Chris Dobey

The Bedlington ace won the Cazoo Masters in late January, beating Rob Cross in the final to take victory in his first TV major. 

In a whirlwind few hours, Dobey was then handed a place in the prestigious Premier League and won the opening night on his full debut, beating Michael van Gerwen with a wonder 160 finish. 

He admitted: “I've come a long way since I was putting out the cones on motorway contraflows as a traffic management operative.

“I knew this moment was coming and I'm already thinking about winning the next TV major, not just stopping at one.

“Am I ready for the Premier League? Who knows? But it will mean the world to me to play on that stage in front of the fans in Newcastle and I know my game has an extra gear to kick in.”

But this was far from an overnight success story. 

Dobey had been gradually building towards this huge breakthrough over the last seven years. 

He made his breakthrough in 2016 and is aiming to push his way into the world's top 16 to continue his development.

The Northumberland-based youngster originally qualified for the 2014 UK Open as an amateur qualifier before joining the PDC circuit the following year, qualifying again for the UK Open and also for the World Series of Darts Finals.

Then 2016 proved to be a big year as Dobey won a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts, where he won through to the quarter-finals in Wolverhampton with a series of assured displays.

He also went on to qualify for a debut at the Players Championship Finals and his first World Championship appearance.

Team Unicorn star Dobey reached his first televised semi-final at the 2019 World Grand Prix, and went on to reach the final four at the Players Championship Finals a month later.

His World Championship record has been a scattering of fourth round exits, three times in seven years. 

But his best performance came in 2023, missing out in the last eight to eventual finalist Van Gerwen.