Nathan Aspinall

Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number eight; he reached a peak ranking of world number four in 2024. Nicknamed "the Asp", he has won two PDC major titles, winning the 2023 World Matchplay and 2019 UK Open. Aspinall has finished as runner-up at four other major events: the 2020 Premier League, 2022 World Grand Prix, 2022 Grand Slam and 2023 World Series Finals.

Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall at the 2025 World Championship
Personal information
Nickname	The Asp
Born	(1991-07-15) 15 July 1991 (age 33) Stockport, England
Darts information
Darts	26g Target Signature
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Mr. Brightside" by the Killers with intro to "Charlemagne" by Blossoms
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC	2012– (Tour Card: 2015–2016, 2018–)
Current world ranking	(PDC) 8 4 (23 March 2025)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Masters	Last 272: 2013
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Semi Final: 2019, 2020
World Matchplay	Winner (1): 2023
World Grand Prix	Runner Up: 2022
UK Open	Winner (1): 2019
Grand Slam	Runner Up: 2022
European Ch'ship	Semi Final: 2021
Premier League	Runner Up: 2020
PC Finals	Last 32: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024
Masters	Semi Final: 2020, 2024
World Series Finals	Runner Up: 2023
Other tournament wins
European Tour Events European Darts Trophy 2025 Players Championships Players Championship (Barnsley) (x5) 2018, 2020 (x2) 2022 (x2) World Series of Darts US Darts Masters 2019 PDC Home Tour PDC Home Tour 2020 Challenge Tour PDC Challenge Tour 2017 PDC Development Tour 2015

He is a two-time World Championship semi-finalist with back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2019 and 2020. He won his first World Series of Darts title at the 2019 US Darts Masters and his first European Tour title at the 2025 European Darts Trophy. Aspinall has won a total of nine PDC titles in his professional career.

Early life

Aspinall played semi-professional football as a goalkeeper, having once been scouted by Manchester United's academy. He was offered a deal by Rangers but turned it down as his family did not want to move to Scotland. He played in Stockport County's academy until he was 15, joining Cheadle Town. He worked as a trainee accountant before quitting to become a professional darts player.^[2]

Career

Aspinall began playing in PDC Development and Challenge Tour events in 2012. His first semi-final in those came in 2013, where he lost 4–2 to Max Hopp.^[3] He won a two-year PDC Tour Card in 2015 through the Q School Order of Merit and qualified for the UK Open, where he beat Chris Dobey 5–1 and James Richardson 9–4, before losing 4–9 to James Wade in the fourth round.^[4][5] Aspinall's first European Tour appearance was at the Dutch Darts Masters and he squeezed past Jamie Robinson and Vincent van der Voort both 6–5.^[6] In the third round Justin Pipe eliminated him 6–4.^[7] Aspinall won the seventh Development Tour event of 2015 with a 4–2 victory over Benito van de Pas.^[8] He also lost in the final of two other events during the year.^[9] Aspinall made his first televised appearance in the final of the 2015 PDC World Youth Championship, where he played the German Max Hopp. After 10 legs of holding throw, the final deciding leg was thrown by Aspinall, and despite having match darts, it was Hopp who won 6–5.^[10]

While throwing a dart, Aspinall often stops to grip it differently. Commentators and others have suggested that this is due to dartitis. Michael van Gerwen indicated in 2022 that, during a match, he thought his opponent was suffering from this problem. Aspinall himself invariably denies during interviews that the hiccups have a mental cause.^[11][12] However, he later openly admitted to having the condition, having first encountered it during a Premier League match against Peter Wright in 2023. ^[13]

2016

Aspinall was beaten 6–5 by Stuart Kellett in the second round of the 2016 UK Open.^[14] At the sixth Players Championship he reached his first quarter-final on the main tour and narrowly lost 6–5 against Vincent van der Voort.^[15] Aspinall qualified for his first Grand Slam of Darts, but could not get a win out of his group fixtures with Raymond van Barneveld, Mensur Suljović and Danny Noppert to finish bottom of his group.^[16]

2018

Aspinall won his first ranking PDC title in September 2018, beating Ryan Searle 6–4 in the final of Players Championship 18, in Barnsley.^[17]

Aspinall made his Players Championship Finals debut at the 2018 edition as the 25th seed. He defeated 40th seed Martin Schindler 6–1 in the first round but lost to 8th seed James Wade 6–4 in the second round.

2019: UK Open champion

At the 2019 World Championship, Aspinall made his debut as a ProTour Order of Merit qualifier. He was made a 500/1 outsider before the tournament.^[18] In the first round he whitewashed Geert Nentjes 3–0 before defeating the 6th seed Gerwyn Price 3–2 in a deciding set in the second round.^[19] Aspinall then defeated Kyle Anderson 4–1,^[20] Devon Petersen 4–3^[21] and Brendan Dolan 5–1^[22] on his way to the semi-finals, where he lost to Michael Smith 6–3.

Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Aspinall was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He played a one-off match against Michael Smith on night six in Nottingham, losing 7–2.

Aspinall won his first PDC major at the 2019 UK Open, defeating Toni Alcinas, Christian Kist, Madars Razma, Steve Lennon, Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price to reach the final, where he defeated Rob Cross 11–5 to take the title, winning the final leg with a 170 checkout.^[23] The win took Aspinall into the top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career.

Aspinall won his second televised title at the 2019 US Darts Masters, the first event on the 2019 World Series of Darts.^[24] It was Aspinall's first World Series event, and the only one he was selected to compete in during the 2019 edition.^[25] In the first round, he defeated Shawn Brenneman 6–2 before achieving wins over Rob Cross 8–5, and Peter Wright 8–7 in a last leg decider. Aspinall averaged 106.70 in the final, defeating Michael Smith 8-4. Aspinall received £20,000 in prize money for his victory.

He made his debut at the World Matchplay at the 2019 event. He was the first player to make his World Matchplay debut as a seed since Simon Whitlock in 2010. He lost to Mervyn King in the first round 10-5 despite averaging 103.

2020

At the 2020 World Championship, Aspinall once again reached the semi-finals. He defeated Gary Anderson before a 5–3 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the quarter-finals en route to the last four.^[26] He fell to defending champion Michael van Gerwen 6–3.^[27]

Aspinall followed his second world championship semi-final by reaching the semi-finals of the Masters, where he was beaten 11–10 by Michael Smith in a deciding leg.^[28] He was selected for his Premier League Darts debut season as part of the 2020 lineup after competing as a 'contender' the previous year.^[29] He qualified for the play-offs by finishing third in the league stage table.^[30] He defeated reigning world champion Peter Wright 10–7 in the semi-finals to set up a clash with fellow Premier League debutant Glen Durrant in the final. Aspinall succumbed to an 11–8 defeat to Durrant.^[31]

2021

At the 2021 World Championship, Aspinall came back from 2–0 down to beat Scott Waites 3–2 in the second round.^[32] He was eliminated from the tournament before the semi-finals for the first time as he lost 4–2 in the third round to Vincent van der Voort.^[33]

Aspinall finished third in the 2021 Premier League's league phase, losing 8–3 to José de Sousa on night 16 who took second place.^[34] The two met in the play-off semi-finals, with De Sousa beating Aspinall 10–9 in a deciding leg.^[35] He reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay,^[36] where he was defeated 16–9 by Michael van Gerwen.^[37] He then reached the semi-finals of the European Championship but lost 11–10 to Van Gerwen.^[38]

2022

Despite suffering with tendonitis, Aspinall was able to win his opening match at the 2022 World Championship, recovering from 2–1 down to defeat Joe Murnan, who had a dart to win the match.^[39] He was whitewashed 4–0 in the third round by Callan Rydz.^[40] He then withdrew from the Masters due to injury.^[41]

Aspinall reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay, where he was eliminated by Michael van Gerwen in a narrow 16–14 defeat.^[42] He also won two ranking titles during the year. He claimed the Players Championship 13 title with an 8–6 triumph over Matt Campbell in the final.^[43] He added a second Players Championship victory in the 22nd event, defeating Krzysztof Ratajski 8–3 in the final.^[44]

At the World Grand Prix in October, Aspinall reached the final following a 4–2 win over Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals, setting up a match against Michael van Gerwen for the prize.^[45] Despite briefly rallying from 4–0 down, he finally succumbed to a 5–3 defeat to Van Gerwen.^[46] The next month, he reached his second major final of the year at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he lost 16–5 to Michael Smith.^[47]

2023: World Matchplay champion

Aspinall in 2023

At the 2023 World Championship, Aspinall won his opening match 3–1 against Boris Krčmar.^[48] He lost 4–3 in the third round to Josh Rock.^[49]

Aspinall was a quarter-finalist at the UK Open, where he was beaten 10–6 by eventual runner-up Michael van Gerwen.^[50] He reached a sole 2023 European Tour final at the German Darts Grand Prix, losing 8–5 to Michael Smith.^[51] During the 2023 Premier League, he achieved his first nightly win on night 12 in Rotterdam. He got past Michael van Gerwen and Dimitri Van den Bergh to reach the final, where he defeated Gerwyn Price 6–4.^[52] He finished the league phase in fifth place, missing out on qualifying for the play-offs by failing to reach the final on night 16.^[53]

