole 3–4)
- 2023: Winner (beat Chris Landman 6–1)
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BDO/WDF Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO World Championship | DNQ | QF | DNQ | Defunct | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF World Championship | Not established | QF | W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Darts Trophy | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winmau World Masters | DNQ | NH | 4R | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zuiderduin Masters | RR | RR | DNP | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Darts Open | NH | DNP | NH | DNP | W | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dutch Open | Non-ranked | QF | NH | 7R | F | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC Year-end ranking | - | - | - | - | - | - | 191 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF Year-end ranking | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | 5 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | IDO DNP |
GDC DNP |
GDG DNP |
ADO DNP |
EDO DNP |
CDO DNP |
EDG DNP |
DDC DNP |
EDM DNP |
HDT DNP |
GDO DNP |
BDO 1R |
GDT DNP |
| 2023 | BSD DNP |
EDO DNP |
IDO DNP |
GDG DNP |
ADO DNP |
DDC DNP |
BDO 3R |
CDO DNP |
EDG DNP |
EDM DNP |
GDO DNP |
HDT DNP |
GDC DNP |
| Performance table legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DNP | Did not play at the event | DNQ | Did not qualify for the event | NYF | Not yet founded | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
| QF | lost in the quarter-finals | SF | lost in the semi-finals | RU | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
- "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- "Baetens hits third highest ever Lakeside average in Marsh win, Tricole ends Hine's run". Dartsnews.com. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- "Baetens & Bennett become latest duo to secure Tour Cards". www.pdc.tv. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
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