Callan Rydz

2017–2019: Early PDC career

Rydz made his PDC European Tour debut at the 2017 Gibraltar Darts Trophy as a UK Qualifier, aged just 18.^[4] He was eliminated in the first round by Martin Schindler.^[5]

At 2018 PDC Q-School, Rydz tried to win a PDC Tour Card, however he missed out on the points table by virtue of countback.^[6] He played on the Challenge Tour and Development Tour throughout the year. As a result of his Development Tour exploits, he qualified for the 2018 PDC World Youth Championship and progressed through the early group stage. He managed to reach the semi-finals, including a victory over the #1 seed Luke Humphries but lost out 6–3 to eventual runner up Martin Schindler.^[7] He also tried to win a Tour Card in 2019 Q-School, but missed out again by one leg.^[8]

Rydz qualified for the 2019 UK Open by winning through the amateur qualifier in Wolverhampton, but lost to Jamie Hughes in the first round.^[5] On 21 April 2019, he won his first PDC title after picking up the Development Tour Event 8 title, beating Luke Humphries 5–2 in the final with a three-dart average of 106.6.^[9] At the 17th Players Championship event of 2019, Rydz made his first Pro Tour appearance in 2 years, and marked it with a run to the quarter-finals. He defeated Stephen Burton, Chris Dobey, Steve Beaton and Brendan Dolan before losing 6–3 to eventual winner James Wade.^[5] He followed up the Development Tour title with a Challenge Tour title on 11 August 2019 by seeing off David Evans 5–2 in the final. Rydz went to the top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit on 28 September 2019 by winning Event 18, beating Cody Harris to win the title.^[5] Rydz finished 2019 top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, meaning he gained a two-year PDC Tour Card and qualified for the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship.^[10]

He made the quarter-finals of the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship on 4 November, but lost 6–2 to Adam Gawlas.^[5]

2020

At the 2020 World Championship, Rydz's debut at the tournament, he won his opening game 3–2 in sets against Steve Lennon^[11] but lost to Danny Noppert in the second round.^[5]

Rydz won Young Player of the Year at the 2020/21 PDC Awards Dinner.^[12]

2021

At the 2021 World Championship, Rydz lost in the second round to James Wade.

On the 2021 PDC Pro Tour Rydz competed in the 2021 PDC Players Championship series and won his first PDC ranking title on 26 February, at Players Championship 2, beating Jonny Clayton 8–7 in the final.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Rydz qualified for the 2021 World Matchplay, and on his debut he reached the quarter-finals, overcoming Glen Durrant 10–6, Rob Cross 11–8, before losing to Krzysztof Ratajski 16–8.^[17][18] He also made his World Grand Prix and European Championship debuts in 2021 but did not make it past the first round in either tournament.^[5]

In October, Rydz defeated Gabriel Clemens 8–6 in the final of Players Championship 25, earning his second PDC ranking title.^[19][20][21]

2022

Rydz entered the 2022 World Championship as the top qualifier from the Pro Tour Order of Merit.^[22] With whitewash wins against Yuki Yamada, Brendan Dolan and Nathan Aspinall, followed by a 4–1 win over Alan Soutar, Rydz reached the quarter-finals having only lost one set.^[23] He faced Peter Wright for a place in the semi-finals. Rydz had a 3–1 lead but bowed out of the tournament after Wright won the match 5–4 in a deciding set.^[24]

In the 2022 PDC Players Championship series he was the runner-up at Players Championship 15, losing to Michael Smith 8–3 in the final.^[25]

Rydz entered the 2022 Players Championship Finals as the 32nd seed. He defeated 33rd seed Madars Razma 6–5, 64th seed Ricardo Pietreczko 6–3, and 48th seed Keane Barry 10–8 to reach the quarter-finals where he lost to 24th seed Jonny Clayton 10–3.

2023

At the 2023 World Championship, Rydz lost in the second round to Josh Rock.

On the 2023 PDC Pro Tour Rydz competed in the 2023 PDC Players Championship series. He won his third ranking PDC title at Players Championship 19, defeating Dave Chisnall 8–7 in the final.^[26]

2024

At the 2024 World Championship, lost in the second round for the second successive year, this time to Ricardo Pietreczko.

In the 2024 PDC Players Championship series Rydz started off well, reaching the quarter-finals at event 2, losing there to Martin Lukeman 6–2, and defeating Luke Littler 6–4 to reach the semi-finals at event 3, where he lost to Gary Anderson 7–4.^[27] Rydz reached two more quarter-finals at events 9 and 22, losing 6–5 in deciding legs to Ritchie Edhouse^[28][29] and James Wade respectively.^[30] This qualified Rydz for the 2024 Players Championship Finals as the 42nd seed, but he lost to 23rd seed Dirk van Duijvenbode 6–1 in the first round.^[31][32][33]

On the European Tour, Rydz reached the semi-finals at the 2024 Swiss Darts Trophy.^[34]

2025

Rydz began the 2025 World Championship with a 3–0 win against Romeo Grbavac where he averaged 107, breaking the record for highest average in the first round of the PDC World Championship, which was set by Luke Littler at the 2024 edition.^[35] He then defeated 22nd seed Martin Schindler 3–0 before averaging 105 in a 4–0 win over 11th seed Dimitri van den Bergh.^[36] Rydz reached his second World Championship quarter-final after beating Robert Owen 4–3. He was beaten 5–3 by Michael van Gerwen, despite a higher average and winning more legs than van Gerwen.^[37]

PDC

• 2020: Second round (lost to Danny Noppert 2–3)
• 2021: Second round (lost to James Wade 0–3)
• 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to Peter Wright 4–5)
• 2023: Second round (lost to Josh Rock 0–3)
• 2024: Second round (lost to Ricardo Pietreczko 2–3)
• 2025: Quarter-finals (lost to Michael van Gerwen 3–5)
• 2026: Third round (lost to Josh Rock 1–4)