John Henderson (darts player)

John Henderson
Henderson in 2019
Personal information
Nickname	Highlander
Born	(1973-05-04) 4 May 1973 Aberdeen, Scotland
Home town	Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Darts information
Playing darts since	1993
Darts	24g RedDragon Darts
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Rockin' All Over the World" by Status Quo
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2004–2010
PDC	2002–2003, 2011–2024 (Tour Card: 2011-2022)
Current world ranking	134 1 (17 November 2024)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2005, 2010
World Masters	Last 32: 2005
Finder Masters	Last 24 Group: 2010
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2018
World Matchplay	Last 16: 2011
World Grand Prix	Semi-final: 2017
UK Open	Last 16: 2013, 2015
Grand Slam	Group Stage: 2010, 2021
European Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2015
Premier League	Challenger: 2019, 2020
PC Finals	Last 16: 2019
World Series Finals	Last 24: 2021
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner (1): 2024
World Matchplay	Winner (1): 2024
World Masters	Winner (1): 2024
Champions	Quarter Final: 2024
Other tournament wins
World Cup of Darts – (Team event) 2021 Belgium Open 2009 British Open 2008 Didam Open 2009 German Open 2009 Granite City Open 2003 Hal Open 2010 Scotland National Ch'ships 2009 Scottish Masters 2004 Inverurie/Old Meldrum Open 2002 PDC Challenge Tour 2023 (x2) World Seniors Target Open Series 2024

Henderson (centre) celebrating with his Red Army

John Henderson (born 4 May 1973) is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the current World Seniors Tour Matchplay, World and Masters champion. Henderson also won the 2021 PDC World Cup of Darts partnering Peter Wright for Scotland.

Career

Henderson started out in the PDC circuit and played one tournament in Scotland as well as the 2003 UK Open where he lost in the first round, having won his preliminary match. He then qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship, where he beat Stephen Bunting in the first round before losing in round two to Martin Adams – hitting a record thirteen 180s (for a five-set match) in the 3–2 defeat. Henderson then reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 British Open and the last 32 of the 2005 Winmau World Masters.

Henderson reached the final of the 2007 British Open. He beat Tony O'Shea in the quarter-finals and Ted Hankey in the semis before losing to Gary Anderson in the final. This was followed however with failure to qualify for the 2008 BDO World Championship and an early exit from the 2007 World Masters.

2008–2009

2008 was a good year for Henderson, reaching the semi-finals of the Norway Open and the quarter-finals of the WDF Europe Cup. On 20 September 2008 Henderson captured his very first title, winning the 2008 British Open. He scored notable wins over Edwin Max and Dave Chisnall to earn a spot into the televised stages which were shown live on Setanta Sports. He then defeated Gary Robson in the quarter-finals and Mareno Michels in the semis before avenging his defeat over Anderson twelve months previously by beating him in the final to win the £3,000 top prize. The win also helped Henderson finish fourth in the BDO International Grand Prix, earning him another £2,750 for his efforts. He also shot up the world rankings as a result of the win, moving him into the WDF's top 20. He then captured the German Open in 2009, beating Stephen Bunting in the final which elevated Henderson to seven in the WDF rankings.

2010–2011

Henderson then qualified for the 2010 BDO World Championship, winning one of four places available from the Inter-Playoff Qualifiers in Bridlington. He was defeated in the second round by Scott Waites. Henderson failed to qualify for the 2011 tournament, but did qualify for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts where he finished third in his group. After being defeated by Mervyn King he was accused of standing in front of the oche, however after watching the match again, King admitted that he had over-reacted and apologised to Henderson in a pre-match interview.

On 15 January 2011, Henderson came through qualifying at the PDC Q-School event and has therefore left the British Darts Organisation. On joining the PDC he said "It means everything to me the first two days were hard and I felt a lot of pressure today but to qualify, so I'm delighted I did it."

In the 2011 Derby championships, Henderson hit a nine-darter in his second leg of the second round beating Andy Hamilton 6–5 and earning £800.

Henderson qualified for the 2011 World Matchplay where he beat Colin Lloyd 10–7 in the first round, before losing to Andy Hamilton 13–11 in the second round. He defeated on form Justin Pipe 2–0 at the World Grand Prix 2011, he went on to reach the quarter finals losing to eventual runner up Brendan Dolan 4–1.

2012–2020

Henderson reached his first PDC World Championship in 2012, but was beaten by three-time World Champion, John Part, 0–3. He only managed to win 2 legs during the match, with Part stating afterwards that "John struggled and wasn't himself". His best result on the 2012 Pro Tour was in reaching the quarter-finals of the 16th Players Championship event, where he lost to Nick Fullwell 2–6. Henderson was beaten in the last 16 of the Qualifier for the 2013 World Championship. He was ranked world number 39 after the World Championship.

