With Vault 19 completed, we've already looked at the venues that produced the strongest competition. But what about the players themselves, and what do the numbers tell us about the series as a whole?
One of the attractions of Vault darts is the sheer range of players involved. You can have someone taking their first steps into competitive darts, somebody who has played for years, and a player capable of producing a professional-standard average, all competing within the same series.
Using the Q4QS Database, we've taken a closer look at Vault 19 to find some of the standout numbers, performances and players.
Over 100,000 Matches
Let's start with the scale of the competition.
Across the main Vault 19 tournament records, the Q4QS Database contains:
101,382 match records
8,841 distinct player names
1,827 tournament records
1,815 recorded finals
The player figure is based on distinct names rather than a fully audited count of individuals, so it may include occasional spelling or identity variations.
Nevertheless, these are substantial numbers, and they demonstrate just how much competitive darts takes place throughout a single Vault series.
The Players Who Kept Winning
Winning one match is satisfying enough, but accumulating victories throughout an entire series requires both consistency and plenty of tournament appearances.
Lee Evans leads the Vault 19 match-win standings in the Q4QS Database with 202 victories, ahead of George Whyte on 190.
The leading ten were:
| Player | Match wins |
|---|---|
| Lee Evans | 202 |
| George Whyte | 190 |
| Louis Melville | 160 |
| Edward Manley | 157 |
| Jake B-Smith | 150 |
| Tony Chapman | 147 |
| Curtis Hammond | 146 |
| Pete Hughes | 145 |
| Bobby Short | 141 |
| George Cressey | 140 |
Of course, the number of tournaments entered makes a difference. A player attending regularly has more opportunities to collect wins than somebody who plays occasionally.
Even so, passing 200 victories across one series is an achievement worth recognising.
And Who Won the Tournaments?
Lee Evans also heads the recorded final-victory figures, with 24 wins in tournament finals.
George Cressey, Michael Wiles and Steve Haggerty each recorded 14, while Kevin Leadenham, Johnny Haines and Mark Stafford each had 13.
These figures are based on recorded final-round victories, rather than an independently audited list of tournament champions.
What is interesting is that the players collecting the most match victories aren't necessarily the same players winning the most tournaments. Playing consistently well is one thing; getting over the line in a final is another.
From Under 30 to Over 130 — The Winning Averages
This is perhaps my favourite set of numbers from Vault 19.
We talk a great deal about averages in darts, but an average doesn't always tell you whether somebody has won a match.
In Vault 19, there were 231 match victories with a winning average below 30.
At the opposite end, there were 818 match victories with a winning average of 100 or more.
Here is how the figures break down:
| Winning average | Number of victories |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | 231 |
| Under 40 | 2,709 |
| Under 50 | 14,617 |
| 80 or more | 12,267 |
| 90 or more | 3,575 |
| 100 or more | 818 |
| 110 or more | 104 |
| 120 or more | 11 |
| 130 or more | 2 |
These are cumulative categories. For example, the 104 victories at 110+ are included in the 818 at 100+.
I don't think we need to name the players at the bottom end. Everybody has difficult matches, and a win is still a win.
But those figures tell us something important about Vault darts. There is room for players of very different abilities to compete, enjoy themselves and experience the satisfaction of winning.
And when you consider that there were more than 800 winning performances of 100-plus, there was certainly no shortage of quality either.
Some Exceptional Performances
At the very top end, the highest recorded winning average was 136.64 by Shaun Fox, in a 2–0 victory over Martin Steward at United Services Club in Harwich.
Kurt Parry also recorded a remarkable 130.70, while Connor Hopkins and Jack Johnson each produced winning averages of 125.25.
These are extraordinary figures, although individual match averages should always be viewed in the context of match length. A short format can produce spectacular numbers.
Nevertheless, they demonstrate the level of scoring that can appear at Vault events.
Where Was the Competition Strongest?
In our previous Vault 19 tournament-strength analysis, we looked beyond the number of entrants or the reputation of a venue to examine the strength of the competition.
The five leading venues in that analysis were:
| Venue | Tournament strength |
|---|---|
| Pinches Cue Club, Norwich | 1.350 |
| Faringdon Football Club | 1.329 |
| Clive Arms, Cardiff | 1.325 |
| Cressex Social Club, High Wycombe | 1.317 |
| Hethersett Social Club | 1.298 |
The tournament-strength figures are Q4QS measures of competitive strength, not player averages.
What I find interesting about these rankings is that the strongest competition isn't necessarily concentrated in the places people might automatically expect.
There is quality throughout the country, and the Vault gives that quality an opportunity to show itself.
What Does It All Tell Us?
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is the variety.
We have players winning more than 200 matches, others collecting tournament titles on a regular basis, and winning averages ranging from below 30 to well beyond 100.
But the numbers don't tell every story.
For some players, Vault 19 will have been about winning tournaments or improving their rankings. For others, it might have been about winning a first match, reaching a first knockout stage or simply gaining more experience.
And that, to me, is part of what makes the Vault worthwhile.
There are plenty of ways to measure success in darts. Not all of them involve being top of a table.
Next up: WADC Vault 3.0. Tomorrow we'll turn our attention to the women's series, looking at the players, performances and numbers that stood out.
