Colin Lloyd

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Colin Lloyd (born August 7, 1973 in Colchester, Essex), nicknamed Jaws, is a darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is currently ranked the World number 1 in the PDC rankings.

A former builder, Lloyd broke onto the scene in 1999, making his TV debut the same year, thrashing Alan Warriner 13-2 in the second round of the World Matchplay. His major breakthrough was in the 2002 PDC World Championship, where he reached the semi-finals losing to Peter Manley.

That semi-final in the World Championship established him as one of the top players on the PDC circuit. His long-awaited first major title came in the 2004 World Grand Prix, where he beat Alan Warriner in the final. This was followed by success in the 2005 World Matchplay Championships in Blackpool, beating John Part in the final, ending the match on a maximum 170 checkout. He also reached the final of the 2005 World Grand Prix before losing 7-1 to Phil Taylor.

This good form made him second favourite in the 2006 World Championship, only behind Phil Taylor in terms of odds. Unfortunately for Lloyd, he was knocked out in the first round by qualifier Gary Welding.

Despite this, Lloyd remains one of the biggest names in darts at the moment. He has competed in the 2005 and 2006 Premier League Darts competitions, a tournament restricted to only the top seven players on the PDC circuit. In 2005, he finished second after the league stage but lost to Phil Taylor in the final.In 2006 he went out to eventual winner Phil Taylor in the semi finals. He also reached the final of the 2006 IDL before losing to Raymond van Barneveld.

He was the long time holder of the PDC's World Number One spot until the 11th June 2006, when he lost it to Phil Taylor. 'The Power' beat Lloyd 11-2 in the 5th Round of the Budweiser UK Open in Bolton to take the number one ranking, before he was knocked out by eventual winner Raymond van Barneveld 11-10 in the quarter-finals. Lloyd has since regained the number one ranking through success in non-televised tournaments.

Lloyd's disappointing form continued going into the 2006 World Matchplay Championships. As the holder going into the tournament, he never took the lead nor found his form in his first round match against fellow Essex man Steve Maish and, despite a ten-dart leg where he was two darts away from a nine dart finish, he slumped to a shock 10-6 defeat.

[edit] Trivia

Lloyd is married to Deta Hedman, who is one of the leading women's darts players in the world, having performed well against the men in the 2005 UK Open.