Denis Ovens

English darts player

Not to be confused with Denisovans, humans of an extinct species.

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Darts player

Denis Ovens

Personal information
Nickname| The Heat
Born|  (1957-07-01) 1 July 1957 (age 66)
Enfield, England
Home town| Stevenage, England
Darts information
Playing darts since| 1976
Darts| 20g LazerDarts
Laterality| Right-handed
Walk-on music| The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO| 1984–2000
PDC| 2000–2015
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship| Last 32: 2000
World Masters| Quarter Final: 1999
World Trophy| First Round: 2007
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship| Quarter Final: 2005
World Matchplay| Last 16: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011
World Grand Prix| Last 16: 2001, 2003, 2011
UK Open| Semi Final: 2010, 2011, 2012
Grand Slam| Last 16: 2008
European Ch'ship| Last 16: 2008
Ch'ship League| Semi Final: 2008
Desert Classic| Quarter Final: 2002
US Open/WSoD| Quarter Final: 2006
PC Finals| Last 32: 2009, 2010, 2011
Other tournament wins
|  Claims Solutions Classic|  2001

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Ireland Open Autumn Classic|  2007
Irish Masters|  2001, 2002
Jersey Festival of Darts|  2001
Open Holland|  2003
PDC Eastbourne Open|  2005
Scottish Open|  1999

Players Championships

Players Championship (GIB)|  2010

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UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers

UK Open Regional (SOU)|  2005

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Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957 in Enfield) is an English retired professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Heat and is now based in Stevenage.[1] Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to convert his form from the circuit to the big stages on television. His constant second round exits in numerous televised tournaments has led him to be called by commentators as 'The Nearly Man'.

## Career[edit]

His one good run came in the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to former World Masters champion Mark Dudbridge. He has since suffered six successive second round exits in the World Championship – against Steve Alker in 2006, against Alan Tabern in 2007 (in a thriller that went to a sudden death deciding leg, with Ovens narrowly missing a double 12 for a perfect nine dart finish and a £15,000 bonus), in 2008 against Dutchman Jan van der Rassel, after defeating Colin Monk in the first round, in 2009 to Ronnie Baxter having defeated Steve Maish 3–0 in the first round, in 2010 to Colin Lloyd and in 2011 to Simon Whitlock.

He reached the semi-final of the UK Open in three consecutive years from 2010 to 2012, where he was defeated by Phil Taylor (twice) and Wes Newton and reached the final of the inaugural German Darts Championship in 2007.

### BDO[edit]

Ovens retired in 2015. Almost two years to the day since his last appearance, at the BDO Swedish Open in 2016, the 61-year-old made a comeback at the same event. He lost 2–4 to Veine Hagen in the last 256 of the Swedish Open Men's Singles, lost 0–3 to Willem Mandigers in the last 32 of the Gents Classic and lost alongside Keith Wetton against Mauri Tuutijärvi and Ari Nevalainen in the last 16 of the Mens Pairs.

## World Championship results[edit]

### BDO[edit]

* 2000: 1st Round (lost to Bobby George 1–3)

### PDC[edit]

* 2001: 1st round (lost to Les Fitton 1–3)
* 2002: 2nd round (lost to Richie Burnett 4–6)
* 2003: 3rd round (lost to Dennis Smith 1–5)
* 2004: 3rd round (lost to Alex Roy 3–4)
* 2005: Quarter-finals (lost to Mark Dudbridge 3–5)
* 2006: 2nd round (lost to Steve Alker 1–4)
* 2007: 2nd round (lost to Alan Tabern 3–4)
* 2008: 2nd round (lost to Jan van der Rassel 1–4)
* 2009: 2nd round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 1–4)
* 2010: 2nd round (lost to Colin Lloyd 3–4)
* 2011: 2nd round (lost to Simon Whitlock 0–4)
* 2012: 1st round (retired due to injury while trailing Kevin Münch 1–0)
* 2013: 2nd round (lost to Adrian Lewis 1–4)

## Career statistics[edit]

Key W |  F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Prel. | DNQ | DNP | NH

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(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held

### Performance timeline[edit]

Tournament | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

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PDC World Championship | NYF  | DNP  | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R
UK Open | Not held  | 4R | 5R | 4R | 5R | 5R | 3R | 3R | SF | SF | SF | DNQ
World Matchplay | Not held  | DNP  | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | DNQ
World Grand Prix | Not held  | DNP  | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | DNQ
European Championship | Not held  | 2R | DNQ  | 1R | DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts | Not held  | DNQ  | 2R | RR | DNQ
Players Championship Finals | Not held  | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic | Not held  | QF | RR | 2R | 1R | 1R | DNQ  | Not held
BDO World Championship | DNP  | 1R | No longer a BDO Member
World Masters | 4R | DNP  | 2R | DNP  | 3R | 1R | DNP  | 2R | DNP  | QF | 2R | No longer a BDO Member
British Professional | 2R | 1R | 1R | Not held
World Darts Trophy | Not held  | DNP  | 1R | Not held
News of the World | DNP  | RR | DNP  | Not held  | DNP  | Not held

## Trivia[edit]

* Ovens is known for his trademark unshaven looks. Ovens stated on ESPN's World Series of Darts that he kept shaving before a darts match and always lost, so he thought "OK, don't shave".
* Ovens is well known to darts fans as "Captain Hobo", in reference to his unkempt appearance.
* Ovens has said he enjoys playing in German tournaments as Germany "do good beer."

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Denis Ovens (ENG)". ITV. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.

## External links[edit]

* Interview with Denis Ovens
* Profile and stats on Darts Database

*[W]: Won tournament
*[F]: Reached final
*[SF]: Reached semifinal
*[QF]: Reached quarterfinal
*[#R]: Out in earlier round
*[RR]: Round-robin
*[Prel.]: Preliminary round
*[DNQ]: Did not qualify
*[DNP]: Did not participate
*[NH]: Not held