Roland Scholten - PDC Career

PDC Career

Shortly after the 1999 Embassy World Championship, Scholten left the BDO and switched to the PDC. He reached the final of the 2000 Antwerp Open, losing to Jamie Harvey. He made his PDC major debut in the 2000 World Matchplay, losing in the first round to Harrington. He also played in the 2000 World Grand Prix, also losing in the first round to Burnett.

He made his PDC World Championship debut in 2001, reaching the quarter finals, progressing with 3-0 wins over Shayne Burgess and Cliff Lazarenko before losing to Harrington 4-2. He then reached the second round of the 2001 World Matchplay and then reached his first major final in the 2001 World Grand Prix, beating Harrington, Mick Manning, John Part and John Lowe before losing to Alan Warriner.

Scholten reached the second round of the 2002 World Championship, losing to Dave Askew. He then won his first PDC event in the 2002 Open Holland and reached the semi finals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, losing to Baxter. In the 2002 World Matchplay he lost again in the second round, losing to Colin Lloyd. He then reached the quarter finals of the World Grand Prix, losing 4-0 to Andy Jenkins. A quarter final place in the 2003 World Championship followed as well as a semi final place in the 2003 UK Open, a quarter final showing in the 2003 Desert Classic and reaching the semi finals of the World Grand Prix. He also won the 2003 Eastbourne Pro and the Primus Masters but suffered a first round exit in the World Matchplay.

Scholten lost in the third round of the 2004 World Championship, losing his only match to Lionel Sams. After retaining his Eastbourne Open title, Scholten won his first major title the Budweiser UK Open in June. He beat Mark Dudbridge, Henry O'Neill, Denis Ovens, Warriner and Beaton before beating Part in the final.

Scholten reached the final of the 2006 Premier League. Having finished third in the league table, he then beat van Barneveld in the semi finals before losing to Phil Taylor.

Scholten has suffered with neck and shoulder problems since 2006 which have affected his performances. He suffered an early exit in the Championship of Darts and the European Championship. He then lost in the first round of the 2009 PDC World Championship, losing to Spain's Carlos Rodriguez which dropped him outside the world's top 16. In 2009 he had his shoulder operated and took a break from darts. Scholten lost in the first round of the 2010 PDC World Championship 3-2 against Steve Hine.

He works as an expert for the German TV Station, Sport1, since the 2010 World Matchplay.

Scholten beat Jamie Caven 3–1 in the first round of the 2012 World Championship, but was whitewashed in the next round 0–4 by Wayne Jones. His best result in the rest of 2012 came in February at the second UK Open Qualifier where he beat the likes of Ted Hankey and Brendan Dolan to reach the quarter-finals, but he was beaten 1–6 by Dave Chisnall. In the UK Open, he ran 15 times world champion Phil Taylor very close in the last 64, but ultimately lost 7–9. Scholten lost in the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Championship Qualifier to Terry Temple and was ranked world number 47 after the tournament had been completed.