PDC World Darts Championship
Encyclopedia
The PDC World Darts Championship is a world championship competition for the sport of darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...

, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...

 (PDC). It was introduced following a dispute in 1994 with the British Darts Organisation
British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....

, which has run its own world championship
BDO World Darts Championship
The BDO World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation . It began in 1978, and was the only world championship tournament until 1994...

 since 1978. The biggest of the PDC tournaments, it traditionally begins in late December, finishing in early January just as the BDO's version gets underway.

The tournament is currently sponsored by Ladbrokes.com
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...

 and is now staged at the Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 after being held the Circus Tavern
Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. However, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship....

 in Purfleet
Purfleet
Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex, England. It is situated south of the A13 road on the River Thames and within the easterly bounds of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater London boundary. It was within the traditional Church of England parish of West Thurrock...

 for its first 14 years.

Only 5 players have won this championship: Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

, Phil Taylor, John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

, Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

 and Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...

. Of these, only Taylor and Part have won it more than once. In addition, Lewis is the only PDC World Champion never to have won the BDO World Championship. Taylor has dominated the tournament, winning 13 titles and reaching 16 of the first 17 finals.

Origins

In 1994 some high profile players, including all previous winners of the BDO World Darts Championship
BDO World Darts Championship
The BDO World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation . It began in 1978, and was the only world championship tournament until 1994...

 still active in the game, formed the WDC (now PDC), and began to organise their own World Championships. Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

 won the inaugural competition.

The players who broke away were taking a significant gamble - the tournament was broadcast on satellite television rather than terrestrial and the prize fund for the early WDC World Championships was lower than the BDO version. In 2002, the PDC prize fund overtook the BDO for the first time and the PDC event now boasts the largest prize fund of any darts competition, the PDC and sponsors Ladbrokes have announced that prize money will reach £1 million by 2010 with the winner set to collect £200,000.

Sponsors

Sponsored by Skol 1994 and 1998-2002

Proton 1995

Vernons 1996

Red Band 1997

Ladbrokes.com 2003–present

Venues

Venue Years
Circus Tavern
Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. However, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship....

, Purfleet
Purfleet
Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex, England. It is situated south of the A13 road on the River Thames and within the easterly bounds of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater London boundary. It was within the traditional Church of England parish of West Thurrock...

 
1994–2007
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 
2008–present

Final Results and statistics

Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-Up (average in final) Sponsor Total
Prize Money
Champion Runner-Up
1994
1994 PDC World Darts Championship
The 1994 Skol World Darts Championships was held following 18 months of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 Embassy World Championships, several players decided it was time to part company with the British Darts Organisation and form their own organisation. The new organisation...

  Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

 (94.38)
6–1   Phil Taylor (90.62) Skol £64,000 £16,000 £8,000
1995   Phil Taylor (94.11) 6–2   Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington is a former English darts player. He used the nickname The Prince of Style for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoast for his games...

 (87.15)
Proton Cars £55,000 £12,000 £6,000
1996   Phil Taylor (98.52) 6–4   Dennis Priestley (101.49) Vernons £61,000 £14,000 £7,000
1997
1997 PDC World Darts Championship
-Third Place Match:Peter Evison beat Eric Bristow 4 - 2...

  Phil Taylor (100.92) 6–3   Dennis Priestley (96.78) Red Band £98,000 £45,000 £10,000
1998
1998 PDC World Darts Championship
-Third Place Match: Rod Harrington beat Keith Deller 4-1...

  Phil Taylor (103.98) 6–0   Dennis Priestley (90.75) Skol £71,000 £20,000 £10,000
1999   Phil Taylor (97.11) 6–2   Peter Manley
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley is an English professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed One Dart as he is known for hitting doubles with his first dart...

 (93.63)
Skol £104,000 £30,000 £16,000
2000   Phil Taylor (94.42) 7–3   Dennis Priestley (91.80) Skol £110,000 £31,000 £16,400
2001
2001 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2001 Skol World Darts Championship was held between December 28, 2000–January 3, 2001 at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet.The tournament saw a notable first as Gayl King of Canada became the first woman to appear in the men's World Championship, having been given a wild card by organisers the...

