Spotlight on Adam Warner. From ADC to PDC

Adam Warner live on MODUS Super Series

Words by Simon Rimington

Had you said the name Adam Warner outside the greater Sheffield area this time last year you'd have been hard pressed to find anyone who knew who he was, beyond some student circles and those who frequent the Woodbourne for Yorkshire Super League darts, however fast forward just a single year and the achievements and notoriety are about as widespread as they could be. He is clear proof that the ADC and Modus Super Series is a legitimate route to becoming a professional darts player and that playing county and WDF circuit are no longer an absolute necessity to gain the requisite experience required.

First though to clear up some myths which became almost truth during his faintly ludicrous win at the Modus Super Series just before Christmas, some of which I had to clarify with Adam, as I started to doubt what I thought I knew! Adam is not a student, his original background is as one of the better university players around, he only ever won one minor title but was regularly at the latter stages of most events without much effort or practice. Following his degree, Adam trained as a teacher before working in a school for a year. He gave this up in summer 2021 so that as the world emerged from the Coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, so he could give darts a real go in 2022. This is the point at which you can discard the other myth of him only playing a year, has he only taken it seriously a year? Yes, definitely but he is by no means an absolute beginner.

Adam decided very early that with bonuses and regular competition, looking to pick up as many ADC points as possible would be a good route for him to take, unfortunately Darts Atlas only takes us back to York Darts Event 3 in February last year in which he was runner up, this was followed up by a quarter final the following month and he then reached a semi final in Liverpool in March, this was off the back of heading to Liverpool and qualifying for and participating in the UK Open in the intervening period. He was then a quarter finalist in the East Coast Classic, running into Graham Usher, something which will be visited again.

It was at the first ADC tour event where the man in the cream chinos and black t-shirt really announced his arrival, on the Saturday he was narrowly defeated  by winner on the day Adam Atkinson, the following day despite a poor showing in the main competition, he found form to win the plate, defeating Steve Brown and Sam Cromwell with averages in excess of 90 on the same day to take home the cash prize.

Ultimately this was just that start of a string of ADC wins, with Adam enjoying particular success in the North West and the events of Alan Hodgson under the Fataldarts promotional banner. He enjoyed success in early June in Atherton winning a Grand Slam and by July was proving a serial winner, taking titles in York and again across the Pennines.

If you look at his Darts Atlas the number of first round exits and early exits is very very limited, as Adam committed more time he quickly became extremely consistent. This culminated in reaching an ADC Tour final where he came up just short against another up and coming young player in Lee Budgen.

This lined up a trip to Portsmouth for the Modus Super Series for a debut appearance. After contacting Modus and finding out the cream chinos were a no no, Adam rocked up in the cheapest collared darts shirt accompanied by the cheapest black trousers available, along with a new set of customary brown shoes which to his surprise, were fine. Who knows if his fury about the chinos carried him through the week but what a week Adam produced, a fantastic Monday saw only 1 defeat in a group featuring Richard Veenstra, Chris Landman and Willem Mandigers, all regulars at the Lakeside in recent years. Tuesday proved more challenging and a trip to the Thursday evening Group B looked the most likely outcome, that being said in losing to an inspired Mandigers, Warner recorded a very early televised 100+ average despite being trounced 4-0. With a 7-3 record going into the Wednesday he was well placed and proceeded to surprise everyone again, winning all 5 games and moving seamlessly through to finals night, seemingingly shell shocked himself when speaking to Chris Murphy on the balcony. Finals night arrived and Adam once again played with seemingly care free abandon to win both group games and setup a semi final with Nick Kenny where a monster 160 finish sealed a final place against Alec Small.

Upto this point I would have described the entire week as free wheeling but suddenly at 3-1 up the nerves hit and match darts were shelled, however Warner regained his composure like the rest of the week and finally stuck away Double 5 for the win and the £5,000 prize. Chris Murphy again speaking to a stunned Warner, who announced a run at Q school on stage, funded by his win.

I had chance to catch up with Adam at a local competition between his MSS win and Q School and asked if he had been inundated with offers for sponsors etc, to which he surprisingly said not so much, to which I was surprised and said it was a shame as he might have got darts the same weight. I knew Adam threw with mismatched darts heading into the MSS, as he had jokingly commented about a caption going up for his darts saying 2x26g and a 25g.  It was at this point he revealed he had matching darts anyway – because in throwing the remaining dart down celebrating his win in Portsmouth, it had become lost, somewhere within the MSS TV set.

So off Adam went to Milton Keynes, new darts in hand, ready for a first ever run at Q School.  A solid first 2 days afforded the Wednesday off to prepare for the final 4 days of the most competitive darts event on the planet.  The opening day proved difficult, Adam did little wrong but Mark Challenger, a very experienced Glamorgan player was too strong.  The Friday saw Adam make the most of a reduced standard and somewhat favourable draw, defeating David Wawrzewski, Ryan Murray and Lewis Gurney for the loss of just 5 legs to reach the last 16. He then came through a tense 11 leg battle with Scottish prodigy Nathan Girvan and then a quarter final against a man who invariable comes good at Q School, Ryan Harrington, son of the 'Prince of Style' Rod Harrington.  Warner then dispatched of Keegan Brown in what was a very poor game by both their standards. This lead to a final against Graham Usher, in which Usher was once again victorious but pushed so close by Warner, Usher taking out a magnificent 136 early when Adam was sat on double and then producing an excellent 3 leg burst from 5-3 down to take the game.

With points banked, Saturday was first chance to try and push on to the 7 or 8 points likely needed to secure a card. Tense wins over Paul Mitchell and Lee Cocks moved Warner to 6 points and a 6-1 drubbing of Andy Jenkins moved him to 7 and a rematch with Lewis Gurney, clearly Warner felt he may have done enough, the performance against Gurney had something missing, losing 6-3 with a 73 average. I spoke to Adam on the Saturday night who wisely said he was waiting on the FDI output on twitter to decide if he should play Sunday or not, when the data dropped it was not 100% but still a very good chance. Unfortunately turning up only harmed his chances when he lost 1st round to Niall Cullerton and dropped a few legs off his leg difference for his trouble.

What followed was a tense few hours, hoping that some improbable maths did not occur, watching as those who could get to 7 and surpass the leg difference fell by the wayside.  In reality, the card never looked in danger and by mid afternoon Warner had achieved the incredible. A tour card at the first attempt and possibly the biggest shock since Aaron Beeney. His unassuming response when I messaged him, “It is going to be a fun 2 years.”

Warner has undoubtedly put the ADC on the map, many UK Q school players now see their route forward as mainly UK based by playing Challenge Tour, ADC and winning or receiving MSS invites and who can blame them in this time of increased costs?  Steve Brown and Scott Hunt have provided players with a new platform that works and gives them what they need to succeed. Such is the success of the system I haven't even touched on the vacant local belt he won against Lloyd Pennell in the midst of the mid year success. 

If you listen to Adam's interviews with Henry Deacon at Modus, it is clear that what the ADC gave Adam, with his willingness to travel, was something to play for each weekend when he went to competitions. Hopefully this competitive platform will benefit more players as the systems grows in strength and numbers.