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Cliff Lazarenko

January 06, 2023

Cliff Lazarenko (born 16 March 1952[1]) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height (193 cm / 6'4") and weight (over 127 kg at his peak), he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage.[2]

Cliff Lazarenko
Personal information
Nickname"Big Cliff"
Born (1952-03-16) 16 March 1952 (age 70)
Liss, Hampshire, England
Home townWellingborough, England
Darts information
Darts20 gram Golden Unicorn
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"The Boys Are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1977–1993
PDC1993–2007 (founding member)
WDF Platinum – best performances
World Ch'shipThird Place: 1981
World MastersThird Place: 1978
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipQuarter Final: 1999
World MatchplaySemi Final: 1995
World Grand PrixLast 32: 2001, 2002
UK OpenLast 16: 2003
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
British Matchplay
British Open
Denmark Open
Flowers Dartsathlon
WDF Europe Cup Pairs
WDF World Cup Pairs		1979
1980, 1984
1981, 1983
1982, 1983, 1985, 1986
1984

1981

Biography

Lazarenko was born in Liss, Hampshire, growing up in Greatham, where his parents ran a garage.[1] He honed his darts skills in his local pub, The Queen.[1] He later moved to Wellingborough. Before becoming a professional darts player in 1975, he worked as a labourer.[2]

Lazarenko first appeared in a televised match on the show Indoor League in the 1970s.[1] He went on to win several singles and pairs titles.[1] He won the British Open in 1980, winning it again later in the decade, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship four times.[1][2][3] In 1980, he lost out to Bobby George; the next year he gained revenge on George by beating him in the quarter-finals, eventually losing to world champion Eric Bristow. In 1985, he reached the semi-finals again, this time without losing a single set en route, winning the opening round against Singapore's Paul Lim (2–0), the second round against the Swede Stefan Lord (3–0), and the quarter-finals against Northern Irish player Fred McMullan (4–0), but was narrowly defeated in the semi-finals by fellow Englishman John Lowe 5–3. He reached the semis again in 1990, but once again fell short of the final, losing 5–0 to eventual winner Phil Taylor.

Big Cliff made a habit of winning the Dartsathlon (an event made up of having 15 darts at various doubles, trebles, Bullseyes, 25s, and 501 legs) in the early–mid 80s winning the event four times in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986. He also won the Autumn Gold Masters in 1984 and 1986, the British Matchplay in 1979, British Gold Cup in 1984, Jersey Open in 1982 and 1983, and the Danish Open in 1981 and 1983. He came to the fore, however, with his 1977 win in the Marlboro Masters.

Lazarenko was one of the sixteen players who defected from the BDO to form the PDC. Although he managed to maintain his popularity with the fans, he never managed to repeat his performances in the PDC World Darts Championship, with several first-round exits to his name, and only managing a quarter-final at best in 1999. In other PDC tournaments, however, Lazarenko showed great promise: he reached the semi-finals of the 1995 World Matchplay, beating Dennis Smith, Shayne Burgess, and Nigel Justice along the way, before losing to Dennis Priestley. He was also a Matchplay quarter-finalist in 2001.

In the mid-2000s, Lazarenko suffered from ill health, losing a lot of weight, and ceased competing in darts tournaments.[1] However, in the 2007 UK Open Darts at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, Lazarenko made a return to the big stage, and won two matches in one night, en route to the second round. He then won another game the next night, before falling in the third round. In 2008 it was announced that Lazarenko would compete in the BetFred League of Legends along with players including Bristow, Lowe, George, and Bob Anderson. Lazarenko reached the semi-finals of the tournament, losing to Keith Deller.

In popular culture

In the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London, a darts match between Rab Smith and Lazarenko is featured on TV in the flat of the character played by Jenny Agutter.

World Championship performances

BDO

PDC

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
World Matchplay (0–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Runner-up 1. 1984 MFI World Matchplay   John Lowe 3–5 (s)
  1. ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
BDO World Championship NYF DNQ 1R SF SF 2R QF 1R SF 1R QF 2R 1R SF 2R DNQ DNQ No longer a BDO Member
Winmau World Masters 1R SF 2R 3R QF QF 2R 2R 3R 3R QF 1R 4R 2R Did not participate
British Professional Not held 2R QF QF QF QF 2R 1R 1R Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held F SF QF QF 1R Not held
PDC World Championship Not yet founded RR RR RR RR DNQ QF 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R Did not qualify
World Matchplay Not yet founded 1R SF 2R 1R 1R 1R DNQ QF 2R 1R Did not qualify
World Grand Prix Not held Did not qualify 1R 1R Did not qualify
UK Open Not held 5R 4R 5R 1R 3R
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gripton, Peter (2008) Greatham Memories, Las Atalayas Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9556753-4-8, p. 72
  2. ^ a b c Hartley, Alan J. (2004) Darts for Everyone, p. 71
  3. ^ Doyle, Paul (2004) "'Big' Cliff Lazarenko", The Guardian, 3 December 2004, retrieved 2010-12-05

External links

  • Cliff Lazarenko's profile and stats on Darts Database

January 06, 2023
cliff, lazarenko, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cliff Lazarenko news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Cliff Lazarenko born 16 March 1952 1 is an English former professional darts player Nicknamed Big Cliff due to his height 193 cm 6 4 and weight over 127 kg at his peak he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage 2 Cliff LazarenkoPersonal informationNickname Big Cliff Born 1952 03 16 16 March 1952 age 70 Liss Hampshire EnglandHome townWellingborough EnglandDarts informationDarts20 gram Golden UnicornLateralityRight handedWalk on music The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin LizzyOrganisation see split in darts BDO1977 1993PDC1993 2007 founding member WDF Platinum best performancesWorld Ch shipThird Place 1981World MastersThird Place 1978PDC premier events best performancesWorld Ch shipQuarter Final 1999World MatchplaySemi Final 1995World Grand PrixLast 32 2001 2002UK OpenLast 16 2003Other tournament winsTournamentYearsBritish MatchplayBritish OpenDenmark OpenFlowers DartsathlonWDF Europe Cup PairsWDF World Cup Pairs19791980 19841981 19831982 1983 1985 198619841981 Contents 1 Biography 2 In popular culture 3 World Championship performances 3 1 BDO 3 2 PDC 4 Career finals 4 1 BDO major finals 1 1 runner up 5 Performance timeline 6 References 7 External linksBiography EditLazarenko was born in Liss Hampshire growing up in Greatham where his parents ran a garage 1 He honed his darts skills in his local pub The Queen 1 He later moved to Wellingborough Before becoming a professional darts player in 1975 he worked as a labourer 2 Lazarenko first appeared in a televised match on the show Indoor League in the 1970s 1 He went on to win several singles and pairs titles 1 He won the British Open in 1980 winning it again later in the decade and reached the semi finals of the World Championship four times 1 2 3 In 1980 he lost out to Bobby George the next year he gained revenge on George by beating him in the quarter finals eventually losing to world champion Eric Bristow In 1985 he reached the semi finals again this time without losing a single set en route winning the opening round against Singapore s Paul Lim 2 0 the second round against the Swede Stefan Lord 3 0 and the quarter finals against Northern Irish player Fred McMullan 4 0 but was narrowly defeated in the semi finals by fellow Englishman John Lowe 5 3 He reached the semis again in 1990 but once again fell short of the final losing 5 0 to eventual winner Phil Taylor Big Cliff made a habit of winning the Dartsathlon an event made up of having 15 darts at various doubles trebles Bullseyes 25s and 501 legs in the early mid 80s winning the event four times in 1982 1983 1985 and 1986 He also won the Autumn Gold Masters in 1984 and 1986 the British Matchplay in 1979 British Gold Cup in 1984 Jersey Open in 1982 and 1983 and the Danish Open in 1981 and 1983 He came to the fore however with his 1977 win in the Marlboro Masters Lazarenko was one of the sixteen players who defected from the BDO to form the PDC Although he managed to maintain his popularity with the fans he never managed to repeat his performances in the PDC World Darts Championship with several first round exits to his name and only managing a quarter final at best in 1999 In other PDC tournaments however Lazarenko showed great promise he reached the semi finals of the 1995 World Matchplay beating Dennis Smith Shayne Burgess and Nigel Justice along the way before losing to Dennis Priestley He was also a Matchplay quarter finalist in 2001 In the mid 2000s Lazarenko suffered from ill health losing a lot of weight and ceased competing in darts tournaments 1 However in the 2007 UK Open Darts at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton Lazarenko made a return to the big stage and won two matches in one night en route to the second round He then won another game the next night before falling in the third round In 2008 it was announced that Lazarenko would compete in the BetFred League of Legends along with players including Bristow Lowe George and Bob Anderson Lazarenko reached the semi finals of the tournament losing to Keith Deller In popular culture EditIn the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London a darts match between Rab Smith and Lazarenko is featured on TV in the flat of the character played by Jenny Agutter World Championship performances EditBDO Edit 1979 First round lost to Terry O Dea 1980 Semi final lost to Bobby George 1981 Third place beat Tony Brown lost to Eric Bristow in semi finals 1982 Second round lost to Nicky Virachkul 1983 Quarter final lost to Jocky Wilson 1984 First round lost to Ceri Morgan 1985 Semi final lost to John Lowe 1986 First round lost to Dave Lee 1987 Quarter final lost to John Lowe 1988 Second round lost to Paul Reynolds 1989 First round lost to Wayne Weening 1990 Semi final lost to Phil Taylor 1991 Second round lost to Dave Whitcombe PDC Edit 1994 Group stage lost both group games to Alan Warriner and Richie Gardner 1995 Group stage beat Graeme Stoddart but lost to Peter Evison 1996 Group stage lost both group games to Shayne Burgess and Phil Taylor 1997 Group stage lost both group games to Peter Evison and Steve Raw 1999 Quarter final lost to Shayne Burgess 2000 First round lost to Dennis Smith 2001 Second round lost to Roland Scholten 2002 First round lost to Roland Scholten 2003 First round lost to John Part 2004 Second round lost to Steve Maish Career finals EditBDO major finals 1 1 runner up Edit LegendWorld Matchplay 0 1 Outcome No Year Championship Opponent in the final Score N 1 Runner up 1 1984 MFI World Matchplay John Lowe 3 5 s l score in legs s score in sets Performance timeline EditTournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007BDO World Championship NYF DNQ 1R SF SF 2R QF 1R SF 1R QF 2R 1R SF 2R DNQ DNQ No longer a BDO MemberWinmau World Masters 1R SF 2R 3R QF QF 2R 2R 3R 3R QF 1R 4R 2R Did not participateBritish Professional Not held 2R QF QF QF QF 2R 1R 1R Not heldMFI World Matchplay Not held F SF QF QF 1R Not heldPDC World Championship Not yet founded RR RR RR RR DNQ QF 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R Did not qualifyWorld Matchplay Not yet founded 1R SF 2R 1R 1R 1R DNQ QF 2R 1R Did not qualifyWorld Grand Prix Not held Did not qualify 1R 1R Did not qualifyUK Open Not held 5R 4R 5R 1R 3RPerformance Table LegendDNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded R lost in the early rounds of the tournament WR Wildcard round RR Round robin QF lost in the quarter finals SF lost in the semi finals F lost in the final W won the tournamentReferences Edit a b c d e f g Gripton Peter 2008 Greatham Memories Las Atalayas Publishing ISBN 978 0 9556753 4 8 p 72 a b c Hartley Alan J 2004 Darts for Everyone p 71 Doyle Paul 2004 Big Cliff Lazarenko The Guardian 3 December 2004 retrieved 2010 12 05External links EditCliff Lazarenko s profile and stats on Darts Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cliff Lazarenko amp oldid 1131336526, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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