Henderson qualified for the 2013 UK Open by finishing 50th on the Order of Merit to enter the event in the second round. He enjoyed his best ever run in the tournament by beating Dave Place, Scott Rand and Kevin McDine to advance to the last 16. He played James Wade and lost 9–4. Henderson reached the quarter-finals of a Players Championship played in Killarney for the second consecutive year as he beat Mark Webster, Ian White and Justin Pipe before being whitewashed 6–0 by Darren Webster. He qualified for the 2014 World Championship through the ProTour Order of Merit having claimed the ninth of sixteen places that were available to non-qualified players. Henderson started his first round match brightly as he took a 2–0 lead against seventh seed Dave Chisnall which included a 132 finish of bull, bull, double 16. He threw for the match in the third set but lost the leg and the set as Chisnall fought back to level the game. Henderson survived four match darts from Chisnall in the final set as he pulled off a big shock win in a performance he rated as the best of his career. Another tight match followed against Mark Webster with Henderson missing three darts at tops to seal a 4–2 win, and then went on to lose the deciding set to bow out of the tournament 4–3.

At the 2014 UK Open, Henderson was beaten 5–1 by Jelle Klaasen in the second round. He beat Steve Hine 6–4, Peter Wright 6–5 and Simon Whitlock 6–2 (with an average of 106.12) to reach the quarter-finals of the German Darts Masters, where he lost 6–2 against Adrian Lewis. In the rest of the year he lost in the last 16 of two Players Championships and qualified for three European Tour events, losing in the second round in two and the opening round of the other.

The opening four sets in Henderson's first round 2015 World Championship match against Vincent van der Voort went with throw to send it into a deciding set. Van der Voort hit a crucial 157 finish with Henderson waiting on 80 for the match and from there the Dutchman won back-to-back 14 dart legs to knock him out. A pair of last 16 finishes helped Henderson enter the UK Open at the third round stage and he eliminated Steve Douglas 9–7 and then retained his composure when Daryl Gurney won five legs in a row to lead 8–7 by beating him 9–8. This matched Henderson's best ever run the event, but it came to a sudden end when he lost 9–2 against Peter Wright. At the German Darts Masters, Henderson defeated Michael Smith 6–4 and then averaged 102.48 in a 6–0 whitewash over Andrew Gilding. He improved upon that in the quarter-finals by averaging 107.72 during a 6–1 victory against Brendan Dolan and knocked out Adrian Lewis 6–4 to reach his first PDC final. Henderson played world number one Michael van Gerwen and he sent the match into a final leg decider, after being 3–0 down, which he lost without getting a dart for the title. He suffered first round exits at the World Matchplay (10–2 to Phil Taylor) and the World Grand Prix (2–0 in sets to Gary Anderson), but then defeated Robert Thornton 6–4 at the European Championship. Henderson then took advantage of a poor performance from Rowby-John Rodriguez in the second round to thrash him 10–2 and reach his first major quarter-final in over four years, where he lost 10–4 to Peter Wright.

After taking the opening set in his first round match at the 2016 World Championship, Henderson went on to lose 3–1 against Darren Webster. One semi-final and a quarter-final appearance in the qualifiers helped him finish 17th on the Order of Merit for the UK Open. Henderson saw off Magnus Caris 9–4, before losing 9–6 to Adrian Lewis in the fourth round. His second semi-final of the year was at the 14th Players Championship event and he was knocked out 6–4 by Michael van Gerwen. He was ousted 6–3 by Gary Anderson in the first round of the Players Championship Finals.

He won the opening two sets against Andrew Gilding in the first round of the 2017 World Championship, before it was levelled at 2–2. Henderson missed one match dart in the deciding set and it would eventually go to a sudden-death leg. Gilding won the bull to throw first and took the leg to eliminate Henderson.

Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Henderson was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. A great boost for his Red Army following of his fellow Aberdeen FC fans. He played a one-off match against No. 1 PDC-ranked Michael van Gerwen on night five in Aberdeen. The match resulted in a draw.

Henderson returned to the Premier League in 2020 under the new tag of 'Challenger', once again in Aberdeen. However, he was beaten by Nathan Aspinall.

2021

Henderson, alongside Peter Wright, won the 2021 PDC World Cup of Darts playing on behalf of Scotland. It was his first PDC Major Tournament win.

2022

Henderson failed to qualify for 2022 PDC World Darts Championship, missing this event for the first time since 2013. He continued to struggle on Pro Tour, but was again nominated for 2022 PDC World Cup of Darts, where he was defending the title alongside Peter Wright. Together they made it to the Quarterfinals, where they lost against England. At the end of the season he dropped out of top 64 of PDC Order of Merit, failing to qualify for the World Championship second time in the row and lost his Tour Card after the season 2022.

