PDC Career
Thornton qualified for the 2008 PDC UK Open via the Pub qualifiers and then went on to switch to the PDC after withdrawing from the Scottish team for the Europe Cup.
Thornton qualified for the 2009 PDC World Championship due to his performances on the PDC Pro Tour, and after winning his opening round match 3-1 against Wayne Jones, Thornton went out in the second round in a 4-3 defeat to world number 8 Wayne Mardle. However, this performance guaranteed Thornton a spot in the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit - just eight months after his defection from the BDO. He reached his first PDC final at the 2009 Players Championship Finals.
Seeded 14 in the tournament based on the previous year's floor events, Thornton edged Mark Dudbridge in the first round on a final-leg decider, having earlier trailed Flash. This gave him a second round tie with world number 10 and third seed Alan Tabern, in which Thornton dominated 6-2 after Tabern had missed a dart for a 3-1 lead. He then played a resurgent Dennis Priestley – who had earlier been on the brink of defeat, losing 5-0 to John Part before rattling off six consecutive legs to win the match – in the quarter-finals. Those heroics seemed to fatigue Priestley as he slumped to a 9-5 defeat to Thornton, which earned him a semi-final place against world number 2 James Wade. In a very tight semi-final, Thornton won 4 of the last 5 legs to earn a 13-10 victory and a spot in the final against Phil Taylor, who had only dropped eight legs in the tournament to that point. Taylor came out on top in the final 16-9, however Thornton earned £25,000 for making the final, propelling him up the rankings.
Thornton became only the third player to win both events of a PDC Pro Tour weekend in Irvine, North Ayrshire, when he beat Dennis Priestley to win both the Scottish Players Championship and the Scottish Regional qualifier for the UK Open.
Thornton was a fixture in the world's top 16 but then broke his hand and later his 2011 season was curtailed significantly after being rushed to hospital complaining of chest pains, breathing problems and headaches. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and did not play again until the 2012 World Championship, where he lost in the second round to Adrian Lewis.
Read more about this topic: Robert Thornton (darts Player)
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