Wes was a finalist at the 1996 British Teenage Open, and emerged in 2002 when he began competing on the PDC circuit regularly.

He reached two quarter-finals and a semi-final in ranking events before making a debut in a major tournament at the 2003 UK Open, defeating Glynn Carus and Andy Hayfield 5-0 before narrowly losing to Mark Thomson.

Newton made his first ranking final in the 2004 Golden Harvest North American Cup, where he lost to John Part, before continuing his emergence that summer.

Following a 5-4 loss to Ian Whillis in the UK Open, he qualified for the Las Vegas Desert Classic, losing 2-1 to Wayne Mardle in the first round.

His progress meant an automatic qualification spot in the 2005 World Championship, and despite suffering a defeat to Gerry Convery, he went on to have an impressive year.

Andy Hamilton overcame Newton in the UK Open, but the Desert Classic saw him fulfil his potential on the big stage - battling through the qualifiers and then defeating George Walls, Mark Walsh and Ray Carver to reach the semi-finals, where Phil Taylor ended his run.

A progression into the world's top 24 saw Newton claim a place in the World Grand Prix, recovering in time from a broken collarbone to defeat Steve Hine in Dublin, losing in the last 16 to Colin Lloyd.

A second World Championship appearance saw Newton this time overcome Yasuhiko Matsunaga before losing to Kevin Painter in round two at the Circus Tavern.

Three successive quarter-finals on the circuit in the spring of 2006 were followed by a run to the last 32 at the UK Open, where Newton lost to Denis Ovens, and another Desert Classic success.

After again winning through the qualifiers, Newton overcame Mardle, Mick McGowan and Chris Mason to reach a second successive semi-final, going out to eventual winner John Part.

Part also overcame Newton on his World Matchplay debut, marking a disappointing debut in his home event at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Taylor ended his World Grand Prix challenge in the first round, while Colin Osborne was too strong in the second round of the 2007 World Championship.

He had the misfortune of meeting both Part and Taylor in the US Open and UK Open during 2007, with the latter hitting a nine-darter in ending his Bolton challenge, before Newton returned to Las Vegas on a high after reaching a Players Championship final in Hayling Island.

After once more qualifying for the Desert Classic, he continued his love affair with the tournament by averaging 101 in defeating Colin Lloyd in the first round, and took Terry Jenkins all the way in the last 16 before going down 8-7.

He met Taylor once more on the big stage in the World Matchplay, going out for a second successive year in round one, a result matched in the World Grand Prix with a narrow defeat to Alex Roy.

The World Championship's move to Alexandra Palace failed to bring any further luck for Newton, who lost to qualifier Jamie Caven in the 2008 event's first round.

A semi-final appearance in January 2008 in the UK Open North-East Regional Final was his best performance on the circuit for six months, and was followed by another last 32 finish in the US Open, this time losing to Scholten.

Taylor was once more his conqueror in the UK Open, this time at the last 16 stage with a televised record 114.53 average to deny Newton.

Having slipped down the rankings, he missed out on the World Matchplay and failed to qualify for the Desert Classic for the first time since 2003, but bounced back to form once more in the autumn.

Following a quarter-final appearance in the Windy City Open Players Championship, he won through the ITV Wildcard Qualifier to earn a place in the Grand Slam of Darts.

He could have been considered unfortunate to miss out on a place in the second round on leg difference, after picking up wins over Colin Lloyd and Darin Young in the group phase.

At the 2009 World Championship, he defeated Per Laursen before losing out to Raymond van Barneveld in the last 32, but reached a Players Championship quarter-final in Gibraltar soon afterwards.

Having reached the last 16 of the UK Open, he was defeated 9-8 by Alan Tabern in heartbreaking fashion, with the left-hander taking out 156 in the deciding leg after Newton had opted to leave 32 rather than go for the bullseye.

He gained revenge over Tabern in the Desert Classic, but was a second round victim of Gary Anderson's in Las Vegas before Kevin Painter denied him once more in the World Matchplay's opener.

The summer, though, proved to be Newton's most successful period on the PDC circuit.

Having hit a nine-dart finish in the Las Vegas Players Championship, he reached the final of the Canadian Players Championship, losing to Dennis Priestley, before then being a semi-finalist in the PDC US Open.

He also reached two quarter-finals in Players Championships before another appearance in a final, losing to Taylor in Dublin.

Newton carried that form into the World Grand Prix with a flawless display of finishing to defeat Jamie Caven, before pushing Raymond van Barneveld all the way to a deciding leg in the second round of the double-start event.

Name:	Wes Newton
Nickname:	'Av It'
Date of Birth:	August 27 1977
Place of Birth:	Blackpool
Current Home Town:	Fleetwood
Darts Used:	22g Unicorn
TV Debut:	2003
Website:	n/a

Nine-Dart Finishes in PDC Tournaments
Las Vegas Players Championship 2009