2023

He was not able to retain his Tour card in UK Q-School and played on PDC Challenge Tour. He secured two titles during the year and was battling for the second place in PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit. After losing in an early round of the last PDC Challenge Tour event, Henderson had to hope that Andy Boulton, Cam Crabtree and Owen Bates would not make the final. Boulton and Crabtree dropped out at the last sixteen. Despite facing multiple match darts against Michael Warburton, Bates made it to the final and clinched the second place, therefore Henderson did not get his Tour card via PDC Challenge Tour for just £175, placing 3rd overall in the rankings.

2024

Unable to win his Tour card back in UK Q-School, Henderson continued playing PDC Challenge Tour in 2024. He also accepted the invitation for 2024 World Seniors Darts Championship. He has become the World Seniors Darts champion at the first time of asking, competing in the event for the first time, defeated Colin McGarry 5-0 in the final.

Personal life

Henderson is married to Veronica Hughes and has no children.

World Championship results

BDO

• 2005: Second round (lost to Martin Adams 2–3)
• 2010: Second round (lost to Scott Waites 1–4)

PDC

• 2012: First round (lost to John Part 0–3)
• 2014: Second round (lost to Mark Webster 3–4)
• 2015: First round (lost to Vincent van der Voort 2–3)
• 2016: First round (lost to Darren Webster 1–3)
• 2017: First round (lost to Andrew Gilding 2–3)
• 2018: Third round (lost to Rob Cross 1–4)
• 2019: Third round (lost to Michael Smith 2–4)
• 2020: Third round (lost to Gerwyn Price 0–4)
• 2021: Second round (lost to Jonny Clayton 1–3)

WSDT

• 2024: Winner (beat Colin McGarry 5–0)

Career finals

PDC European tour finals: (1 runner-up)

Legend
Other (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2015	German Darts Masters	Michael van Gerwen	5–6 (l)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team	Teammate	Opponents in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2021	World Cup of Darts	Scotland	Peter Wright	Austria – Mensur Suljović and Rowby-John Rodriguez	3–1 (m)

Performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship	Non-PDC									1R	DNQ	2R	1R	1R	1R	3R	3R	3R	2R	DNQ
UK Open	1R	DNQ							3R	2R	5R	2R	5R	4R	3R	3R	4R	4R	4R	3R	DNP	3R
World Matchplay	Non-PDC								2R	DNQ			1R	DNQ	1R	1R	1R	DNQ
World Grand Prix	Non-PDC								QF	DNQ			1R	DNQ	SF	1R	1R	DNQ
European Championship	Not held					DNQ							QF	DNQ	1R	DNQ						DNP
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held				DNQ			RR	DNQ										RR	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	Not held						DNQ		1R	DNQ			1R	1R	2R	1R	3R	1R	DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
Premier League Darts	Not held		DNP														C	C	DNP
World Cup of Darts	Not held							DNQ	NH	DNQ								2R	W	QF	DNQ
World Series of Darts Finals	Not held												DNQ						1R	DNQ	DNP
BDO Ranked televised events
BDO World Championship	DNQ		2R	DNQ				2R	DNQ	No longer a BDO player
World Masters	DNQ	1R	3R	DNQ	3R	2R	2R	4R	No longer a BDO player
Zuiderduin Masters	DNQ			NH	DNQ		RR	RR	No longer a BDO player
WSDT Televised events
World Seniors Darts Championship	Not held																			DNP		W
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	-	Non-PDC							44	39	48	43	32	31	29	23	30	41	63	83	165

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2012	ADO DNQ	GDC DNQ	EDO DNQ	GDM DNQ	DDM DNQ
2013	UKM 1R	EDT 1R	EDO DNQ	ADO 2R	GDT 3R	GDC 1R	GDM DNQ	DDM DNQ
2014	GDC DNQ	DDM DNQ	GDM QF	ADO 2R	GDT 2R	EDO DNQ	EDG 1R	EDT DNQ
2015	GDC DNQ	GDT DNQ	GDM F	DDM 2R	IDO 1R	EDO 2R	EDT DNQ	EDM DNQ	EDG DNQ
2016	DDM 2R	GDM DNQ	GDT 2R	EDM 3R	ADO DNQ	EDO 1R	IDO DNQ	EDT DNQ	EDG DNQ	GDC DNQ
2017	GDC DNQ	GDM DNQ	GDO 1R	EDG 2R	GDT 2R	EDM 2R	ADO 2R	EDO QF	DDM QF	GDG DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDT DNQ
2018	EDO 3R	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO 1R	EDG 2R	DDM 2R	GDT DNQ	DDO 2R	EDM DNQ	GDC DNQ	DDC DNQ	IDO 2R	EDT 3R
2019	EDO DNQ	GDC DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO 3R	ADO 2R	EDG DNQ	DDM DNQ	DDO DNQ	CDO 2R	ADC DNQ	EDM 2R	IDO 2R	GDT DNQ
2020	BDC DNQ	GDC DNQ	EDG 1R	IDO DNQ
2021	HDT DNQ	GDT 1R
2022	IDO DNQ	GDC DNQ	GDG DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDO DNP	CDO 1R	EDG DNQ	DDC DNQ	EDM DNQ	HDT DNQ	GDO 1R	BDO DNQ	GDT 1R
2023	BSD DNQ	EDO 1R	IDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	ADO 2R	DDC DNP	BDO DNP	CDO DNP	EDG DNP	EDM DNP	GDO DNP	HDT DNP	GDC DNP

