Leonard Gates
{{short description|American darts player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox darts player
| name = Leonard Gates
| image =Leonard Gates 2024.png
| fullname =
| nickname = "Soulger"{{Cite web|url=https://mastercaller.com/players/leonard-gates|title=Leonard Gates – Mastercaller}}
"Soldier"{{Cite web|url=https://champdarts.com/portfolio-item/leonard-gates/|title=Leonard Gates – champdarts.com}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|11|26}}
| birth_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| hometown = Houston, Texas, U.S.
| since = 2007
| darts = 21g Dynasty
| laterality = Right-handed
| music = "Too Hot ta Trot" by Commodores
| BDO = 2007–2020
| PDC = 2016–
| WDF = 2007–
| currentrank = {{PDC Rankings|Leonard Gates}}
{{WDF Rankings|Leonard Gates}}
| BDO World = Last 16: 2023
| World Masters = Last 272: 2017
| PDC World = Last 64: 2023, 2025
| Matchplay =
| UK Open = Last 64: 2024
| Grand Prix =
| Grand Slam = Group Stage: 2022, 2024
| Premier League =
| European =
| World Series Finals = Last 16: 2022
| Seniors World = Semi Final: 2023
| Seniors Masters = Winner (1): 2023
| Seniors Matchplay = Winner (1): 2023
| Seniors Champions = Winner (1): 2023
| results = {{aligned table|leftright=y|fullwidth=y|class=nowrap
| ADC National Singles | 2023
| ADC National Cricket Singles | 2024
| Camellia Classic Men | 2019, 2020, 2022
| CDC Continental Cup | 2024
| CDC Cross-Border Challenge | 2025
| CDC USA Series | 2021
| Charlotte Open | 2017, 2019
| Choo Choo Classic | 2014, 2018
| Colorado Open | 2017, 2018
| Houston Open | 2012, 2013
| Metroplex Open | 2014
| Missouri St. Patrick's Open | 2023, 2024
| Music City Classic | 2013
| North American Ch'ship | 2022
| Oregon Open | 2016
| Port City Open | 2016, 2017
| San Francisco Open | 2013
| Shoot for the Moon | 2022
| Dartslive France | 2015
| Dartslive Japan | 2017
| Dartslive Las Vegas | 2018
| NDA World Ch'ship | 2016
| Syracuse Open | 2018
| USA Dart Classic | 2013, 2014
| Virginia Beach Classic | 2021
| Washington Area Open | 2015, 2016
| White Mountain Shoot-out | 2018
| Witch City Open | 2014
| St. Patricks Open (doubles) | 2023, 2024
| MGCDA Early Bird XXXIX |2024
}}
CDC Pro Tour
{{aligned table|leftright=y|fullwidth=y|class=nowrap
| CDC Pro Tour (Brownsburg)| 2022, 2023 (x2), 2024
| CDC Pro Tour (Burlington)| 2018
| CDC Pro Tour (Miamisburg)| 2018
| CDC Pro Tour (Niagara Falls)|2024
| CDC Pro Tour (Wheeling)|2024
}}
|caption=Gates at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts}}
Leonard Gates (born November 26, 1970) is an American professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is 2023 WSDT Champion of Champions, 2023 World Seniors Darts Masters winner and the former PDC North American champion. He is also a former baseball player, playing for Abilene Prairie Dogs, Massachusetts Mad Dogs, Catskill Cougars and Nashua Pride.{{cite web |last1=Gorton |first1=Josh |title=Former baseball star Gates aiming to strike at Alexandra Palace |url=https://www.pdc.tv/news/2022/12/03/former-baseball-star-gates-aiming-strike-alexandra-palace |publisher=PDC |access-date=December 3, 2022}}
Career
Gates started to play in WDF in 2007, winning numerous American darts tournaments, including exhibition ones. His first appearance in major BDO tournament was in 2017 World Masters, where he lost in the last 272 to Paul Coughlin.{{cite web|url= https://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/player-profile-live.php?pid=4935 |title=Leonard Gates|work=Dartsdatabase|access-date=19 December 2024}}
In 2022, Gates qualified as a seed for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, but he lost in the second round to Steve Hine of England.
