Rod Harrington

Darts player infobox
playername = Rod Harrington


fullname =
nickname = Prince of Style
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|12|30
cityofbirth = Boreham, Essex
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
hometown =
homecountry =
since = 1990
darts =
music =
BDO = 1990 to 1993
PDC = 1994 to present
currentrank = 617 (June 2008)
BDO World = QF 1992
World Masters = Winner 1991
World Darts Trophy =
Int. Darts League =
PDC World = Runner-up 1995
Matchplay = Winner 1998, 1999
Grand Prix = Runner-up 1998
UK Open = Last 96, 2003, 2005
Vegas =
Premier League =
US Open =
tournament = Belgium Open
Calgary Golden Harvest
Denmark Open
French Open
Golden Harvest North American Cup
Swedish Open
Swiss Open
resultyears = 1991, 1992
1998
1991, 1992, 1998
1991, 1993
1997, 1998, 1999
1991
1998
achievement = PDC World Number 1 (Apr 1995 to Aug 1996), (Aug 1998 to Aug 2000)
updated = February 17, 2008

Rod Harrington, born 30 December 1957 in Boreham, Essex, is a former with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He used the nickname The Prince of Style for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoast for his games.

Harrington enjoyed some major success during his professional career including the prestigious Winmau World Masters in 1991 and two successive PDC World Matchplays in 1998 and 1999.

[http://archive.billericayweeklynews.co.uk/1999/6/11/219570.html]

Early career

He started his career before the game split into two separate organisations during the early 1990s. He accumulated many Open tournament titles including the Belgian Open (1991, 1992), Denmark Open(1991, 1992), French Open (1991, 1993) and the Swedish Open (1991). His 1991 Winmau World Masters victory over Phil Taylor remains one of the Power's rare major final defeats - although he was only a single-time (and current) World Champion at the time.

Harrington made his World Championship debut in 1992, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Mike Gregory. At the 1993 World Championship, Harrington lost 2-3 to Wayne Weening in the first round despite being seeded fourth for the tournament. After those championships, the majority of the top players left the governing body, the British Darts Organisation to form the WDC (now PDC) in an acrimonious split in the game.

PDC career

After the WDC/PDC started their own World Championship in 1994, Harrington would be ever-present in the event for the first ten years. He reached the quarter-finals in the inaugural tournament, but his best ever achievement came in the 1995 World Championship - by reaching the final. He lost the final 2-6 to Phil Taylor who was winning the third of his world championship titles at the time.

He reached the World semi-finals on two further occasions, 1998 (where he was beaten by that year's eventual winner, Phil Taylor and 2001 (where he lost to that year's runner up, John Part) and the quarter-finals in 1997. However, after the 2002 World Championship (where he was seeded third) his form slumped dramatically to the point where he was outside the top 16 by 2003 - and a first round defeat by Alan Warriner would turn out to be his last appearance in the World Championship.

He did have some success at the other major PDC tournaments. In 1998 he beat Ronnie Baxter in the final of the World Matchplay, helped along the way by his now famous 125 checkout (Treble 15, Double 20, Double 20); he then successfully defended the title in 1999 with a victory over Peter Manley. He and Phil Taylor remained the only players to retain a major PDC title until Raymond van Barneveld retained his UK Open title in 2007. Harrington also reached the final of the first World Grand Prix event in 1998 losing to Phil Taylor, a player whom he never managed to beat on television. Along with Richie Burnett he also reached the final of the PDC World Pairs tournament in 1997, losing in the final to the pairing of Raymond van Barneveld and Roland Scholten.

Recent years

After his loss of form, Harrington never officially announced a retirement from the game. He still attempts to qualify for the major UK tournaments including the 2007 World Championship - where he lost in the first qualifying round. As of April 2008, his world ranking in the official Order of Merit is 377.

Harrington became a director of the PDC and now also regularly acts in the capacity of a commentator on Sky Sports live darts coverage.