1979 BDO World Darts Championship

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1979 Embassy World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates2–9 February 1979
Venue Jollees Cabaret Club [1]
Location Stoke-on-Trent
CountryFlag of England.svg  England
Organisation(s) BDO
Format Sets
Final best of 9
Prize fund£15,000
Winner's share£4,500
High checkout161 Flag of England.svg Tony Brown
Flag of England.svg Ronnie Davis
Champion(s)
Flag of England.svg John Lowe
«1978 1980»
1979 BDO World Darts Champion - John Lowe John Lowe (cropped).jpg
1979 BDO World Darts Champion - John Lowe

The 1979 Embassy World Darts Championship was the second World Professional Championships. Having been held the previous year at the Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham, the event moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent where it was to remain until 1985. [2]

Contents

The tournament was held between 2 February and 9 February and had been expanded from 16 players to 24. The eight seeded players each received a bye into the second round. The format also changed from a straight matchplay (legs) to sets. Each set was the best of 5 legs. - For matches in the opening rounds the matches were best of three sets, - best of five for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final being best of 9 sets, split over an afternoon and evening session with the play-off for third held in between.

Defending champion, Leighton Rees of Wales again progressed to the final where he met John Lowe in a repeat of the inaugural championship. This time, Lowe was the top seed and came out on top in the final by 5 sets to 0. [1]

New players

With the expansion from 16 to 24 players in the finals, 11 players made their championship debuts, the most notable being John Wilson of Scotland, - no doubt to be soon known as Jocky. Wilson's performances over 1978 had enabled him to be seeded 8th for the tournament, and thus ensure a place in round 2 straight away.

Seeds

Wilson entering the seeds meant he would replace Rab Smith, the Scot having to play the first round before moving into the later stages. England's John Lowe had risen to be number 1 seed, with Eric Bristow dropping to 2nd seed after his first round defeat a year earlier. Leighton Rees remained seeded 3, with Tony Brown moving up to number 4. The Semi-Finalist from 1978 Nicky Virachkul was seeded 5th with the other Last 4-man, Stefan Lord seeded 6th. Alan Evans was the 7th seed along with Wilson as 8th.

  1. Flag of England.svg John Lowe
  2. Flag of England.svg Eric Bristow
  3. Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leighton Rees
  4. Flag of England.svg Tony Brown
  5. Flag of the United States.svg Nicky Virachkul
  6. Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Lord
  7. Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Alan Evans
  8. Flag of Scotland.svg Jocky Wilson

Prize money

Total Prize fund was £15,000 (plus a £12,000 bonus for a nine-dart finish - not won)

Results

First round(best of 3 sets)
2–3 February
Second round(best of 3 sets)
4–6 February
Quarter-finals(best of 5 sets)
6–7 February
Semi-finals(best of 5 sets)
8 February
Final(best of 9 sets)
9 February
1 Flag of England.svg John Lowe 88.842
Flag of England.svg Charlie Ellix 69.221 Flag of England.svg Doug McCarthy 71.730
1 Flag of England.svg John Lowe 83.463
Flag of England.svg Doug McCarthy 68.632
8 Flag of Scotland.svg Jocky Wilson 78.081
8 Flag of Scotland.svg Jocky Wilson 72.172
Flag of New Zealand.svg Murray Smith 68.710 Flag of Ireland.svg Jim McQuillan 73.251
1 Flag of England.svg John Lowe 81.353
Flag of Ireland.svg Jim McQuillan 71.582
4 Flag of England.svg Tony Brown 78.352
5 Flag of the United States.svg Nicky Virachkul 86.621
Flag of the United States.svg Andy Green 70.331 Flag of England.svg Alan Glazier 85.212
Flag of England.svg Alan Glazier 86.582
Flag of England.svg Alan Glazier 77.432
4 Flag of England.svg Tony Brown 84.573
4 Flag of England.svg Tony Brown 81.242
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Atkinson 76.741 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ceri Morgan 71.570
1 Flag of England.svg John Lowe 86.135
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ceri Morgan 78.622
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leighton Rees 77.610
2 Flag of England.svg Eric Bristow 81.452
Flag of England.svg Cliff Lazarenko 78.470 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry O'Dea 65.400
2 Flag of England.svg Eric Bristow 71.331
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry O'Dea 79.902
7 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Alan Evans 82.273
7 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Alan Evans 79.752
Flag of England.svg Tony Sontag 82.210 Flag of England.svg Ronnie Davis 82.340
7 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Alan Evans 79.581
Flag of England.svg Ronnie Davis 87.402
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leighton Rees 76.963
6 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Lord 79.471
Flag of the United States.svg Conrad Daniels 72.021 Flag of Scotland.svg Rab Smith 73.302
Flag of Scotland.svg Rab Smith 74.530
Flag of Scotland.svg Rab Smith 74.652
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leighton Rees 83.163
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leighton Rees 76.902
Flag of England.svg Bill Lennard 74.600 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Tony Clark 77.781
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Tony Clark 76.322

John Lowe won the final 5-0 (3-1, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2, 3-0) and thus became the 1979 BDO World Darts Champion. Illness prevented Alan Evans from playing the third-place match, so Tony Brown took third place by default.

References

  1. 1 2 Ralph Hickok (16 January 2010). "History - World Darts Champions". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  2. "The World Championship of Darts". Learnaboutdarts.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2011.