In June, Gates took part in the 2022 US Darts Masters, where he was one of the eight North American qualifiers. He defeated Fallon Sherrock 6–2 in the first round before losing to Peter Wright 3–8 in the quarter-finals. At the same time, he played in the 2022 PDC North American Championship, where he went on to defeat Jules van Dongen and David Cameron, before beating Danny Baggish in the final and securing his first PDC title, which meant he qualified for the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship and 2022 Grand Slam of Darts as well.{{cite web|url=https://www.pdc.tv/news/2022/06/04/gutsy-gates-wins-2022-bet365-north-american-championship|title=Gutsy Gates wins 2022 bet365 North American Championship|date=June 4, 2022|work=PDC.tv|accessdate=July 1, 2022}}
In September, Gates took a part in the 2022 World Series of Darts Finals, where he reached the second round, defeating Devon Petersen 6–4 in the first round, then losing to James Wade 4–6 in the next one.
In 2023, Gates and Jules van Dongen represented the United States on the World Cup of Darts, but they lost in the group stage.
In 2024, Gates qualified for his first PDC major of 2024, qualifying for the UK Open.{{cite web |last1=Gorton |first1=Josh |title=Gates headlines latest Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for Ladbrokes UK Open |url=https://www.pdc.tv/news/2024/02/13/gates-headlines-latest-rileys-amateur-qualifiers-ladbrokes-uk-open |publisher=PDC |access-date=December 17, 2024}} In round 1, he narrowly beat Conan Whitehead in a close game, in the second round he faced Rhys Grffin whom he beat 6-3, in the third round he faced former World Championship finalist Jim Williams who Gates went on to beat 6-2 with an average of 92 per three darts, in the next round he faced a very experienced player in Martin Lukeman, it was a very long and competitive game but Gates was knocked out of the tournament with Lukeman beating him 10-5.
Also apart from steeltip darts, Gates plays in darts tournaments of the World Soft Darts Association (WSDA) as well, being one of the most popular soft-tip contenders.{{cite web|url=http://www.darts-theworld.com/en/column/2017/09/fs-gates.html|title=Feature Story – Leonard Gates -|date=2017|work=WSDA|accessdate=August 1, 2022}}
World Championship results
=WDF=
- 2022: Second round (lost to Steve Hine 0–3)
- 2023: Third round (lost to Danny Lauby 0–3)
=PDC=
- 2023: Second round (lost to Stephen Bunting 1–3)
- 2025: Second round (lost to Nathan Aspinall 1–3)
=WSDT=
- 2023: Semi-finals (lost to Richie Howson 1–3)
- 2024: First round (lost to Colin McGarry 1–3)
Performance timeline
| class="wikitable" style="width:25%; margin:0" | |||
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| colspan="20" align="left" |PDC Ranked televised events | |||
| align=left| PDC World Championship
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNQ | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|2R | style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNQ | |||
| UK Open
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" colspan="2;"| DNP | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"| 4R | |||
| align=left| Grand Slam of Darts
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|RR | style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNQ | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|RR | |||
| colspan="20" align="left" |PDC Non-ranked televised events | |||
| align=left| World Cup of Darts
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|RR | style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | |||
| colspan="31" align="left" |WDF Ranked televised events | |||
| style="background:#efefef;"| {{Nowrap|WDF World Championship}}
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"| 2R | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"| 3R | style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | |||
| colspan="20" align="left" |WSDT Televised events | |||
| align=left| World Seniors Darts Championship
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | style="text-align:center; background:yellow;"|SF | style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|1R | |||
| align=left| World Seniors Champion of Champions
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|NH | style="text-align:center; background:lime;"|W | style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;"|QF | |||
| align=left| World Seniors Darts Masters
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | style="text-align:center; background:lime;"|W | style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | |||
| align=left| World Seniors Darts Matchplay
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;"|DNP | style="text-align:center; background:lime;"|W | style="text-align:center; background:thistle;"|F | |||
| colspan="21" align="left" |Career statistics | |||
| bgcolor="efefef"
| align="left" |Year-end ranking | style="text-align:center;|106 | style="text-align:center; | |||
| 130 |
Nine-dart finishes
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Dartsdatabase|id=4935|name=Leonard Gates}}
- [https://www.dartsorakel.com/player/details/5161 Leonard Gates player profile at Darts Orakel]
- {{baseballstats|brm=gates-001leo}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Leonard}}
Category:Sportspeople from Houston
Category:Baseball players from Houston
Category:American darts players
Category:Abilene Prairie Dogs players
Category:Massachusetts Mad Dogs players