Keane Barry (born 25 June 2002) is an Irish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. A professional since 2021, he reached his first PDC major semi-final at the 2022 UK Open and has represented Ireland at the PDC World Cup of Darts.
In his youth career, Barry found success in the British Darts Organisation (BDO)'s youth system, most notably winning the 2020 BDO World Youth Championship. He has also won eight PDC Development Tours, as well as the Junior Darts Corporation's JDC World Darts Championship in 2019.
Born on 25 June 2002, Keane Barry is from Duleek, County Meath, Ireland. The son of Neil and Vivienne Barry, he started playing darts at the age of four after asking his father to let him join in on his practice; he claimed to hit his first score of 180 at age five. He began competing in adult tournaments at a pub in Tullyallen, County Louth. Outside of darts, Barry played underage Gaelic football for Duleek/Bellewstown GAA. He was educated at St Mary's Diocesan School in Drogheda.
Barry started competing alongside his father, Neil, in the local Duleek and District Darts League, representing the Greyhound Bar. He showed promise from an early age and was awarded the league's Star of the Future Award in 2015, at the age of 12. He became captain of the Irish youth national team and was a finalist in the 2016 WDF Europe Youth Cup boys' event, where he lost 3âÂÂ1 to Justin van Tergouw of the Netherlands. He won his first British Darts Organisation (BDO) youth tournament at the 2016 Northern Ireland Open. At age 15, he was touted as the number-one youth player in Ireland by former professional Mick McGowan.
Barry was the runner-up at the BDO World Youth Masters in 2017 and 2018, losing in a deciding leg in both matches. He won the youth final at the 2018 Finder Darts Masters by beating Levy Frauenfelder 2âÂÂ0 in sets. He captured the World Youth Masters title in 2019, defeating Charlie Manby in his third successive final. He began competing on the PDC Development Tour in 2018 and reached his first final during the 2019 season, losing to compatriot Shane McGuirk. He also won the 2019 JDC International Open, beating Nathan Girvan in the final.
After playing the early rounds of the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay in Tramore, Barry qualified for the final which was contested during the World Grand Prix in October. In the lead-up to the match, he claimed his first BDO senior title at the Northern Ireland Matchplay with a 6âÂÂ2 victory over Paul Hogan. Barry beat Liam Gallagher to win the Irish Matchplay, coming back from 5âÂÂ2 down to win 6âÂÂ5 and surviving eleven missed match darts from Gallagher. This victory secured him a place at the 2020 PDC World Championship.
Barry reached the semi-finals of the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he lost 6âÂÂ2 to Luke Humphries. On 16 December 2019, he made his PDC World Championship debut as the youngest player in the tournament, aged 17, where he lost to Vincent van der Voort 3âÂÂ0 in sets. On 21 December, he defeated Adam Gawlas 5âÂÂ3 in the JDC World Championship final.
In January 2020, Barry defeated defending champion Leighton Bennett 3âÂÂ0 in sets to win the 2020 BDO World Youth Championship. Later in January, Barry attended UK Q-School in an attempt to earn a PDC Tour Card. On the last day of play, he reached the final alongside Scott Waites, with the victor obtaining a Tour Card; Barry lost 5âÂÂ0.
In February, Barry won the JDC Super 16 title in his last JDC event with a 5âÂÂ3 win over Luke Littler. He spent the rest of 2020 competing in PDC Development Tour and Challenge Tour events. He picked up his sole Challenge Tour title in event five, beating Maikel Verberk 5âÂÂ4 in the final. He won back-to-back Development Tour titles in events eight and nine: he won five straight legs to defeat Ryan Meikle 5âÂÂ3 in the final of the former, before beating Meikle again the following day to claim the event nine title with a 5âÂÂ4 score. He finished second on the 2020 Development Tour Order of Merit to secure a PDC Tour Card for the first time and a place at the 2021 PDC World Championship.
Barry competed on the opening night of the 2021 World Championship, losing his first-round match to Jeff Smith 3âÂÂ1 in sets. He made his PDC European Tour debut at the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy. He got past Thomas Lovely and Dirk van Duijvenbode to reach the third round, where he lost to eventual runner-up Michael Smith.
Barry claimed his first Alexandra Palace win in the first round of the 2022 World Championship. He established a 2âÂÂ0 lead against Royden Lam before Lam won the next two sets to level the match at 2âÂÂ2, with Barry taking the final set to secure a 3âÂÂ2 victory. Barry almost produced a surprise result in the second round by going 2âÂÂ1 up against Jonny Clayton â one of the tournament favourites â before ultimately losing 3âÂÂ2.
At the UK Open, Barry had his best run at a PDC major event by reaching the semi-finals, including eliminating the defending champion James Wade 10âÂÂ4 in the quarter-finals. He lost 11âÂÂ6 in the semi-finals to Michael Smith. His run at the tournament saw him earn in prize money, which caused him to rise from 66th to 52nd on the PDC Order of Merit. Barry also competed on the Development Tour that year, closing his campaign with three titles at events two, 12, and 15.
Barry, ranked world number 45, was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 World Championship in a shock 3âÂÂ1 loss to South African qualifier Grant Sampson. On the European Tour, Barry reached the quarter-finals at both the German Grand Prix and the Dutch Championship; he was eliminated by reigning world champion Michael Smith and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen, respectively. His results on the European Tour saw him qualify for the European Championship, where he succumbed to a 6âÂÂ1 defeat to former world champion Gerwyn Price in the first round. Barry also represented Ireland in the PDC World Cup for the first time, partnering William O'Connor.
Barry was drawn against Reynaldo Rivera in the first round of the 2024 World Championship. He defeated Rivera 3âÂÂ1 to advance to the second round, where he was eliminated following a 3âÂÂ0 loss to Michael van Gerwen. He reached his second PDC World Youth Championship semi-final, where he was defeated 6âÂÂ4 by Jurjen van der Velde. He partnered O'Connor again at the PDC World Cup, where they were eliminated in Group E by Chinese Taipei. In November, Barry was one of eight players to earn a place at the Grand Slam of Darts through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, his debut at the event. He exited the tournament by finishing third in Group F, with a win against Lourence Ilagan and losses against Luke Littler and Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Barry took one of the two Development Tour qualifying spots for the 2025 World Championship after winning three titles in 2024. He claimed back-to-back titles at events two and three before adding a third win at event twelve. At his sixth PDC World Championship, he won his opening match 3âÂÂ1 against Kim Huybrechts, before a 3âÂÂ0 defeat by Gerwyn Price in the second round. Barry and O'Connor reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 PDC World Cup, where they were eliminated by Northern Ireland.
At the 2026 World Championship, Barry defeated Tim Pusey 3âÂÂ0 in the first round. He was beaten 3âÂÂ0 by Martin Schindler in the second round.
After leaving school, Barry worked for his father's scaffolding business. Barry has been associated with darts manufacturer Target since 2019. His darts nickname is "Dynamite" â in reference to his quick throwing style â and his walk-on music is "TNT" by AC/DC.
Keane Barry's performance timeline is as follows:
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