PDC Players Championships

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
2008	GIB DNP	GIB DNP	ESS DNP	WIG DNP	BSO DNP	BSO DNP	TEL DNP	ANT DNP	GLA DNP	AMS DNP	HEE NH	BRI DNP	BRI DNP	LVE DNP	BLA DNP	SHO DNP	KIT 1R	ATL DNP	KON DNP	KON DNP	DRO DNP	CHI DNP	NEW DNP	NEW DNP	DUB DNP	DUB DNP	SCO DNP	SCO DNP	KIR DNP	KIL DNP	LEI DNP	LEI DNP
2011	HAL SF	HAL QF	DER 4R	DER 2R	CRA 4R	CRA 2R	VIE 2R	VIE 3R	CRA 2R	CRA QF	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	NUL 4R	NUL 1R	ONT 4R	ONT 3R	DER 3R	DER 4R	NUL 3R	NUL 2R	DUB 2R	DUB 2R	KIL 4R	GLA QF	GLA 2R	ALI 2R	ALI 3R	CRA DNP	CRA DNP	WIG 1R	WIG 1R
2012	ALI 3R	ALI 2R	REA 1R	REA 1R	CRA 3R	CRA 1R	BIR 1R	BIR 4R	CRA 2R	CRA 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	DUB 3R	DUB 1R	KIL 3R	KIL QF	CRA 2R	CRA 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R
2013	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	CRA 2R	CRA 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 4R	DUB 1R	DUB 2R	KIL QF	KIL 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 4R
2014	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	CRA 3R	CRA 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	CRA 1R	CRA 1R	COV 4R	COV 1R	CRA 2R	CRA 3R	DUB 1R	DUB 1R	CRA 1R	CRA 2R	COV 4R	COV 2R
2015	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	COV 1R	COV 2R	COV SF	CRA 3R	CRA 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	DUB 2R	DUB 1R	COV 1R	COV 2R
2016	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	COV 2R	COV 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 3R	BAR SF	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	DUB 4R	DUB 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R
2017	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	MIL 3R	MIL 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	MIL 3R	MIL 2R	WIG 3R	WIG 2R	BAR QF	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	DUB 4R	DUB QF	BAR 4R	BAR QF
2018	BAR 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 4R	BAR 3R	MIL 2R	MIL QF	BAR QF	BAR 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	MIL 3R	MIL 4R	WIG 4R	WIG 3R	BAR 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR QF	DUB 4R	DUB 2R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R
2019	WIG 2R	WIG QF	WIG QF	WIG 2R	BAR QF	BAR QF	WIG 1R	WIG 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR SF	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 4R	WIG 2R	WIG 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	HIL 1R	HIL 1R	BAR 4R	BAR QF	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	DUB 1R	DUB 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R
2020	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	MIL QF	NIE 1R	NIE 2R	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	NIE 2R	COV 2R	COV 1R	COV 1R	COV 1R	COV 1R
2021	BOL 1R	BOL 2R	BOL 2R	BOL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	NIE 1R	NIE 2R	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	MIL 4R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	COV 2R	COV 3R	COV 1R	COV 2R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R
2022	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 4R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	NIE QF	NIE 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R
2023	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	LEI 1R	LEI 1R	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	LEI 1R	LEI 3R	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP	BAR DNP
2024	WIG DNP	WIG DNP	LEI DNP	LEI DNP	HIL 3R	HIL 2R	LEI DNP	LEI DNP	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 3R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	LEI DNP	LEI DNP	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG DNP	WIG DNP	WIG DNP	LEI 1R	LEI 2R

Performance Table Legend
W	Won the tournament	F	Finalist	SF	Semifinalist	QF	Quarterfinalist	#R RR Prel.	Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round	DQ	Disqualified
DNQ	Did not qualify	DNP	Did not participate	WD	Withdrew	NH	Tournament not held			NYF	Not yet founded

External links

• John Henderson player profile at Darts Orakel
• Profile on modusdarts.tv