Playing career
Early career (2008–2010)
Pipe played darts when he was younger but concentrated on his work as a tree surgeon for many years. A former amateur boxer, he avoided playing in smoke-filled pubs because cigarette smoke irritated his eyes. Following the introduction of the smoking ban in England in 2007, he returned to competitive darts.
Pipe made his first appearance at a televised PDC major as a pub qualifier at the 2008 UK Open, where he defeated Geoff Wylie and Lionel Sams before losing 9–3 to James Wade. He reached the third round again in 2009, losing 9–5 to Andy Jenkins. In 2010, he qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts through the ITV Wildcard qualifier, but was eliminated in the group stage after defeats to Wade, Vincent van der Voort and Tony O'Shea.
Breakthrough and major success (2011–2013)
Pipe made his World Championship debut at the 2011 event, losing 3–1 to Mark Walsh. He made his World Matchplay debut later that year, defeating Mervyn King in the opening round. In June, he achieved a nine-dart finish against Colin Osborne at a Players Championship in Nuland. His first PDC ranking title came in October, when he defeated Phil Taylor 6–5 in a Players Championship final in Dublin. He won a further two Players Championship titles that year and finished top of the 2011 Players Championship Order of Merit.
At the 2012 World Championship, Pipe defeated Sean Reed and came from two sets down to beat Wes Newton 4–3, reaching the last 16 for the first time. He then lost 4–1 to Terry Jenkins. In January 2012, Pipe received the PDPA Players' Player of the Year award for his performances during the previous season.
Pipe opened the 2012 Players Championship season with a 6–0 final victory over Paul Nicholson. In April, he won the first tournament in PDC European Tour history, the 2012 Austrian Darts Open, beating Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals and Wade 6–3 in the final. The victory took him into the top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix. At the 2012 Players Championship Finals, Pipe advanced to his first televised major semi-final, losing 11–6 to Kim Huybrechts.
In 2013, Pipe reached a second consecutive World Matchplay quarter-final, defeating Mark Webster and Van Barneveld before losing 16–10 to Taylor. At the World Grand Prix, victories over Andy Smith, Adrian Lewis and Andy Hamilton took him to the semi-finals, where he lost 5–2 to Dave Chisnall. He also reached the semi-finals of the 2013 Players Championship Finals, losing 10–4 to Taylor.
Later tour career (2014–2017)
Pipe reached the final of the 2014 German Darts Championship, but lost 6–5 to Gary Anderson despite having led 5–3 and missed six match darts. Later that year, he claimed his fifth Players Championship title at the 15th event of the season, defeating Lewis in the semi-finals and reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen in the final, both in deciding legs. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Masters.
In June 2015, Pipe reached the final of the 2015 Dutch Darts Masters, where he lost 6–0 to Van Gerwen. He lost in the first round of the 2015 World Championship to Laurence Ryder and of the 2016 edition to Christian Kist. In 2016, he reached the fourth round of the 2016 UK Open and the semi-finals of the final Players Championship event of the season, where he lost a deciding leg to Benito van de Pas.
At the 2017 Players Championship Finals, Pipe defeated Daryl Gurney 10–9 in the quarter-finals to reach his third semi-final at the event, where he lost 11–3 to Van Gerwen.
Final years and loss of Tour Card (2018–2022)
During the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, Pipe defeated Bernie Smith 3–2 in the first round after Smith missed match darts. The match attracted controversy when Pipe was seen coughing while Smith was attempting to finish the deciding leg. Pipe denied deliberately attempting to distract his opponent. The Darts Regulation Authority subsequently fined him £3,000 for gamesmanship and bringing the sport into disrepute. He lost 4–0 to Taylor in the second round.
Pipe's results declined in the following seasons, although he reached the final of Players Championship 19 in July 2019, losing 8–5 to Peter Wright. He returned to the World Championship at the 2020 edition, defeating Benjamin Pratnemer 3–2 in the first round before losing 3–0 to Gurney. Later in 2020, he qualified for the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts, where he lost all three group matches against Rob Cross, Luke Humphries and Chisnall.
Pipe withdrew from the 2021 UK Open after testing positive for COVID-19 before the tournament. He lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of the 2021 season and did not enter the PDC Qualifying School in January 2022 while recovering from an arm injury. He did not subsequently return to the professional PDC circuit.
