Embassy World Darts Championship | |||
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Tournament information | |||
Dates | 6–14 January 1989 | ||
Venue | Lakeside Country Club | ||
Location | Frimley Green, Surrey [1] | ||
Country | England | ||
Organisation(s) | BDO | ||
Format | Sets Final – best of 11 | ||
Prize fund | £86,900 | ||
Winner's share | £20,000 | ||
High checkout | 164 ![]() | ||
Champion(s) | |||
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The 1989 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 12th World Professional Championships, and was staged at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey, England for the fourth successive year. The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
Following the 1988 Winmau World Masters ITV pulled all their coverage of darts and the BBC decided to withdraw their coverage of the 1988 British Professional Championship, meaning that this World Championship was the only televised darts tournament in 1989. [3] The World Championship would remain the only annual televised event for the next four years.
In an attempt to improve the image of the game (which contributed to the loss of television coverage and sponsors), the BDO decided that players would no longer be allowed to drink alcohol during matches - allowing just water on the stage.
The tournament itself saw old rivals Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow meet in the final after Wilson had beaten defending champion Bob Anderson and Bristow had seen off John Lowe in the semi-finals. Wilson raced into a five sets to nil lead, but Bristow took the next four sets to set up a tense finish - until, after missing several double attempts, Wilson finally took the title 6–4.
The prize fund was £84,800.
There was also a 9 Dart Checkout prize of £52,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £1,000.
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John Lowe is an English former professional darts player. Along with Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson, he was known for dominating darts during the 1980s. Lowe was world champion on three occasions, in 1979, 1987 and 1993. He was also a two-time winner of the Winmau World Masters and a two-time World Cup singles champion. In total, Lowe won 15 BDO and WDF majors. He held the World No. 1 ranking on four occasions. In October 1984, he became the first player to hit a televised nine-dart finish.
John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again in 1989. Wilson competed in all major darts tournaments of the era and won the British Professional Championship a record four times between 1981 and 1988.
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder member of the World Darts Federation in 1974. It also staged a World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020.
Keith Deller is an English former professional darts player best known for winning the 1983 BDO World Darts Championship. He also won the Unipart British Professional Championship in 1987.
The 1985 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 8th World Professional Championships. The tournament was held between 5 and 12 January. It was the seventh and final time that the tournament was held at the Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent, as the tournament organisers, the British Darts Organisation, decided to move the event to the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, from 1986. The Jollees Cabaret Club closed in 1992, due to losing money, not reopening until 2016.
The 1986 Embassy World Darts Championship was held between 4–11 January 1986. For the first time, the tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, having been held at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent for the previous seven years. The Lakeside became the third venue in the history of the World Championship.
The 1987 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey between 9 and 17 January 1987. John Lowe, the 1979 champion and four-time runner-up in the event, beat three-time defending champion Eric Bristow in a repeat of the 1981 and 1985 finals. This marked something of a turning point in darts; Bristow had won the title for the three consecutive years prior to this. His defeat by Lowe was his first in the World Championship since 1983. Despite reaching the final of this event three more times he would never again win the world title.
The 1988 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey between 9 and 17 January 1988. The tournament was won by the number 1 seed, Bob Anderson, who played to a high level throughout the week, averaging over 90 in all of his games and over 97 in all but one.
The 1993 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 16th staging of the competition, and it turned out to be the last time that the sport had a unified World Championship. In 1994 following a breakaway the PDC staged its own World Championship for the first time.
The 1984 Embassy World Darts Championship was held from 31 December 1983 to 7 January 1984 at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 1983 Embassy World Darts Championship was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent from 1–8 January 1983.
The 1990 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey from 5–13 January 1990. It saw then-unknown Phil Taylor win the first of sixteen world titles, beating his mentor Eric Bristow 6–1 in sets in the final, with Taylor playing in his first ever World Championship at the age of 29. Taylor beat Russell Stewart, Dennis Hickling, Ronnie Sharp and Cliff Lazarenko en route to the final. Defending champion Jocky Wilson fell at the quarter-final stage, losing to Mike Gregory. The event also saw America's Paul Lim hit the first nine-dart finish at the World Championship in his second round match with Ireland's Jack McKenna, receiving £52,000 for his efforts. It was the only nine-dart finish ever thrown in the BDO World Championship.
The 1994 Embassy World Darts Championship was held following two years of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 Championships, several players decided it was time to part company with the British Darts Organisation and form their own organisation, the World Darts Council. By the start of this tournament, the WDC were in the closing days of their own 1994 World Championship, with Dennis Priestley going on to beat Phil Taylor in the final.
The 1982 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fifth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. For the fourth successive year, the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 1981 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fourth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. The field was expanded from 24 to 32 players, the format which would remain for many years. For the third successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 1992 Embassy World Darts Championship was held from 3–11 January 1992 at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey.
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.
The 1994 Skol World Darts Championship 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 was known as the World Darts Council (WDC). The WDC would later become the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Michael Seward Gregory was an English professional darts player, best remembered as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 1992 Embassy World Darts Championship final, which went to a tiebreak final leg and is regarded as one of the greatest matches in darts history.
Peter Kenneth Evison is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed The Fen Tiger, his greatest achievements were winning the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay.