Jamie Caven

Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976)^[1] is an English former professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He has won seven events on the PDC Pro Tour, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was also the World Youth Masters champion in 1993.

Jamie Caven
Personal information
Full name	Jamie Robert Caven
Nickname	"Jabba"
Born	(1976-03-10) 10 March 1976 (age 48) Leicester, England
Home town	Derby, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1993
Darts	23g XQ-Max Signature
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Tom Hark" by The Piranhas
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2019
PDC	2007–2019 (Tour card: 2011-2018)
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2016
World Matchplay	Last 16: 2013
World Grand Prix	Last 32: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
UK Open	Quarter Final: 2009, 2012
European Ch'ship	Quarter Final: 2010, 2013
Ch'ship League	Semi Final: 2012
Desert Classic	Last 32: 2009
US Open/WSoD	Last 16: 2009
PC Finals	Quarter Final: 2014
Other tournament wins
Eyres Monsell Open 2009 Granite City Open 2014 Potteries Open 2014 Sportsdale.com Xmas Open 2010 World Youth Masters 1993 Players Championships Players Championship (AUT) 2009 Players Championship (CAN) 2010 Players Championship (DER) 2011 Players Championship (IRE) 2010 Players Championship (WIG) 2013 (x2) UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers UK Open Regional (WAL) 2009

Early life

Caven has no sight in his right eye, after being stung by a bee when he was 18 months old.^[2] At the age of 17, Caven won the World Youth Masters.^[2] When he was 20, tumours were found in his pancreas resulting in its removal and his requirement to have four insulin injections a day for the rest of his life. This is where his darts nickname Jabba originated.^[3]

Career

Caven qualified for the 2008 World Championship at Alexandra Palace, and defeated Wes Newton in the first round 3–0, before playing Wayne Mardle in the second round, taking the first set before losing 4–1.^[4]

Caven won his first PDC title, by edging Alan Tabern in a final leg decider to win the UK Open Welsh Regional in Newport in May 2009.^[5] A month later he reached his first PDC major quarter-final at the UK Open, where he lost 10–3 to Colin Osborne.^[6]

Caven lost in the first round of the 2010 PDC World Championship to Gary Anderson 3–2.^[7]

He won his first round match of the 2011 World Championship by defeating South Africa's Devon Petersen, 3–2, but was then whitewashed 4–0 by Colin Osborne in the last 32.

Caven was seeded 18 for the 2012 World Championship but lost to Roland Scholten 1–3 in the first round.^[8] Caven trailed Joe Cullen 0–4 and 1–5 in the last 16 of the UK Open, but produced a superb comeback, concluding with a 160 finish in the deciding leg to take the match 9–8.^[9] He played Denis Ovens in the quarter-finals and lost 6–10.^[10] Caven qualified from Group 7 of the Championship League with a 6–4 victory against Paul Nicholson.^[11] He finished 2nd in the Winners Group, having won five of his seven league matches, but then lost to Simon Whitlock 4–6 in the semi-finals, having led 4–3.^[12] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Caven was 31st on the Order of Merit, just inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals.^[13] He lost to Whitlock 3–6 in the first round.^[14]

2013

Caven let a 2–1 set lead slip in the first round of the 2013 World Championship as he lost 2–3 to qualifier John Bowles.^[15] He reached the final of the fourth UK Open Qualifier in March, but lost to Robert Thornton 4–6 having defeated Gary Anderson 6–2 in the semi-finals.^[16] Caven won his first title for over two years in May at the third Players Championship, winning seven matches on the day concluding with a 6–4 victory over Paul Nicholson in the final.^[17] His form continued into the fourth event a day later as he won it by beating Jelle Klaasen 6–4 in the final with an incredible average of 110.68.^[18] An unlucky draw at the UK Open saw him face James Wade in the third round and he lost 7–9.^[19] At the European Championship, Caven beat Dave Chisnall 6–0 and Wade 10–2 to breeze into the quarter-finals.^[20] He played Simon Whitlock and led 9–3 only to suffer a huge comeback from the Australian as Caven lost seven legs in a row to be beaten 10–9.^[21] Caven fought back from 5–2 and 7–4 down to Wes Newton in the first round of the World Matchplay to win 10–8.^[22] He almost produced another turn around in his next game against Chisnall as he led 10–7 from being 6–2 down having twice set up the possibility of a nine darter by hitting back to back maximums. However, Caven then lost six legs in a row to exit the tournament.^[23] In October, he reached the final of the 11th Players Championship but was edged out 6–5 by Robert Thornton.^[24] He lost 9–4 to Justin Pipe in the second round of the Players Championship Finals having beaten Colin Lloyd 6–3 in the opener.^[25]

