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.
First Round (best of 5 sets) | Second Round (best of 5 sets) | Quarter-Finals (best of 7 sets) | Semi-Finals (best of 9 sets) | Final (best of 11 sets) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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