Leonard Gates
Leonard Gates (born November 26, 1970) is an American professional darts player who competes in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the current PDC North American champion and 2023 WSDT Champion of Champions winner. He is also a former baseball player, playing for Abilene Prairie Dogs, Massachusetts Mad Dogs, Catskill Cougars and Nashua Pride.[4]
| Leonard Gates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Leonard Gates[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "The Soulger" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | November 26, 1970[2] San Antonio, Texas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Houston, Texas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | 21g Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" by James Brown and the Famous Flames | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 2007–2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2016– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2007– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 32  16 (6 October 2022)[3] (WDF) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 32: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 272: 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 64: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Group Stage: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Last 16: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WSDT major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Semi Final: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champions | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
Gates started to play in WDF in 2007, winning numerous American darts tournaments, including exhibition ones. His first appearance in major BDO tournament was in 2017 World Masters, where he lost in the last 272 to Paul Coughlin.[5]
In 2022, Gates qualified as a seed for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, but he lost in the second round to Steve Hine of England.
In June, Gates took part in the 2022 US Darts Masters, where he was one of the eight North American qualifiers. He defeated Fallon Sherrock 6–2 in the first round before losing to Peter Wright 3–8 in the quarter-finals. At the same time, he played in the 2022 PDC North American Championship, where he went on to defeat Jules van Dongen and David Cameron, before beating Danny Baggish in the final and securing his first PDC title, which meant he qualified for the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship and 2022 Grand Slam of Darts as well.[6]
In September, Gates took a part in the 2022 World Series of Darts Finals, where he reached the second round, defeating Devon Petersen 6–4 in the first round and then, however, losing to James Wade 4–6 in the next one.
Also apart from steeltip darts, Gates plays in darts tournaments of the World Soft Darts Association (WSDA) as well, being the one of the most popular soft-tip contenders.[7]
World Championship results
WDF
- 2022: Second round (lost to Steve Hine 0–3)
PDC
- 2023: Second round (lost to Stephen Bunting 1–3)
WSDT
- 2023: Semi-finals (lost to Richie Howson 1–3)
References
- "Leonard Gates – "Soldier"".
- "Leonard Gates – Mastercaller".
- "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- Gorton, Josh. "Former baseball star Gates aiming to strike at Alexandra Palace". PDC. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
- "Leonard Gates". Dartsdatabase. August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
- "Gutsy Gates wins 2022 bet365 North American Championship". PDC.tv. June 4, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- "Feature Story – Leonard Gates -". WSDA. 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
External links
- Player profile on Leonard Gates from Dartsdatabase
- Leonard Gates player profile at Darts Orakel
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)