Haupai Puha (born 12 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won a PDC tour card on 14 January 2024, making him the first ever New Zealand player to gain a card.[3] He is also a professional golfer.
| Haupai Puha | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Hopes" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 February 1985[1] Gisborne, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Wellington, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | 26g Shot Darts | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "35" by Ka Hao ft. Rob Ruha | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2017– | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2021–2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 124  (17 November 2024)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 48: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 96: 2021, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 128: 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Last 16: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DPA Pro Tour
DPNZ Pro Tour
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Medal record
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Darts career
editPuha qualified for two 2018 World Series of Darts events in Australia and New Zealand as the number two ranked player in the DPNZ rankings. He would lose in the first round of both events to Kyle Anderson in Auckland and to Rob Cross in Melbourne. He made his first PDC major appearance at the 2019 World Cup of Darts in Hamburg together with Cody Harris. They beat Lithuania and South Africa to reach the quarter-finals, eventually losing to Japan.
Puha also qualified for all three World Series events in Australia and New Zealand in 2019. He lost to Raymond van Barneveld in the first round of both the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters and the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters, and to Gary Anderson in the first round of the 2019 New Zealand Darts Masters.
Puha has played once in the WDF World Championship and twice in the PDC World Championship, losing in the first round on all three occasions.
Having won his PDC tour card in January 2024 Puha competed at the 2024 UK Open, beating Jelle Klaasen in the first round before losing to Wesley Plaisier in the second round.[4] On the 8th May 2024 Puha qualified for a European Tour event for the first time, [5] going on to lose to Niels Zonneveld in the opening round of the 2024 Dutch Darts Championship.[6]
Puha credits his experience with golf in making the transition to darts.[7]
World Championship results
editPDC
edit- 2021: First round (lost to Mickey Mansell 0–3) (sets)
- 2024: First round (lost to Martin Lukeman 1–3)
WDF
edit- 2022: First round (lost to Ben Hazel 1–2)
Performance timeline
edit| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||
| World Championship | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 1R | ||
| UK Open | DNQ | 2R | ||||
| WDF Ranked televised events | ||||||
| World Championship | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | |||
| Australian Open | DNQ | RU | QF | DNQ | ||
| PDC Non-ranked televised events | ||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | DNQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | ||
| World Cup of Darts | 1R | 1R | DNQ | RR | ||
References
edit- ^ "Haupai Puha". Mastercaller.com. 12 February 1985. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Haupai Puha becomes first ever New Zealander to win PDC Tour Card at Q-School". 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Darts results: Dimitri van den Bergh survives last-leg decider to beat Luke Humphries in the UK Open final".
- ^ "De Graaf, Taylor & Bates complete ET7-8 qualification double". 8 May 2024.
- ^ "Magnificent Menzies breezes past Barney in Rosmalen". 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Darts: Fearless Haupai Puha ready to face world's best at Auckland Masters". Newshub.
External links
edit- Player profile for Haupai Puha from Dartsdatabase
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