Jani Haavisto is a Finnish former professional darts player.
Career
Haavisto won two events on the Professional Darts Corporation's Scandinavian Tour in 2012, finishing second in the Order of Merit to qualify for the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship. He defeated compatriot Jarkko Komula in the preliminary round, before being beaten 1–3 in sets by Gary Anderson in the first round, receiving praise for his high-scoring. Haavisto entered Q School in an attempt to win a PDC Pro Tour Card to play the full circuit in 2013 and 2014, and secured it on the second day by beating Colin Fowler 6–4 in his final round match. He played in his first World Cup of Darts in February with Jarkko Komula and qualified from Group F courtesy of a 5–4 win over the USA and then shocked the Dutch pair of Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen, both of whom had won major titles in 2012, with a 5–3 victory in the last 16. They then defeated the host nation Germany in the quarter-finals to face the Belgian brothers Ronny and Kim Huybrechts in the semi-finals. Haavisto lost to Kim 1–4, but Komula beat Ronny meaning a doubles match was required to settle the tie. However, they were whitewashed 0–4 to exit the tournament. Haavisto won the first Scandinavian Tour event of 2013 in Finland beating Ulf Ceder 6–0 in the final. He also won the third event with a 6–3 victory over Per Laursen in the final. After four events he was top of the SDC Order of Merit which earned him a place in the European Championshipfor the first time. Haavisto faced Justin Pipe in the first round and was defeated 6–3. In the final of the Scandinavian qualifier for the 2014 World Championship, Haavisto was edged out 6–5 by Dennis Lindskjold. Haavisto and Komula squandered a 3–1 lead in the first round of the WorldCup of Darts against Poland as they suffered a shock 5–4 defeat. Haavisto won twice on the 2014 Scandinavian Pro Tour to top the Order of Merit which earned him a place in the 2015 Darts Championship. He was beaten 4–1 in legs by John Michael in the preliminary round. Haavisto only played in one other event during the whole of 2015 and has not played in anything else since.
