Martin Lukeman
| Martin Lukeman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Lukeman at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Nickname | "Smash" | ||
| Born | 26 March 1985[1] Hammersmith, England | ||
| Home town | Watford, Hertfordshire, England | ||
| Darts information | |||
| Playing darts since | 2011 | ||
| Darts | 25g Mission Signature | ||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||
| Walk-on music | "Lip Up Fatty" by Bad Manners | ||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||
| PDC | 2015–present (Tour Card: 2021–present) | ||
| Current world ranking | (PDC) 41  2 (23 September 2026)[2] | ||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||
| World Championship | Last 64: 2023, 2024, 2025 | ||
| World Matchplay | Last 32: 2022 | ||
| World Grand Prix | Quarter-final: 2022 | ||
| UK Open | Quarter-final: 2024 | ||
| Grand Slam | Runner-up: 2024 | ||
| European Championship | Last 32: 2022 | ||
| PC Finals | Last 64: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 | ||
| Other tournament wins | |||
| |||
Martin Lukeman (born 26 March 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Smash", he reached his first PDC major final at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts, finishing as runner-up to Luke Littler. He finished as runner-up at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix on the PDC European Tour, and was a quarter-finalist at the 2022 World Grand Prix and the 2024 UK Open. Lukeman also won a title on the PDC Challenge Tour in 2015.
Career
[edit]2017–2021
[edit]Lukeman managed to reach the last 16 of the 2017 UK Open. After last-leg wins against Matt Padgett and Rob Hewson, he defeated Chris Dobey 10–5 in the fourth round, before losing 10–3 to Ian White in the fifth round.
Lukeman secured a two-year PDC Tour Card at UK Qualifying School in February 2021, sealing his professional status with a day to spare.
2022
[edit]Lukeman reached his maiden PDC European Tour final at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix by defeating Adam Gawlas, Gabriel Clemens, Keane Barry, Martin Schindler and Damon Heta. He faced Luke Humphries in the final, and was beaten 8–2.[3] This helped him qualify for his World Matchplay debut, where he lost 10–4 to James Wade.[4]
At the World Grand Prix in October, Lukeman defeated fifth seed James Wade and Ross Smith to reach his first PDC major quarter-final.[5] He was denied a place in the semi-finals, losing 3–2 to Nathan Aspinall.[6]
2023–2024
[edit]In his tournament debut at the 2023 PDC World Championship, Lukeman defeated Nobuhiro Yamamoto 3–0 before losing 3–1 to 29th seed Martin Schindler.[7][8] He won his opening match of the following year's World Championship 3–1 against Haupai Puha, but lost to Damon Heta by the same scoreline in the second round.[9][10] He was a semi-finalist at Players Championship 2, losing in a deciding leg to Ryan Searle.[11] He reached the quarter-finals of the UK Open in March following victories over Jermaine Wattimena, Leonard Gates, Danny Noppert and Gary Anderson; he was beaten 10–5 by eventual champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.[12]
Lukeman won four matches to qualify for the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts through the Tour Card holder qualifier.[13] After winning his group, he defeated Ross Smith and Rob Cross before a 16–12 win over Mickey Mansell in the semi-finals made him the first qualifier to reach the final of the tournament. In his maiden PDC major final, he lost 16–3 to Luke Littler.[14]
2025–present
[edit]At the 2025 World Championship, Lukeman lost the opening set of his first-round match against Nitin Kumar, but won the next three to secure a 3–1 victory.[15] He lost 3–1 to Andrew Gilding in the second round.[16] Lukeman beat Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding leg to reach the quarter-finals of the European Darts Grand Prix on the 2025 European Tour, where he was on the receiving end of a deciding-leg loss to eventual champion Gary Anderson.[17] Qualifying for the 2025 Grand Slam thanks to his runner-up finish the previous year,[18] he finished last in his group following defeats to Damon Heta, Jurjen van der Velde and Chris Dobey.[19]
Lukeman was defeated 3–1 by Max Hopp in the first round of the 2026 World Championship.[20] He earned wins over Thomas Lovely, Ritchie Edhouse and Madars Razma en route to the last 16 of the 2026 UK Open, where he lost 10–7 to Jonny Clayton.[21]
World Championship results
[edit]PDC World Championship
[edit]- 2023: Second round (lost to Martin Schindler 1–3)
- 2024: Second round (lost to Damon Heta 1–3)
- 2025: Second round (lost to Andrew Gilding 1–3)
- 2026: First round (lost to Max Hopp 1–3)
Career finals
[edit]PDC major finals: 1
[edit]| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam (0–1) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2024 | Grand Slam |  Luke Littler |
3–16 (l) |
- ↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
Performance timeline
[edit]PDC
[edit]| Tournament | 2017 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | |||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Did not qualify | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||
| World Masters | Did not qualify | Prel. | Prel. | ||||||||||||
| UK Open | 5R | 1R | 4R | 4R | QF | 4R | 6R | ||||||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | QF | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 1R | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | DNQ | F | RR | ||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 125 | 117 | 39 | 35 | 38 | 37 | |||||||||
