Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Darts players are sometimes termed "dartists".
Philip Douglas Taylor is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Power, he dominated darts for over two decades and won 214 professional tournaments, including a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships. In 2015, the BBC rated Taylor among the ten greatest British sportsmen of the last 35 years. He is the richest and most successful darts player in history.
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg in the sport of darts, using only nine darts, the fewest possible, to check out from 501. It is difficult to achieve, even for the game's top professionals, 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.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Barry Hearn is the PDC chairman.
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 1976. It also staged a World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020.
Mervyn King is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Nicknamed The King, he has reached seven PDC major TV finals and reached a peak of No. 4 in the PDC Order of Merit.
James Martin Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the age of 24. This record has since been broken by Michael van Gerwen. Wade has won ten PDC majors, third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and van Gerwen.
The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the William Hill World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championships held annually in the sport of darts. The PDC championship begins in December and ends in January and is held at Alexandra Palace in London and has been held there since 2008. It is the most prestigious of the PDC's tournaments, with the winner receiving the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the darts commentator Sid Waddell, who died in 2012.
The BDO World Darts Championship was a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO). It was held 43 times from 1978 to 2020.
The Bullit World Darts Trophy was a professional darts tournament run by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation. Held each September from 2002 to 2007, it took place at the De Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, Netherlands. The tournament had a playing format comparable with the two World Championships. Until 2007, it formed the third leg of the BDO Grand Slam, along with the BDO World Championship, the World Masters and the International Darts League.
Darts World Rankings is a system designed to determine a list of the best darts players in the world based on their performances in tournaments. However, in 1993, a group of former world champions and other high-profile players separated from the British Darts Organisation, meaning there are now two major governing bodies.
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number three in the world, having been world number one from 2014 to 2021, until Gerwyn Price won the PDC World Darts Championship and became the new World Number One. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2017, and 2019.
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Darts Organisation. There have been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few overseas tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes, but this tournament is the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom. This arrangement lasted until the BDO's collapse into liquidation in 2020 and it is unclear whether any other organisation will be invited in future.
The split in darts refers to an acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), in 1993. The players were discontented by the game's big decline in television coverage in 1989 and the early 1990s, and by what they saw as the BDO's inability to reverse that decline, culminating in 16 top ranked players, including every previous world champion who was still active, breaking away from the BDO to form their own organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC).
The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.
Dave Chisnall is an English professional darts player from St Helens who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Championship in 2010. He switched to the PDC a year later where he has since reached five major TV finals and won 15 Pro Tour events. Since his switch to the PDC, Chisnall has been a staple in the top 20 of the rankings, appearing in the Premier League five times, and representing England at the PDC World Cup on two occasions.
Peter Wright is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation. He is currently ranked the world No. 2 and won the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship. Although Wright was largely brought up in England, he chooses to represent the country of his birth. Before becoming a professional darts player, Wright was a tyre fitter.
Robert Cross is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He became the 2018 PDC World Darts Champion following his victory over Phil Taylor. Cross won the World Championship on his debut, having turned professional just 11 months prior to the event.
The 2018 William Hill World Darts Championship was a darts event, held between 14 December 2017 and 1 January 2018 at the Alexandra Palace in London, United Kingdom. It was the 25th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation.
The 2020/21 PDC World Darts Championship was the 28th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The collapse of the BDO in September 2020 and subsequent postponement of the World Darts Federation-sanctioned event meant that this edition was the first undisputed World Championship in the sport since 1994. The event took place at the Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December 2020 – 3 January 2021.
