He then had some minor tournament victories including the Camber Sands Singles (1988) and Kent Open (1988 and 1989) but it was a long time before he made any impact on the darts circuit.
Lional won the over 60s British Table Tennis Title in December 2024 and 1st price of £12,000 as well as his first snooker century break in June 2024.
He hit a perfect nine-dart leg in a match against Ronnie Baxter in Montreal in May 2002 – there was no prize for the achievement, but players passed round a hat to collect $400.
He slipped outside the top 32 towards the end of 2007, and as a result, he inadvertently failed to enter himself for the qualifying rounds for the 2008 World Championship, missing out on the tournament for the first time since 2003.
He joined the British Darts Organisation circuit in 2011.Sams has also signed up to compete in the Seniors tour in 2025 as he has lost 8 stone in weight.