Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed projectiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard.
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.
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly and hit a double scoring area with their last dart. When the target is 501, the minimum number of darts needed to reach it is nine. For example, one way to achieve a nine-dart finish is to score 60 on each of the first seven throws, then a 57 on the eighth, and lastly a 24 on the ninth. It is regarded as an extremely difficult feat to achieve—even for the sport's top players—and is considered the highest single-game achievement in the sport, similar to a maximum 147 break in snooker or a 300-point game in bowling.
This is a glossary of terminology used in the game of darts. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics.
Anastasia Petrovna Dobromyslova-Martin is a professional darts player. She is a three-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
The World Series of Darts was a professional darts tournament held from 19 to 21 May 2006 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. It was the first and only edition of the competition, which was established by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) to capitalise on the potentially large North American market. It was the second of four PDC non-ranking events in the 2006 season and featured 32 players: 16 American entrants and 16 PDC players. There was a $1,000,000 bonus to the winner of the tournament if they were from the United States.
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 BoyleSports World Grand Prix is a PDC darts tournament traditionally held in Dublin, Ireland every October, but has taken place in Leicester, England since 2021. Its original venue was the Casino Rooms in Rochester, Kent in 1998 and 1999, and then for one year only in 2000 at the Crosbie Cedars Hotel in Rosslare, County Wexford. In 2001, the tournament moved further north to the Citywest in Dublin. In 2009, the tournament moved from the Reception Hall at the main Citywest Hotel, to the newly completed bigger venue on site, the Citywest Hotel Convention Centre. In 2012, the tournament moved back to the Reception Hall for that year, before returning to the Convention Centre in 2013. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tournament was held at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, and since 2021, it has been held at the Morningside Arena, Leicester. When the World Grand Prix was founded in 1998, it replaced the earlier World Pairs tournament which ran from 1995 to 1997.
The BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and held annually from 1978 to 2020.
American darts is a regional variant of the game of darts, most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state. American darts originated in eastern Pennsylvania in the early 20th century; this style of darts was first played in both the Philadelphia area and the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The 1983 Embassy World Darts Championship was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent from 1–8 January 1983.
David Alan Evans was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s.
The 2001 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 6 to 14 January 2001 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It was the 24th staging of the competition since the 1978 event and the 16th time it took place at the Lakeside Country Club. The tournament was the first of 44 British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments in 2001. The host broadcaster was the BBC and the competition was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy.
The 2002 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 5 to 13 January 2002 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, England. It was the 25th staging of the competition since the 1978 edition and the 17th time it took place at the Lakeside Country Club. The tournament was the first of 12 British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments in 2002 and a women's world championship was held for the second time. The host broadcaster was the BBC and the competition was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy.
The 2003 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 4 to 12 January 2003 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It was the 26th staging of the competition since the 1978 edition and the 18th time it took place at the Lakeside Country Club. The competition was the first of 14 British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments in 2003 and featured a women's world championship for the third time. It was broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom and was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy.
PDC World Championship Darts is a sports video game published by Oxygen Interactive and developed and designed by Mere Mortals. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and PC. The game features ten professionals from the Professional Darts Corporation, and five tournaments from the PDC circuit. A sequel, PDC World Championship Darts 2008, was produced the following year.
RobertSmith is a Scottish former professional darts player. He won numerous tournaments in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was also twice a World Championship quarter-finalist. After a particularly successful 1977, his highest world ranking was No. 4 in early 1978. Smith retired from professional darts at a relatively young age in 1983 to spend more time with his children.
The 2011 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 34th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 26th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Martin Adams was the defending men's champion, having won the title for the second time in the previous year's final against Dave Chisnall.
Halve it is a darts game popular in the United Kingdom and parts of North America where competitors try to hit previously agreed targets on a standard dart board. Failure to do so within a single throw results in the player losing half their accumulated score. Any number of players can take part and the game can vary in length depending on the number of targets selected. The game can be tailored to the skill level of the players by selecting easy or difficult targets. It is one of the disciplines in the Pentathlon event.
The WDC UK Matchplay was a professional darts tournament held from 1993 to 1996. It was broadcast on ITV's Yorkshire Television and sponsored by Skol lager. It was one of a series of events established by the World Darts Council following the acrimonious split in darts between the WDC and the British Darts Organisation in 1993, which led to the WDC's 16 players being banned from darts competitions worldwide by the BDO and a four-year legal battle. It is not to be confused with the PDC's World Matchplay event.
England