2014

Caven beat Jelle Klaasen 3–1 in the first round of the 2014 World Championship to set up a meeting with Raymond van Barneveld.^[26] Caven took the first set in a deciding leg by hitting a 136 finish with Van Barneveld waiting on 20 and then missed one dart to take a 2–0 lead, instead going on to trail 2–1. Caven won two successive sets to regain the advantage but could only win one more leg after this in a 4–3 defeat.^[27] He was the victim of a shock 5–3 defeat against Kevin Dowling in the second round of the UK Open.^[28] In May, he advanced to the semi-finals of an event for the first time in a year at the ninth Players Championship where he lost 6–2 against Peter Wright.^[29] Caven beat Terry Jenkins, Stephen Bunting, Phil Taylor and Wright all by 6–5 scorelines at the Austrian Darts Open to reach the final. He built a 5–2 lead over Vincent van der Voort, but went on to lose 6–5 without ever having a dart for the title.^[30] Caven was knocked out of the first round in the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix and the second round of the European Championship.^[31] He won a place in the Grand Slam of Darts through the qualifier but lost each of his group games to finish bottom of the table.^[32] Caven saw off Ian White 6–4 at the Players Championship Finals and was almost the victim of a huge fightback from Robert Thornton as he forced a deciding leg after having been 9–4 behind. However, he survived one match dart to win 10–9 and reach his only major quarter-final of the year where he faced Adrian Lewis.^[33] Caven missed a dart for the match at the bull to complete a 167 finish to win 10–8 and was instead eliminated 10–9.^[34]

2015

Caven lost 4–3 in the second round of the 2015 World Championship to Raymond van Barneveld for the second year in a row. There was never more than a set between the players, with Caven having the higher average, checkout percentage and winning more legs (15 to 14).^[35] He saw off Terry Jenkins 9–3 at the UK Open, before losing 9–6 to Devon Petersen in the fourth round.^[36] His first round meeting with Dave Chisnall at the World Matchplay went to extra legs, with Caven being edged out 13–11.^[37] He exited in the first round of the other two majors he reached in 2015 (2–0 in sets to Ian White at the World Grand Prix and 6–3 to Michael Smith at the Players Championship Finals).^[38][39] At the Dutch Darts Masters, Caven eliminated John Henderson 6–0, David Pallett 6–5 and Kim Huybrechts 6–2 to play in his only semi-final this year, but he lost 6–4 to Justin Pipe.^[40]

2016

Caven did not drop a set against Rob Szabo and Ricky Evans to reach the third round of the World Championship for the first time in his ninth appearance in the event.^[41] However, he was defeated 4–1 by James Wade.^[42] He lost 9–6 against Stephen Bunting in the fourth round of the UK Open.^[43] A 6–4 win over Dave Chisnall saw Caven play in his first final in nearly two years at the eighth Players Championship, but he was comfortably beaten 6–1 by Gerwyn Price.^[44] After missing darts at doubles in the second leg of his first round match with Michael van Gerwen at the World Matchplay, Caven did not get any more double chances as he was whitewashed 10–0. He averaged 79.98 to Van Gerwen's 105.85.^[45] He also had first round exits at the World Grand Prix, European Championship and Players Championship Finals.^[46]

2017

Caven entered the 2017 World Championship on a run of eight successive losses in all events. He was beaten 3–1 by Kevin Painter in the first round, losing the final six legs of the match.^[47]

2018

Caven failed to qualify for the 2018 World Championship for the first time in 10 years.

He qualified for the 2018 European Darts Grand Prix, eventually losing to Mensur Suljović in the second round.

2019

Caven once against failed to qualify for the 2019 World Championship he announced that in January he would be heading to Q-School in an attempt to regain his PDC Tour Card. Caven failed to regain his tour card and as a result has started playing in Challenge Tour events.

On 16 February Caven entered the BDO Scottish Open where he battled against near 1000 other players reaching the semi-finals. He gained 25 points on his BDO ranking.

Caven also played in the 2019 Slovak Darts Open and Masters where he did not enjoy the success he had seen in Scotland but managed to pick up more ranking points. Later Caven played in the 3-day Isle of Man Darts Classic where he reached the last 64 in the Open and the last 32 in the Masters.

2020 – PDC

It was announced that he will be competing for a tour card at the 2020 Q School to join the Professional Darts Corporation, however he was unsuccessful.

