Leighton Bennett (born 31 December 2005) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He won the 2019 BDO World Youth Championship. He has received an eight-year suspension from DRAâÂÂsanctioned darts events after being found guilty of match-fixing.
In August 2018, Bennett won the Cambridgeshire Open, aged 12; in the semi-final, he beat Ricky Evans, before seeing off Rhys Hayden in the final. In October 2018, he booked his place in the final of the 2019 BDO World Youth Darts Championship. He beat Nathan Girvan 3âÂÂ0 in the Final to become 2019 BDO World Youth Champion. In 2019, Bennett started competing on the men's BDO tour. He reached the Final of the Luxembourg Open and was also a Semi-finalist in the Welsh Open, French Open, German Open, Antwerp Open and Polish Open. Bennett qualified for the 2020 BDO World Darts Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to compete in the Men's tournament. He also became the first player to compete in the Men's tournament and Youth final in the same year.
In 2024, Bennett entered the UK Q-School. He made it to stage 2 after making a quarter-final on the third day of stage one. He would go on to automatically win a PDC Tour Card after beating Thomas Cromwell 6âÂÂ3 in the final on the third day of stage two.
As he had gained a Tour card, Bennett played in the 2024 PDC Players Championship series. At Players Championship 1, Bennett won his first round match against Brett Claydon 6âÂÂ3. In his second round match against Lukas Wenig in the Players Championships, Bennett hit a nine-dart finish en route to a 6âÂÂ5 victory. In the third round he was defeated 6âÂÂ5 by Cameron Menzies. At PC2, Bennett beat Boris KrÃÂmar 6âÂÂ2 before losing to Jonny Clayton 6âÂÂ4 in the second round. At PC3, he shocked Dave Chisnall with a 6âÂÂ1 first round win, then defeated Pascal Rupprecht 6âÂÂ5 and Arron Monk 6âÂÂ1 before being defeated in the last 16 by Peter Wright 6âÂÂ1. At PC4, Bennett played Wright again, but lost 6âÂÂ5 in the first round.
In August 2024, Bennett was suspended from all DRA events, including PDC events, for allegedly suspicious betting patterns, which breach betting and integrity rules. In December 2024, following a guilty plea, Bennett was banned for eight years.
PDC Players Championships