Andy THE HAMMER Hamilton

Nickname : THE HAMMER

Date of Birth : 16th March 1967

Place of Birth : Stoke-On-Trent, England

Home Town : Derby, England as of February 2010

Playing Since : 1983

Darts Used : 23g Unicorn Andy Hamilton Line..............

Laterality : Right Handed

Walk on Music : u Can't Touch This by MC Hammer

Organisation : PDC since 2004

Current world ranking 14 (29 November 2009)

PDC premier events - best performances

World Ch'ship Semi-finals 2007
World Matchplay Semi-finals 2006
World Grand Prix Semi-finals 2009
Grand Slam Runner-up 2007
Ch'ship League Winners group, 7th, 2008
Desert Classic Quarter-finals 2006, 2008
European Ch'ship First round 2008
UK Open Last 16 2008
US Open/WSoD Semi-finals 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals Second round 2009, 2010

PDC career
Hamilton made his television debut at the 2004 UK Open championship but was eliminated in the first round 2-5 by Eddie Lovely.

Andy qualified for the 2005 PDC World Championship and eventually reached the quarter-final stage. Hamilton defeated Mark Thomson and Mick Manning 3-0 in the early rounds and beat former BDO World Champion Steve Beaton 4-2 to reach the last 16. After beating Josephus Schenk 4-1 in the fourth round, Hamilton eventually lost 1-5 to Bob Anderson in the quarter-finals.

The 2006 PDC World Championship saw Hamilton gain revenge for his 2005 defeat by Anderson with a 3-2 first round win. He also knocked out Terry Jenkins 4-1 in round two. However, Hamilton fell to eventual winner Phil Taylor in the third round losing 4-0. Andy did manage to gain a share of the prize for highest three-dart checkout by hitting a 170 finish, a feat matched by Taylor.

Andy reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic however where he reached the quarter-final stage before being eliminated by eventual runner-up Raymond van Barneveld 3-1. Hamilton had defeated Kevin Painter 6-4 in the first round and enjoyed a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Matt Clark in round two.

'The Hammer' made his Winter Gardens debut at the 2006 World Matchplay Darts tournament. Hamilton sprang something of a surprise in round one by hammering number 4 seed Peter Manley 10-2. Andy then overcame Adrian Lewis in the second round, the duo produced a thrilling match that eventually saw Hamilton triumph 15-13. Hamilton's fine run continued as he defeated crowd favourite Wayne Mardle 16-9 to reach his first major semi-final. However Taylor, a seven time World Matchplay Champion, eliminated Hamilton 17-11 in the semi-final.

Andy reached the semi-finals of the 2007 PDC World Championship before bowing out 6-0 to eventual runner-up Taylor. Hamilton's campaign began with a 4-3 victory over Mark Dudbridge before defeating Dennis Priestley 4-1 and Jenkins 5-4 in the quarter-final. Hamilton hit 46 180s during the tournament, second only to the overall winner Raymond van Barneveld.

2007 Season
Hamilton enjoyed a superb start to 2007 and picked up his first PDC Pro Tour title with a 3-1 win over Colin Lloyd in the StanJames.com Players Championship in Gibraltar on 21 January. He had already overcome Andy Smith, Roland Scholten, Jenkins and Alan Warriner-Little on his way to the final.

His maintained his form by reaching the semi-finals of the South-West Regional Final of the UK Open and quarter-final performances in the PDPA Players Championship in Germany and North-East Regional UK Open.

He collected his second PDC Pro Tour title on 1 April beating James Wade in the Midlands Regional Final of the UK Open.

Andy also made a big impact in the inaugural PDC US Open, powering his way to the semi-final, where he was beaten by van Barneveld. On his way to the semi-finals he overcame one of Taylor's oldest rivals, Priestley and the hugely talented Dudbridge.

In November, Hamilton enjoyed an excellent run in the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts, ending up as runner-up of the tournament and collecting £35,000 for his efforts. He was defeated by Taylor in the final by 18 legs to 11, despite the fact his three-dart average was over 100.

In December, Hamilton was knocked out of the second round of the PDC world championship by Alex Roy.