Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won 6 PDC ranking titles.
Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunch anti-smoker, he refused to play darts in local pubs as the cigarette smoke would make his eyes water. In 2007, a smoking ban was introduced to England which enabled him to restart his darts career. He first emerged at the 2008 UK Open as a pub qualifier. He defeated Geoff Wylie and Lionel Sams before losing 9âÂÂ3 to James Wade in the third round. A year later he joined the PDC Pro Tour and reached the third round of the 2009 UK Open, this time losing 9âÂÂ5 against Andy Jenkins.
He qualified for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts as one of four ITV Wildcard qualifiers. He lost all three of his group games to James Wade, Vincent van der Voort, and Tony O'Shea.
Pipe also qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 1âÂÂ3 in the first round to Mark Walsh. In June 2011, Pipe hit a nine-dart finish in a Players Championship match in Nuland against Colin Osborne. Pipe made his World Matchplay debut in 2011. He defeated Mervyn King 10âÂÂ6 in the first round. In October, Pipe won his first PDC Pro Tour event in Dublin, defeating Phil Taylor 6âÂÂ5 in the final. On 5 November, Pipe won his third Players Championship in just a month.
Pipe qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. He beat Terry Jenkins 5âÂÂ1 in the first match of the group stage, then missed a dart at a double to beat James Wade. In his final match against Dave Chisnall, Pipe had a shot at 17 in the deciding leg to qualify but bust with his first dart and lost the match, and was eventually eliminated as Jenkins beat Wade in the final match. At the 2011 Players Championship Finals, Pipe was the number 1 seed as he had reached the final of six of the last ten events. He reached the second round where he missed six match darts against Mark Webster before losing 8âÂÂ7.
Pipe won his first ever match at the PDC World Championship in 2012 by beating Sean Reed 3âÂÂ1. In the second round he came from 2âÂÂ0 down against world number 7 Wes Newton, to win 4âÂÂ3 and reach the last 16, where he played Terry Jenkins. Pipe came up against an inspired opponent, who averaged 102, and lost the match 1âÂÂ4.
Pipe saw his progress in 2011 rewarded at the annual PDC awards ceremony on 3 January 2012, as he picked up the PDPA Players' Player of the Year award. He then continued his fine form by winning the first Players Championship of 2012 with a 6âÂÂ0 whitewash of Paul Nicholson in the Spanish Darts Trophy. He almost pulled off a remarkable double as he reached the final of the second event a day later, but was beaten by Michael Smith 3âÂÂ6. In April, Pipe won the Austrian Darts Open with a 6âÂÂ3 victory over James Wade in the final, having defeated Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals by the same scoreline with a 107 average. The victory saw him rise into the world's top 16 for the very first time, as he was ranked 15, meaning he gained automatic qualification into the upcoming major events. Pipe lost to Dave Chisnall 4âÂÂ6 in the final of the sixth Players Championship event in May, having earlier beaten the likes of Kevin Painter, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld.
In the World Matchplay Pipe beat Joe Cullen and Wes Newton, but then lost to Ronnie Baxter 11âÂÂ16 in his first televised quarter-final. At the World Grand Prix, Pipe came through close matches against Whitlock and Painter, but was then beaten 1âÂÂ3 by home favourite Brendan Dolan in the quarter-finals in the double to start event. Pipe qualified from Group 2 of the Championship League with a 6âÂÂ5 victory against Phil Taylor. He finished 5th in the Winners Group, as he won three of his seven league matches, only missing out on the play-offs by leg difference. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Pipe finished fifth on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Players Championship Finals. It was there that Pipe reached his first major televised semi-final as he saw off Colin Osborne, Brendan Dolan and Mervyn King. Pipe went 0âÂÂ2 down to Kim Huybrechts in the semi-final and never restored parity in the match as he lost 6âÂÂ11.
Pipe was defeated in the second round of the 2013 World Championship 2âÂÂ4 by Mark Walsh, after overcoming Andy Jenkins 3âÂÂ0 in the first. After being a losing quarter-finalist in three events during the first half of 2013, Pipe reached the semi-finals for the first time this year at the third Players Championship, but lost 3âÂÂ6 to Paul Nicholson. He suffered a surprise 2âÂÂ5 defeat to Gareth Pass in the first round of the UK Open. At the World Matchplay, he beat Mark Webster 10âÂÂ4 in the first round and then defeated Raymond van Barneveld 13âÂÂ9 with a 170 checkout. In his second consecutive quarter-final in the event, Pipe lost 10âÂÂ16 to Phil Taylor. Pipe beat Andy Smith 2âÂÂ0 and Adrian Lewis 3âÂÂ0 in the opening rounds of the World Grand Prix and then saw off Andy Hamilton to reach his second major semi-final in a performance Pipe claimed was the best of his career. He faced Dave Chisnall and started the better as he led 1âÂÂ0 and 2âÂÂ1 but could only win another two legs in the match as Chisnall's scoring power eventually told in a 5âÂÂ2 defeat. Pipe won through to the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals for the second successive year where he faced Phil Taylor. He kept pace early on but with the match on throw at 5âÂÂ4, Taylor took out a 132 finish on the bull with Pipe on 38, to enter the second break 6âÂÂ4 ahead, before going on to defeat Pipe 10âÂÂ4.