  Phil Taylor (107.46) 7–0   John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

 (92.58)
Skol £124,000 £33,000 £18,000
2002   Phil Taylor (98.47) 7–0   Peter Manley (91.35) Skol £200,000 £50,000 £25,000
2003
2003 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2003 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the tenth World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it split from the British Darts Organisation in 1993. Ladbrokes took over sponsorship of the event from Skol.The field at the televised stages expanded for the...

  John Part (96.87) 7–6   Phil Taylor (99.98) Ladbrokes £200,000 £50,000 £25,000
2004
2004 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2004 Ladbrokes.com World Championship was the 10th anniversary of the PDC version of the World Darts Championship. An extra preliminary round was introduced bringing the total players at the televised stages to 48. Ladbrokes, who sponsored the event initially for one year in 2003, decided to...

  Phil Taylor (96.03) 7–6   Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...

 (90.48)
Ladbrokes £256,000 £50,000 £25,000
2005
2005 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2005 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes, was held at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet and started on Boxing Day, 2004...

  Phil Taylor (96.14) 7–4   Mark Dudbridge
Mark Dudbridge
Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...

 (90.66)
Ladbrokes £300,000 £60,000 £30,000
2006
2006 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2006 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was held from 19 December 2005 to 2 January 2006 at the Circus Tavern. It was the 13th staging of the Professional Darts Corporation's version of the World Championship....

  Phil Taylor (106.74) 7–0   Peter Manley (91.72) Ladbrokes £500,000 £100,000 £50,000
2007
2007 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2007 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship was the 14th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The tournament began on Monday 18 December 2006 and the final was played on Monday 1 January 2007...

  Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

 (100.93)
7–6   Phil Taylor (100.86) Ladbrokes £500,000 £100,000 £50,000
2008
2008 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes, was the 15th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation...

  John Part (92.86) 7–2   Kirk Shepherd
Kirk Shepherd
Kirk Shepherd is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events, and lives in Birmingham, England. He is the youngest player ever to reach a final of the World Professional Darts Championship...

  (85.10)
Ladbrokes £605,000 £100,000 £50,000
2009
2009 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 16th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....

  Phil Taylor (110.94) 7–1   Raymond van Barneveld (101.18) Ladbrokes £740,000 £125,000 £60,000
2010
2010 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 17th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....

  Phil Taylor (104.38) 7–3   Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...

 (100.51)
Ladbrokes £1,000,000 £200,000 £100,000
2011
2011 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation.Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the 2010 tournament...

  Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...

 (99.40)
7–5   Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson (darts player)
Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...

 (99.41)
Ladbrokes £1,000,000 £200,000 £100,000

Television coverage

The PDC World Championship has been broadcast live and in its entirety by Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

 in the UK since its inception. Since 2009 the tournament has been shot in High Definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 (HD). The tournament has become more and more popular in recent years with the 2007 World Final achieving a viewing figure in excess of 1 million for the first time. Sky's contract to cover the event has been extended until 2013, which will be the 20th year of the tournament.

Sky Television
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...

 World Final viewing figures:
2011 920,000
2010 888,000
2009 809,000
2008 731,000
2007 1,028,000
2006 761,000
2005 530,000
2004 820,000
2003 610,000
2002 Unavailable
2001 420,000
2000 240,000
1999 200,000


Holland SBS6
2009 1,441,000
2008 Unavailable
2007 1,339,000


Germany SPORT1
Sport1
Sport1 is a Dutch premium television service owned by Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global. Sport1 launched together with its sister service Film1 on February 1, 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands channels. At launch the service consisted of two main channels, six...

 (until 2010 DSF)
2010 730,000 (Peak of 1 mio)
2009 490,000 (Peak of 910,000)


Dutch broadcaster SBS6
SBS6
SBS 6 is a commercial TV channel in the Netherlands owned by Sanoma and Talpa Holding . Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are NET 5 and Veronica.- History :SBS stands for Scandinavian Broadcasting System...

, having covered the BDO World Darts Championship for many years, now also covers the event. DSF (Germany), Fox Sports (USA), TSN (Canada), Fox Sports (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa), Ten Sports (India), CCTV (China), Showtime (Middle East), Ukraine TV, Sky New Zealand, IKO (Poland), Starhub (Singapore), Sport1 (Hungary), Meersat (Malaysia), 7TV (Russia), Measat (Indonesia), J Sports (Japan) now also broadcast the event.

