Philip Douglas Taylor is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "The Power", he dominated darts across three decades and is widely considered the greatest darts player of all time, having 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.
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.
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 Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, and dissolved in 2020 under the stewardship of Des Jacklin. 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.
The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PDC world 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. Along with the Premier League Darts and World Matchplay, it is considered part of the Triple Crown.
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently the World No. 3, having been the World No. 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Van Gerwen is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Gary James Grant Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player who plays Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 14, having reached a peak of PDC World No. 2 from 2015 to 2016. Nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman", after the famous steam train, he is a former BDO and WDF world number one, and a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016. He is regarded as one of the best darts players of all time.
The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the national organising body for darts in all nations. The WDF encourages the promotion of the sport of darts among and between those bodies, in an effort to gain international recognition for darts as a major sport. The WDF is a full member of Global Association of International Sports Federations, which is the governing body for international sports federations.
The split in darts refers to the acrimonious 1993 dispute between professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), resulting in the creation of a rival darts circuit under the banner of the World Darts Council, which eventually became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players have gone on to win at least 30 titles on the PDC Pro Tour. Michael van Gerwen has won the most Pro Tour titles winning 90. Phil Taylor is second on the list winning 70 events. Gary Anderson is in third winning 37 events and Peter Wright in fourth winning 34 events, as of October 2024.
Peter Stuart Wright is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Snakebite", he is a two-time world champion, having won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2020 and 2022. He also won the World Matchplay in 2021 and was the PDC World No. 1 on two occasions in 2022.
The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports. Due to the rescheduling of the Players Championship Finals in the PDC calendar, the second edition was played in Hamburg, Germany, in February 2012. In 2015, the event took place the Eissporthalle Frankfurt, where it stayed until returning to Hamburg in 2019 when it moved to the Barclaycard Arena. In 2020, the event was held at the Salzburgarena in Salzburg, Austria, and in 2021, it returned to Germany, this time in the Sparkassen-Arena, Jena, and in 2022 and 2023, it returned to Frankfurt once more.
Michael Smith is an English professional darts player. Nicknamed "Bully Boy", he plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 2, having been the World No. 1 during the 2023 season. He is a former world champion, having won the 2023 World Championship.
Fallon Suzanne Michelle Sherrock is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Born in Milton Keynes, Sherrock reached the final of the 2015 BDO Women's World Darts Championship, where she was runner-up to Lisa Ashton.
Danny Noppert is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 13. He was the runner-up at the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship and won the 2017 Finder Darts Masters, before switching to the PDC in 2018, where he has won 6 ranking titles, including the 2022 UK Open.
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.
Luke Humphries is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 1 and the reigning World Champion. Nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, Humphries has won 18 senior PDC titles and is currently the reigning back-to back Players Championship Finals champion and the 2024 World Matchplay champion. Humphries also won the 2023 World Grand Prix, the 2023 Grand Slam, the 2024 World Cup of Darts, and the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.
The 2019 William Hill World Darts Championship was the 26th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 13 December 2018 to 1 January 2019.
Mozhgan Rahmani is an Iranian Darts player. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Iranian National Darts Team. She is the first Iranian in Iran's Darts history to be inducted into Professional Darts Corporation. She is an Iranian legionary in Malaysia's DURY team. The only Iranian athlete interviewed by Sky Sports and RTL Group.
Luke Littler is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 4. Littler has won 10 senior PDC titles, and is the reigning Premier League Darts, Grand Slam and World Series Finals champion. Littler also won the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters, the 2024 Poland Darts Masters, the 2024 Belgian Darts Open, the 2024 Austrian Darts Open and the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship.
