Lionel Sams

Lionel Sams
Lionel Sams
Personal information
Full name	Lionel Jeffrey Sams
Nickname	"The Lion"
Born	20 January 1961 (age 63); Paddington, London, England
Home town	Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1986
Darts	A180/Lionel Sams 19gm Tungsten
Laterality	Left-handed
Walk-on music	"Jungle Rock" by Hank Mizell
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1986–2001, 2011–2012
PDC	2001–2010, 2013–2015
WDF major events – best performances
World Masters	Last 64: 1995
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2004
World Matchplay	Last 16: 2006
World Grand Prix	Last 16: 2006
UK Open	Last 16: 2005
Desert Classic	Last 32: 2004, 2005
US Open/WSoD	Last 32: 2007
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Bury St Edmunds Open; Cosham Xmas Open; Hersham Open; Kent Open ; West Tyrone Open	2013; ; 2001; 2003; 2008; 2007
Other achievements
	Nine dart finish Le Skratch Open, Montreal, 12 May 2002
	Updated on 11 February 2008.

Lionel Jeffrey Sams (born 20 January 1961) is an English former darts player who played in events of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). His nickname was The Lion.

Sams' first televised darts match was on Anglia Television in 1986 at the Ladbrokes Festival (British Matchplay). He reached the final, but lost to Terry O'Dea. He then had some minor tournament victories including the Camber Sands Singles (1988) and Kent Open (1988 and 1989) but it was a long time before he made any impact on the darts circuit.

Career

Sams' career turned for the better after joining the PDC. He hit a perfect nine-dart leg in a match against Ronnie Baxter in Montreal in May 2002 – there was no prize for the achievement, but players passed round a hat to collect $400.^[1]

During the mid-2000s, Sams was a regular in televised PDC majors. He consistently reached the last 16 of tournaments on the PDC circuit, which helped him to maintain a world ranking inside the top 32.

He was successful at the West Tyrone Open in February 2007, winning the singles and the doubles event, with Sean McGowan.^[2]

Decline

Sams' record at the World Championship has been poor since reaching the last 16 in 2004 and he lost his first match at each of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Championships. He also failed to achieve success in the other televised tournaments, being unable to reach the quarter-final stage of any of the majors. He slipped outside the top 32 towards the end of 2007, and as a result, he inadvertently failed to enter himself for the qualifying rounds for the 2008 World Championship, missing out on the tournament for the first time since 2003. He has failed to qualify for the PDC World Championship since 2007.

During 2009, he reached two quarter finals on the PDC Pro Tour, but ended the year with only £6,100 in total prize money. He had a further decline in 2010, picking up just £600 in total prize money, as he entered fewer events and then failed to get past the last 64 stage of any Pro Tour Event. His PDC ranking fell to near 100 at the start of 2011 and he chose to decline a Pro Tour card for the year, effectively ending his PDC career. He joined the British Darts Organisation circuit in 2011.^[3]