Records

Since the split in darts
Split in darts
The split in darts refers to an acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body which began in 1992 and resulted in the formation of a new organisation to arrange tournaments - including a second version of the World Professional Darts Championship...

 two versions of the world championship have existed since 1994, this record section relates specifically to achievements in the PDC version
Most titles: Phil Taylor 13 (2 BDO titles takes total to 15). John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

 is in second place with two PDC titles
Most finals: Phil Taylor 16 (1994-2007 & 2009-2010)
Most match wins: Phil Taylor 97 matches (1994 - 2011). Taylor has only lost five matches at the tournament and reached every final until the 2008 tournament when he was knocked out in the Quarter Final by Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...

 then in the same position in 2011 by Mark Webster
Mark Webster
Mark Webster is a British journalist and broadcaster who has presented many of five's late night sports shows.-TV presenting:He hosted the "Off the Wall" show on the music channel, Music Box, before being given a job by ITV co-hosting arts and entertainment guide 01- For London in 1988...

.
Longest unbeaten run: Phil Taylor 44 matches between his loss at the 1994 final and his next defeat the final of 2003
Most 180s in a tournament: 554 in 2011. This beat the previous record set in 2010, when the tournament total of 507 was achieved
Most 180s in a tournament (individual): Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...

60 (2011)
Most appearances: Phil Taylor and Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

have appeared in all 18 editions of the championship.
Youngest player: Mitchell Clegg
Mitchell Clegg
Mitchell Clegg is an Australian darts player. He lives in Newcastle, New South Wales. Clegg won the Oceanic Masters title at the age of just 15 years, 345 days. This meant he was the youngest player ever to qualify for the PDC World Darts Championship...

, 16 years and 37 days
Clegg qualified as a 15 year old in 2007. He was younger than Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...

 who set the BDO World Championship youngest player record a few weeks later
Youngest finalist: Kirk Shepherd
Kirk Shepherd
Kirk Shepherd is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events, and lives in Birmingham, England. He is the youngest player ever to reach a final of the World Professional Darts Championship...

, 21 years and 88 days In the 2008 final, Shepherd was two days younger than when Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands...

 won the BDO version.
Record TV audience: 1,028,000. The 2007 final was the first time that Sky television achieved a viewing figure of over 1 million for a darts match.
Nine-dart finishes: Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

and Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...

are the only persons to have thrown a nine-dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...

 at the championships, while the former achieved it twice (2009 Quarter Finals vs. Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands...

 and 2010 Second Round vs. Brendan Dolan
Brendan Dolan
Brendan Dolan is a Irish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.After two early exits in the 2003 and 2004 UK Open, his first major run came in the 2004 World Grand Prix where he qualified through the All Ireland qualifiers, winning one of four places...

) and the latter once (2011 Final vs. Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson (darts player)
Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...

)
Both versions of World Championship: Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

was the first player to have won both versions of the World Championship. He won the 1991 BDO Championship and 1994 PDC Championship. Phil Taylor, John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

 and Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

 have also matched the feat.
Overseas World Champions: John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

was the first player from outside the UK to win the PDC World Championship with his 2003 title, with Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

the second overseas champion in 2007. Part was also the first overseas player to win the BDO title in 1994

Averages

Since the breakaway of the PDC players, there has been much debate about the relative merits of the players within each organisation. The debate often focuses on the three-dart averages of players in matches.

Prior to the split there had been only three occasions when a player had managed to achieve an average of 100 for a match:
  • 102.63 Dennis Priestley (1993, 1st Round) v Jocky Wilson
  • 100.80 Phil Taylor (1990, Semi-Final) v Cliff Lazarenko
  • 100.29 Keith Deller (1985, Quarter-Final) v John Lowe (lost match)


An average over 100 in a match in the PDC World Championship has since been achieved 58 times, compared to 20 times in the BDO World Championships, despite the BDO tournament's longer history. 9 different men have achieved an average of over 100 in the PDC tournament, compared to 8 different men in the BDO tournament since the split in 1994.

Highest PDC one-match averages:
  • 111.21 Phil Taylor (2002, 2nd Round) v Shayne Burgess
  • 110.94 Phil Taylor (2009, Final) v Raymond van Barneveld
  • 109.00 Phil Taylor (2007, 2nd Round) v Mick McGowan
  • 108.80 Phil Taylor (2009, Quarter Final) v Co Stompé
  • 108.39 Gary Anderson (2011, 3rd Round) v Andy Smith

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK