José de Sousa explained

José de Sousa
Fullname:José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa[1]
Nickname:"The Special One"
Birth Place:Azambuja, Lisbon, Portugal
Hometown:Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain
Since:1994
Darts:20 Gram Trinidad Signautre
Laterality:Right-handed
Music:"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" by Pitbull
Wdf:2011
Pdc:2011–
(Tour Card: 2019-)
Pdc World:Last 16: 2023
Matchplay:Quarter Final: 2022
Grand Prix:Last 16: 2021
European:Quarter Final: 2021
Premier League:Runner Up: 2021
Pc Finals:Quarter Final: 2021
Masters:Semi Final: 2022
World Series Finals:Last 16: 2021
Results:European Tour EventsPlayers Championships

José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa (born 12 February 1974) is a Portuguese professional darts player. He is based in Tarragona and represented Spain at the 2011 WDF World Cup, but played for the Portuguese team afterwards at the PDC. He won his first televised major title at the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts. He is known among darts fans for his maverick-like scoring, relatively frequent miscounts and unorthodox checkouts in matches. He frequently helps out at local hotels and restaurants during the summer.[2]

Career

De Sousa qualified for the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship by winning the Western European qualifier, beating Eduardo Lopes in the final. He became the first Portuguese player to qualify for either version of the World Darts Championship. He lost 4–3 in the preliminary round to South Africa's Devon Petersen.[3] In the rest of the year, he won the Catalonia National Championship and the Catalan Open by beating Antonio Jimenez in the final.[4] [5] De Sousa claimed the 2013 Soft Tip Bullshooter European Championship with a win over Franck Guillermont.[6] He reached the final of the 2015 Catalan Open, but lost 6–1 to Carles Arola.[7]

De Sousa won the 2016 FCD Anniversary Open by overcoming Willem Mandigers 6–1 in the final.[8] In 2017 on the second day of Q School he came close to winning a two-year PDC Tour Card, but lost 5–2 to Royden Lam in the final round.[9]

2019

After a first round defeat at the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship to Michael Barnard, De Sousa went to PDC European Q-School in January 2019 and won a Tour Card for the first time, finishing sixth on the Order of Merit to seal at least two years on the PDC ProTour.[10]

He made gradual improvements throughout his first year on tour, and made his maiden PDC final at Players Championship 18, but lost 8–5 to James Wade. De Sousa then became the first Portuguese player to win a PDC title at Players Championship 23. He beat Peter Wright 7–3 in the semi-finals and Gerwyn Price 8–1 in the final.

2020

At the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship he lost 3–0 to Damon Heta in the first round.

In March, De Sousa made his debut at the 2020 UK Open, but lost to Welsh youngster Lewy Williams 6–4 in the third round.

In 2020, De Sousa won his first PDC European Tour title, beating the number 1 ranked player Michael Van Gerwen in the final 8–4, averaging 105,79. His winning checkout was an unorthodox 88 finish of treble 8, double 14, double 18, and with that victory followed the winners prize of £25,000. Two weeks later in the 2020 European Championship, De Sousa managed to hit his first ever televised nine-darter, in a 6–3 win over Jeffrey de Zwaan. Portugal was not on the entry list for 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts, but Singapore withdrew from the competition as Harith Lim couldn't fly to Austria. They were replaced by Portugal (represented by de Sousa and José Marquês) and together they defeated team Hungary in the first round 5–0, however, in the second round they lost to team Austria.

Continuing a good run of form, De Sousa won his first major title in the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts. After beating Krzysztof Ratajski and Lisa Ashton in the group stages, he then defeated Dave Chisnall, avenged a group stage defeat to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals, beat Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals, then he defeated James Wade in the final 16–12, winning with a 158 checkout. De Sousa became the first ever Portuguese winner of a major tournament, and broke into the world's Top 16 by winning the event.

2021

De Sousa qualified for 2021 PDC World Darts Championship via PDC Order of Merit as 14th seed. He defeated Ross Smith in the second round 3–1, but lost 0–4 to Mervyn King in the third round, despite averaging 103.62. He finished the year in 15th place in the PDC Order of Merit and secured his tour card, and was named as one of the 10 competitors in the 2021 Premier League Darts.

2022

At the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship De Sousa lost 3–4 to Alan Soutar in the third round.

World Championship results

PDC

Career finals

PDC major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore[11]
Winner1.2020Grand Slam of Darts James Wade16–12 (l)
Runner-up 1.2021Premier League Jonny Clayton5–11 (l)

Performance timeline

Tournament 2012 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
PDC World ChampionshipPR1R1R3R3R4R2R
UK OpenDNP2R3R6R5R5R4R
World MatchplayDNPDNQ1R2RQF1RDNQ
World Grand PrixDNPDNQ1R2R1R1R
European ChampionshipDNPDNQ2RQF2R2R
Grand Slam of DartsDNPDNQW2RDNQ
DNP2R3RQF2R1R
Non-major televised events
MastersDNPDNQ1RSF
Premier League DartsDNPFDNP
PDC World Cup of DartsDNP2R2R2R
World Series of Darts FinalsNHDNQ2RDNQDNP
Career statistics
Year-end rankingstyle="text-align:center;-611571425

PDC European Tour

Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
2019EDO
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
DDO
QF
CDO
DNQ
ADC
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
GDT
2R
2020BDC
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
EDG
W
IDO
2R
2021HDT
SF
GDT
3R
2022IDO
2R
GDC
3R
GDG
2R
ADO
2R
EDO
3R
CDO
SF
EDG
2R
DDC
2R
EDM
2R
HDT
QF
GDO
SF
BDO
QF
GDT
3R
2023BSD
DNQ
EDO
1R
IDO
3R
GDG
3R
ADO
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
BDO
2R
CDO
2R
EDG
2R
EDM
1R
GDO
3R
HDT
2R
GDC
DNQ
2024BDO
1R
GDG
1R
IDO
2R
EDG
1R
ADO
1R
BSD
1R
DDC
1R
EDO
DNQ
GDC
FDT
DNQ
HDT
SDT
CDO

Nine-dart finishes

See also: Nine-dart finish.

José de Sousa televised nine-dart finishes! Date! Opponent! Tournament! Method! ref
29 October 2020 Jeffrey de ZwaanEuropean Championship3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12[12]
8 April 2021Premier League Darts3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://darderosdetarragona.blogspot.com/2011/12/jose-augusto-oliveira-de-sousa-v.html Dardos en Tarragona: José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa (V): profile
  2. Web site: Prenderville . Paul . World Matchplay: Jose De Sousa keeps on surprising 18 months into PDC life . . 14 July 2020.
  3. http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~2555025,00.html World Championship - Night Seven
  4. Web site: 2012 Catalonia National Championships Player Prize Money . Darts Database . 28 December 2012.
  5. Web site: 2012 Catalan Open Player Prize Money . Darts Database . 28 December 2012.
  6. Web site: 2013 Soft Tip Bullshooter European Championship Player Prize Money . Darts Database . 8 January 2016 . 26 December 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161226220811/http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/EventResultsPrize.aspx?EventKey=9851 . dead .
  7. Web site: 2015 Catalan Open Results . Darts Database . 8 January 2016 . 22 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151122024425/http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=6143 . dead .
  8. Web site: 2016 FCD Anniversary Open Results. Darts Database. 26 December 2016.
  9. Web site: 2017 PDC Qualifying School Day Two. PDC. 24 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170122121220/http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/q6hha5ilqwcp1xlzwsuaa1idf/title/2017-pdc-qualifying-school-day-two. 22 January 2017. dead.
  10. Web site: European Q School Tour Card Winners Confirmed. PDC. 15 January 2019.
  11. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
  12. Web site: Allen . Dave . De Sousa hits perfection as Unibet European Championship begins . PDC . 30 October 2020 . 29 October 2020.
  13. Web site: Phillips . Josh . De Sousa hits nine-darter & equals 180s record on Night Four . PDC . 8 April 2021 . 8 April 2021.