European Tour
[edit]Players Championships
[edit]| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 [nb 1] |
Did not participate | WIG 1R |
BAR 1R |
Did not participate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 [nb 1] |
Did not participate | MIL 1R |
Did not participate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | BOL 1R |
BOL 1R |
BOL 1R |
BOL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
NIE 1R |
NIE 1R |
NIE 3R |
NIE 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 3R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
COV 1R |
COV 2R |
COV 1R |
COV 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR SF |
BAR 4R |
BAR 1R |
DNP | BAR 1R |
BAR 4R |
BAR 1R | ||||||
| 2022 | BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
NIE 2R |
NIE 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR QF |
WIG 4R |
WIG 2R |
NIE 4R |
NIE 4R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 4R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 4R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R | ||||
| 2023 | BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 4R |
BAR QF |
BAR 4R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R | ||||
| 2024 | WIG 1R |
WIG SF |
LEI 2R |
LEI 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 3R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 2R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 3R |
MIL 2R |
MIL QR |
WIG 3R |
WIG 2R |
MIL 4R |
MIL QF |
WIG 2R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R | ||||
| 2025 | WIG 2R |
WIG 1R |
ROS 4R |
ROS 2R |
LEI 4R |
LEI 3R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 3R |
LEI 4R |
ROS QF |
ROS 1R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 3R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 1R |
MIL 4R |
MIL 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 3R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 3R |
WIG DNP |
WIG 1R |
| 2026 | HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 3R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
ROS 1R |
ROS 1R |
ROS |
ROS |
LEI |
LEI |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR L# |
Lost in # round Round-robin Last # stage |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
References
[edit]- ↑ "Martin Lukeman". Mastercaller.
- ↑ "Ranking Tables". PDPA. 23 September 2026. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
- ↑ Allen, Dave. "Brilliant Humphries wins Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix". Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ↑ Wellens, Megan (18 July 2022). "World Matchplay Darts: Michael van Gerwen muddles past Adrian Lewis as Joe Cullen pulls off astonishing 10-2 victory". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "Martin Lukeman continues World Grand Prix run to reach last eight in Leicester". RTÉ Sport. Press Association. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "World Grand Prix: Michael van Gerwen to face Peter Wright in semi-finals; Gerwyn Price vs Nathan Aspinall". Sky Sports. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "World Darts Championship: Lisa Ashton loses 3-2 to Ryan Meikle, while Josh Rock wins on debut". Sky Sports. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "PDC World Darts Championship: Rob Cross, Jonny Clayton and Brendan Dolan into third round". BBC Sport. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "PDC world darts: Gerwyn Price finally feels fans' love on way past Connor Scutt". The Guardian. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Mirza, Raz (22 December 2023). "World Darts Championship: Teenager Luke Littler defeats Andrew Gilding to continue dream run at Alexandra Palace". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Wood, Kieran (13 February 2024). "Gary Anderson wins Players Championship 2 with Ryan Searle consigned to final defeat for second day running". dartsnews.com. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Darts results: Dimitri Van den Bergh survives last-leg decider to beat Luke Humphries in the UK Open final". Sporting Life. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ Matthews, Callum (17 November 2024). "Littler wins Grand Slam to go fifth in world rankings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ↑ Gorton, Josh (17 November 2024). "Astonishing Littler storms to Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts glory". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ↑ Keogh, Frank; Colman, Jonty (19 December 2024). "Second seed Smith knocked out of Worlds by Doets". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Chisnall and Cross knocked out as seeds continue to fall at Alexandra Palace". The Guardian. Press Association. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Mills, Stephen (5 May 2025). "European Darts Grand Prix: Gary Anderson defends title with whitewash victory over Andrew Gilding in Sindelfingen". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Phillips, Josh (29 April 2025). "2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts qualification criteria". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Groupstage of Grand Slam of Darts 2025". Mastercaller. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "World Darts Championship: Simon Whitlock rediscovers Alexandra Palace magic but loses thriller to Connor Scutt". Sky Sports. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Results of UK Open 2026". Mastercaller. Retrieved 17 August 2026.