Damon Heta

Damon Heta (born 10 August 1987) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019 and also, in pairs with Simon Whitlock, World Cup of Darts in 2022. His nickname is "The Heat", a play on letters within his surname.

Damon Heta
Personal information
Full nameDamon Heta
Nickname"The Heat"
Born (1987-08-10) 10 August 1987[1]
Perth, Australia
Home townLeicester, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2007
Darts23 Gram Harrows
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Dreadlock Holiday" by 10cc
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2008–
(Tour Card: 2020-)
Current world ranking13 Steady (21 October 2023)[2]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 32: 2022, 2023
World MatchplayQuarter Final: 2023
World Grand PrixLast 32: 2021, 2022
UK OpenQuarter Final: 2022
Grand SlamQuarter Final: 2020
European Ch'shipLast 16: 2021
PC FinalsQuarter Final: 2020
MastersLast 24: 2023
World Series FinalsLast 16: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts (team event) 2022
Australian Darts Open 2019
Australian Masters 2018
DPA Australian Singles 2014
Pacific Masters 2011
Sydney Masters Qualifier 2014
West Coast Classic 2015
PDC Home Tour 3 2020

European Tour events

Gibraltar Darts Trophy 2022

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2022 (x2)
Players Championship (HIL) 2023
Players Championship (LEI) 2023
Players Championship (NIE) 2020

World Series of Darts

Brisbane Darts Masters 2019

Career

A roofer by trade, Heta has mainly played on the Dartplayers Australia (DPA) Tour. His first big exposure was qualifying for the 2014 Sydney Darts Masters, where he was whitewashed 6–0 in the first round by Dave Chisnall. Heta qualified for the 2016 Auckland Darts Masters where he lost in the first round to Michael van Gerwen 6–3.

He qualified for the 2018 Melbourne Darts Masters, where he defeated his good friend Kyle Anderson 6–5 in the first round, before losing 10–7 to Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals. Gary would then defeat Heta 6–5 in the first round of the 2018 Brisbane Darts Masters a week later.

Amongst his titles achieved Down Under are the 2011 Pacific Masters, the 2014 DPA Australian Singles, the 2015 West Coast Classic, and the 2016 DPA Australian Open.

On 3 August 2019, Damon won the first ever DFA Australian Open Darts, beating top BDO players such as Jim Williams 8–1 in the semi-final and former World Champion Scott Mitchell 10–9 in the final to take the $15,000 first prize.

Heta qualified for all three PDC World Series events in Australia and New Zealand in 2019.

At the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters Heta reached his first PDC final by beating former major winners James Wade, Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock, before defeating former World Champion Rob Cross 8–7 in the final to win his first World Series title. Damon become the first ever non tour card holder to win a world series event and the first to win a world series event on home soil. He became the first non-tour card holder to win a PDC televised event since Scott Waites in 2010.

Heta beat James Wade once again in the first round of the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters, but lost 8–3 to Rob Cross in the quarter-finals. He lost 6–1 to Peter Wright in the first round of the 2019 New Zealand Darts Masters.

On 19 January 2020, Heta won a two-year PDC Tour Card by finishing fourth on the UK Q School Order of Merit. He will play on the ProTour in 2020 and 2021. He won his first PDC ranking event at the PDC Autumn Series in Niedernhausen, beating Joe Cullen 8–4 in the final.[3]

Heta, in conjunction with Simon Whitlock, beat Wales in the 2022 PDC World Cup of Darts on 19 June 2022 to claim the title for Australia for the first time, after Whitlock and Paul Nicholson lost in the grand final in 2012 to England.[4]

Heta won the 2022 Gibraltar Darts Trophy on the PDC European Tour in October 2022, where along the way, he defeated Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final and Peter Wright in the final.[5]

World Championship results

PDC

Career finals

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[N 1]
Winner 1. 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters England Rob Cross 8–7 (l)
Runner-up 1. 2023 New South Wales Darts Masters England Rob Cross 1–8 (l)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Country Teammate Opponents in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2022 World Cup of Darts  Australia Simon Whitlock  Wales – Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton 3–1 (m)
  1. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets, (m) = score in matches.

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament201820192020202120222023
PDC World Championship DNQ 2R 1R 3R 3R
UK Open DNP 1R 3R QF 4R
World Matchplay DNP DNQ 1R 1R QF
World Grand Prix DNP DNQ 1R 1R 1R
European Championship DNP DNQ 2R 1R
Grand Slam of Darts DNP QF DNQ RR
Players Championship Finals DNP QF 3R 1R
Non-major televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts DNP QF QF W QF
World Series of Darts Finals 2R 2R 2R DNQ 2R 1R
Career statistics
Year-end ranking - - 56 29 16


PDC European Tour

Season12345678910111213
2020 BDC
2R		 GDC
DNQ		 EDG
1R		 IDO
DNQ
2021 HDT
3R		 GDT
3R
2022 IDO
3R		 GDC
2R		 GDG
SF		 ADO
2R		 EDO
2R		 CDO
2R		 EDG
SF		 DDC
3R		 EDM
QF		 HDT
2R		 GDO
3R		 BDO
2R		 GDT
W
2023 BSD
3R		 EDO
QF		 IDO
QF		 GDG
SF		 ADO
3R		 DDC
SF		 BDO
3R		 CDO
SF		 EDG
SF		 EDM
2R		 GDO
2R		 HDT
QF		 GDC
QF


Performance timeline legend
DNP Did not play in the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event WD Withdrew from 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

References
  1. "Damon Heta". Mastercaller.com. 10 August 1987. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  2. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  3. "Heta lands maiden title on Autumn Series Day Two". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  4. "Wayne Mardle applauds Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock as Australia lifted the World Cup of Darts". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. "Heta secures maiden European Tour title at Gibraltar Darts Trophy". PDC. 16 October 2022.
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