In July, Aspinall won a second major title at the World Matchplay.^[54][55] His run to the final included wins over Krzysztof Ratajski, Danny Noppert, Chris Dobey and Joe Cullen.^[56] In the final, he won 13 of the last 14 legs to defeat Jonny Clayton 18–6.^[57]

He made the final of the New Zealand Darts Masters but lost a deciding leg to Rob Cross who won 8–7.^[58] He was denied in a final once again at the World Series Finals, losing to Michael van Gerwen 11–4.^[59]

2024

At the 2024 World Championship, Aspinall suffered a shock early exit, losing 3–0 in the second round to Ricky Evans.^[60]

Aspinall achieved two nightly wins during the 2024 Premier League. He picked up his first win on night five in Exeter, beating Peter Wright and world champion Luke Humphries before a 6–2 victory over Rob Cross in the final.^[61] His second nightly win came in Rotterdam on night 12 where he defeated Michael Smith 6–4 in the final.^[62] Aspinall missed out on qualification for the play-offs by losing to Smith 6–3 in their opening match on night 16, with Smith claiming the final place.^[63]

In his defence of the World Matchplay, he was eliminated in the second round after an 11–8 loss to James Wade.^[64] Prior to the tournament, Aspinall admitted that due to a tennis elbow-like injury, he would be taking a break following his title defence.^[65] This resulted in him withdrawing from the World Series Finals in September.^[66] At the Players Championship Finals in November, he defeated number one seed Chris Dobey 6–1 in the first round,^[67] before exiting the tournament in a 6–3 defeat to Niels Zonneveld.^[68]

2025

Entering the second round of the 2025 World Championship as 12th seed, Aspinall began his campaign with a 3–1 win over Leonard Gates. After the match, Aspinall stated that he wanted to prove how good he was and go deep in the tournament after facing scrutiny for recent poor performances.^[69] He defeated Andrew Gilding 4–0 before dispatching Ricardo Pietreczko by the same scoreline to progress to the quarter-finals.^[70][71] Aspinall was denied a third Alexandra Palace semi-final by Luke Littler, to whom he lost 5–2.^[72]

Aspinall reached his second European Tour final at the European Darts Trophy after defeating Gary Anderson in the semi-finals. He won the final 8–4 against Ryan Joyce to claim his first European Tour title.^[73]

Personal life

Aspinall is a supporter of Manchester United^[74] and his local side Stockport County.^[75]

World Championship results

PDC

• 2019: Semi-finals (lost to Michael Smith 3–6)
• 2020: Semi-finals (lost to Michael van Gerwen 3–6)
• 2021: Third round (lost to Vincent van der Voort 2–4)
• 2022: Third round (lost to Callan Rydz 0–4)
• 2023: Third round (lost to Josh Rock 3–4)
• 2024: Second round (lost to Ricky Evans 0–3)
• 2025: Quarter-finals (lost to Luke Littler 2–5)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up)

Legend
World Matchplay (1–0)
Premier League (0–1)
UK Open (1–0)
World Grand Prix (0–1)
Grand Slam (0–1)
World Series Finals (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]	Ref.
Winner	1.	2019	UK Open	Rob Cross	11–5 (l)	[76]
Runner-up	1.	2020	Premier League	Glen Durrant	8–11 (l)
Runner-up	2.	2022	World Grand Prix	Michael van Gerwen	3–5 (s)
Runner-up	3.	2022	Grand Slam	Michael Smith	5–16 (l)
Winner	2.	2023	World Matchplay	Jonny Clayton	18–6 (l)
Runner-up	4.	2023	World Series Finals	Michael van Gerwen	4–11 (l)

1. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

PDC World Series finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
World Series of Darts (1–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2019	US Darts Masters	Michael Smith	8–4 (l)
Runner-up	1.	2023	New Zealand Darts Masters	Rob Cross	7–8 (l)

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
PDC Ranked televised events
World Championship	Did not qualify				SF	SF	3R	3R	3R	2R	QF
World Masters	Did not qualify					SF	QF	WD	1R	SF	QF
UK Open	4R	2R	DNQ	3R	W	4R	4R	4R	QF	5R	QF
World Matchplay	Did not qualify				1R	1R	QF	QF	W	2R
World Grand Prix	Did not qualify				QF	1R	1R	F	1R	2R
European Championship	DNQ		1R	DNQ	2R	2R	SF	1R	2R	1R
Grand Slam	DNQ	RR	DNQ		RR	QF	DNQ	F	2R	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	Did not qualify			2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	DNQ	2R
PDC Non-ranked televised events
Premier League	Did not participate				C	F	SF	DNP	5th	5th
World Series Finals	Did not qualify				1R	QF	1R	DNP	F	WD
World Youth Championship	F	Did not participate
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	102	73	64	72	12	6	14	9	4	11