World Championship results

PDC

• 2008: Second round (lost to Wayne Mardle 1–4)
• 2009: First round (lost to Mark Walsh 2–3)
• 2010: First round (lost to Gary Anderson 2–3)
• 2011: Second round (lost to Colin Osborne 0–4)
• 2012: First round (lost to Roland Scholten 1–3)
• 2013: First round (lost to John Bowles 2–3)
• 2014: Second round (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3–4)
• 2015: Second round (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3–4)
• 2016: Third round (lost to James Wade 1–4)
• 2017: First round (lost to Kevin Painter 1–3)

Performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
PDC World Championship	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	1R	DNQ
UK Open	2R	QF	4R	3R	QF	3R	2R	4R	4R	3R	DNQ
World Matchplay	DNQ	1R	1R	1R	DNQ	2R	1R	1R	1R	DNQ
World Grand Prix	DNQ	1R	1R	1R	DNQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	DNQ
European Championship	DNQ		QF	1R	DNQ	QF	2R	DNQ	1R	DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts	Did not qualify						RR	Did not qualify
Players Championship Finals	DNQ	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	QF	1R	1R	2R	DNQ
Championship League Darts	DNQ		RR	RR	SF	RR	Not held
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	NA	25	19	18	31	23	19	22	30	39	68

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2012	ADO 1R	GDC 1R	EDO 1R	GDM 1R	DDM 1R
2013	UKM 2R	EDT 2R	EDO SF	ADO 2R	GDT 3R	GDC 1R	GDM 1R	DDM 1R
2014	GDC 2R	DDM 2R	GDM 2R	ADO F	GDT 3R	EDO QF	EDG 3R	EDT 2R
2015	GDC 1R	GDT DNQ	GDM 3R	DDM SF	IDO 2R	EDO DNQ	EDT DNP	EDM 1R	EDG 2R
2016	DDM 1R	GDM DNQ	GDT DNQ	EDM 3R	ADO 2R	EDO 2R	IDO 1R	EDT 2R	EDG DNQ	GDC DNQ
2017	GDC DNQ	GDM DNQ	GDO DNQ	EDG DNQ	GDT DNQ	EDM DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	DDM DNQ	GDG 2R	IDO DNQ	EDT 2R
2018	EDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDG 2R	DDM DNP	GDT DNQ	DDO DNQ	EDM DNQ	GDC DNQ	DDC DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDT DNQ

Performance timeline legend
DNP	Did not play in the event	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament

Career finals

PDC European tour finals: (1 runner-up)

Legend
Other (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2014	Austrian Darts Open	Vincent van der Voort	5–6 (l)

References

1. "Dart Profis – Jamie Caven – "Jabba"". Dartn.de (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2020.
2. "Playing a blinder". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
3. "Jamie Caven Profile". Unicorn Darts. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
4. "2008 PDC World Championship Results". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
5. "Top darts player Caven will be at social club". Matlock Mercury. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
6. "2009 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
7. "2010 PDC World Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
8. "World Championship – Night One". PDC. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
9. "Speedy Services UK Open RD5". PDC. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
10. "2012 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
11. "2012 Championship of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
12. "Taylor Retains CLD Title in Style". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
13. "Minehead Qualifiers Confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
14. "Cash Converters PCF Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
15. "Ladbrokes WDC Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
16. "Thorn Strikes For Qualifier Four Win". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
17. "Brilliant Caven Triumphs in Wigan". PDC. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
18. "Brilliant Double For Caven". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
19. "Speedy Services UK Open – Friday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
20. "2013 European Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
21. "partypoker.net Euro Champs QFs". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
22. "BetVictor World Matchplay Night Three". PDC. 19 October 2013. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
23. "BetVictor World Matchplay Night Five". PDC. 19 October 2013. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
24. "Thornton Triumphs in Killarney". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
25. "2013 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
26. "Ladbrokes World Championship Day Three". PDC. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
27. "Ladbrokes World Championship Day Eight". PDC. 21 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
28. "Coral UK Open – Friday Afternoon". PDC. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
29. "Wright wins in Crawley". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
30. "Gutsy van der Voort's Austrian Joy". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
31. "Jamie Caven 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
32. "2014 Grand Slam of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
33. "Cash Converters PCF Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
34. "Super Anderson's Minehead Glory". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
35. "William Hill World Championship Day Nine". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
36. "2015 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
37. "BetVictor World Matchplay Day Three". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
38. "2015 World Grand Prix Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
39. "2015 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
40. "2015 PDC Dutch Darts Masters Results". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
41. "William Hill World Championship Day Eight". PDC. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
42. "William Hill World Championship Day 11". PDC. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
43. "2016 Coral UK Open Fourth Round". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
44. "Coventry Win Seals Price's Second Title". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
45. "BetVictor World Matchplay Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
46. "Jamie Caven 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
47. "William Hill World Championship Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.

External links

• Jamie Caven's official website
• Jamie Caven's profile and stats on Darts Database
• 2010 Interview with Jamie Caven a Darts, Beers & Cheers!