Ashley Coleman (born 23 March 1997) is an English darts player who takes part in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is currently ranked 100th on the Challenge Tour order of merit.[1]
Coleman received his nickname "Prince of Darkness" from his pub darts team after they shouted it out as he was walking into the venue wearing a jacket that looked like 'The Grim Reaper'.[2]
He revealed to darts news outlet Oche180 that his favourite wrestler was The Undertaker and aims to take inspiration by using his walk-on song during his run at the 2024 UK Open, but believes that the PDC will not allow it for its dark bells and chimes, where he claims that "it does scare the crap out of you!".[2]
Coleman took part in his first major darts event by entering the 2017 BDO World Masters, where he defeated Silko Visser before losing to Shingo Enomata in the last 256.[3]
In the late months of 2019, Coleman took part in some development tours, managing to succeed in development tour 20, where he reached the last 16 by defeating tour card holder Callan Rydz before being defeated by Geert Nentjes.[4]
He entered PDC Q-School for the first time in his career in 2023,[5] where he failed to qualify for the final stages. Before taking part in some challenge tour events, Coleman revealed on Twitter that he had signed a two-month sponsorship deal with Cuesoul to help cover his darts expenses,[6] and after taking part in some challenge tour events, he finished 226th on the challenge tour order of merit.[7][8]
In December 2023, Coleman hit a broadcasted and livestreamed nine-darter during an online darts match in preparation for his Q-School campaign.[9]
Coleman entered PDC UK Q-School for the second time in his career.[10] He managed to qualify for the final stage via order of merit.[11][12] On the opening day of the final stage, he managed to enter the green zone for a tour card with wins over Mark Dudbridge, Peter Mitchell, and Kevin Leadenham before losing to Andy Boulton.[13][14] On the second day, he lost in a rematch in the opening round against Kevin Leadenham, who averaged 104.85.[15] On the third day, he lost to Peter Mitchell in a rematch in the opening round.[16] During the final day, Coleman defeated Fallon Sherrock 6–3,[17][18] ending her run,[19] and beat Harry Lane before losing to Justin Smith and ending his campaign for a tour card.[20] Coleman averaged 83.48 throughout the whole of his Q-School campaign, finishing 153rd out of 861 total players in highest event averages.[21]
On January 26, 2024, Unicorn Darts announced on X that Coleman had signed a contract to be a part of Team Unicorn.[22][23] The next day after the announcement of his signing, in his first darts tournament as a Unicorn player, Coleman qualified for the 2024 UK Open after winning the Norwich Rileys qualifier.[24][25] For preparation for the UK Open, Coleman played an online darts match against 13-year-old Mitchell Lawrie, both players went viral after Lawrie whitewashed Coleman with a 102.48 average, with Lawrie being labelled by fans as the next Luke Littler.[26]
The draw for the 2024 UK Open was announced on February 22, 2024, where Coleman drew Tim Wolters in the first round.[27][28] Coleman lost 6–3 to Wolters ending his run at the 2024 UK Open.[29]