Pipe was beaten by qualifier Devon Petersen 4âÂÂ1 in the second round of the 2014 World Championship. He reached the final of the first European Tour event of the year, the German Darts Championship, and led Gary Anderson 5âÂÂ3 but missed six darts for the match to lose 6âÂÂ5. Pipe lost 9âÂÂ7 to Dave Chisnall in the third round of the UK Open. In May, he was beaten 6âÂÂ2 by Peter Wright in the final of the ninth Players Championship. Pipe won his first title in over two years at the 15th Players Championship of 2014. In the semi-finals and final he won deciding legs over world number three Adrian Lewis and reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen respectively. However, two days later he was beaten 2âÂÂ0 (sets) by Robert Thornton in the opening round of the World Grand Prix. Pipe reached the quarter-finals of the Masters by beating Peter Wright 10âÂÂ7 and lost 10âÂÂ6 to Mervyn King.
At the 2015 World Championship, Pipe led Australian qualifier Laurence Ryder 2âÂÂ1 in the first round but then lost six consecutive legs to suffer a surprise 3âÂÂ2 defeat. He was knocked out in the third round of the UK Open for the second year in a row, this time 9âÂÂ5 by Jan Dekker. Pipe's first final of the year came at the Dutch Darts Masters in June which he reached without facing a single top 20 player, but he was whitewashed 6âÂÂ0 by Michael van Gerwen. He lost 10âÂÂ7 in the first round of the World Matchplay to Jamie Lewis and 3âÂÂ0 in sets to Robert Thornton in the second round of the 2015 World Grand Prix. After failing to get past the second round of the last two majors he played in 2015, it meant that Pipe has not reached the quarter-finals of a major event in over two years.
Pipe couldn't advance beyond the first round of the World Championship for the second year in a row, as he was beaten 3âÂÂ0 by Christian Kist whilst averaging 75.55, losing the final seven legs of the match. He lost 9âÂÂ3 to Kim Huybrechts in the fourth round of the UK Open and 10âÂÂ7 to Terry Jenkins in the first round of the World Matchplay. His only semi-final of the year came at the final Players Championship event by beating Peter Wright 6âÂÂ5, but he was ousted 6âÂÂ5 by Benito van de Pas. Pipe missed match darts in the opening round of the European Championship to be edged out 6âÂÂ5 by Wright. He got to the third round of the Players Championship Finals by eliminating Andy Jenkins 6âÂÂ3 and Jan Dekker 6âÂÂ1, but lost 10âÂÂ6 to Kist.
Pipe lost 3âÂÂ1 to Chris Dobey in the first round of the 2017 World Championship. Pipe was the 23rd seed in the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Daryl Gurney 10âÂÂ9 in the quarterfinal before losing 11âÂÂ3 to Michael van Gerwen in the semifinal.
Pipe faced Bernie Smith in the first round of the 2018 World Championship. He won the match 3âÂÂ2 after a tiebreaker in controversial circumstances after he appeared to move closer to Smith, who was throwing for the match, and cough causing his opponent to miss. The event was dubbed "Cough-gate". Pipe faced Phil Taylor in the second round and won only two legs in a 4âÂÂ0 defeat.
On 8 January 2018, Pipe was fined ã3,000 by the Darts Regulation Authority in relation to the above incident.
His slow throwing style is partly attributed to a serious car accident he suffered in 1993, where his right arm was paralysed for three months.
Pipe joined darts manufacturer Cosmo Darts as a sponsored player on 14 October 2011.
Since January 2015, Pipe is self-managed by his 'Team Pipe' made up of family members and friend Krispy Brown.
Pipe is married to Claire and they have two sons and a daughter. His brother, Mark, died in June 2013. Pipe played the following weekend in the European Championship and dedicated his first round win to him.
He worked as an arborist before becoming a professional darts player in 2010.
Sources:
PDC Players Championships