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
2015	Did not qualify			DDM 3R	IDO DNQ	EDO 1R	Did not qualify
2016	DDM DNQ	GDM 1R	Did not qualify						EDG 2R	GDC DNQ
2017	GDC DNQ	GDM DNP	GDO 2R	DNQ		EDM 2R	ADO DNQ	EDO 1R	DDM 3R	GDG 3R	IDO DNQ	EDT 2R
2018	EDO DNQ	GDG 1R	GDO 1R	Did not qualify
2019	EDO DNQ	GDC 2R	GDG DNQ	GDO QF	ADO 3R	EDG QF	DDM 1R	DDO 2R	CDO 2R	ADC 2R	EDM 2R	IDO QF	GDT SF
2020	BDC QF	GDC 3R	EDG QF	IDO 3R
2021	HDT 3R	GDT SF
2022	IDO SF	DNP		ADO SF	EDO QF	CDO 2R	EDG DNQ	DDC 2R	EDM QF	HDT SF	GDO 2R	BDO 3R	GDT QF
2023	BSD 2R	EDO DNQ	IDO 3R	GDG F	ADO 3R	DDC 3R	BDO QF	CDO QF	EDG QF	EDM QF	GDO 3R	HDT 2R	GDC 2R
2024	BDO 1R	GDG QF	IDO 3R	EDG WD	ADO DNP	BSD 1R	Withdrew				HDT 2R	SDT 3R	CDO 2R
2025	BDO 2R	EDT W	IDO	GDG	ADO	EDG	DDC	EDO	BSD	FDT	CDO	HDT	SDT	GDC

PDC Players Championships

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
2015	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	COV 2R	COV 2R	COV 2R	CRA 1R	CRA 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	DNP		BAR 2R	BAR 1R	DUB 1R	DUB 1R	COV 1R	COV 1R
2016	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR QF	BAR 1R	COV 1R	COV 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	DUB 1R	DUB 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R
2017[nb 1]	Did not participate										MIL 1R	MIL 1R	DNP		BAR 1R	BAR QF	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	DUB 1R	DUB 2R	BAR DNP	BAR 2R
2018	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	MIL 2R	MIL 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	MIL 3R	MIL 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR W	DUB 3R	DUB 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R
2019	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG QF	BAR 3R	BAR SF	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	BAR F	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR QF	WIG F	WIG 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 4R	HIL 2R	HIL 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR F	BAR 3R	DUB QF	DUB 2R	DNP
2020	BAR 4R	BAR W	WIG 3R	WIG 3R	WIG 4R	WIG 3R	BAR W	BAR 1R	MIL 1R	MIL SF	MIL 3R	MIL 4R	MIL QF	NIE 3R	NIE SF	NIE 4R	NIE QF	NIE 1R	COV 2R	COV 1R	COV 4R	COV 4R	COV 4R
2021	BOL SF	BOL SF	BOL 1R	BOL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	MIL 3R	NIE 4R	NIE 4R	NIE 2R	NIE 1R	MIL 1R	DNP			COV 2R	COV 1R	COV QF	COV 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR SF	BAR QF	BAR 2R	BAR F	BAR 3R
2022	Did not participate				BAR 3R	BAR 2R	DNP		BAR 1R	BAR QF	BAR F	BAR 1R	BAR W	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	NIE 3R	NIE F	BAR SF	BAR 1R	BAR SF	BAR QF	BAR W	BAR F	BAR 3R	DNP		BAR 1R	BAR DNP	BAR 3R	BAR 1R
2023	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR QF	BAR 3R	Did not participate								LEI 1R	LEI 2R	Did not participate					BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	Did not participate
2024	WIG 4R	WIG 3R	LEI 1R	LEI 2R	DNP		LEI 3R	LEI 2R	DNP		HIL 3R	HIL 3R	MIL 2R	MIL 4R	Did not participate					WIG 1R	WIG 1R	MIL 2R	MIL 3R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	LEI 3R	LEI 1R
2025	WIG 1R	WIG 3R	ROS 2R	ROS 1R	LEI DNP	LEI 3R	DNP		LEI	LEI	LEI	LEI	ROS	ROS	HIL	HIL	LEI	LEI	LEI	HIL	HIL	MIL	MIL	MIL	HIL	HIL	LEI	LEI	LEI	WIG	WIG	WIG	WIG	WIG

1. Not a tour card holder

Performance Table Legend
W	Won the tournament	F	Finalist	SF	Semifinalist	QF	Quarterfinalist	#R RR Prel.	Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round	DQ	Disqualified
DNQ	Did not qualify	DNP	Did not participate	WD	Withdrew	NH	Tournament not held			NYF	Not yet founded