Biography
Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985) and lost to Eric Bristow in the World Championship finals of 1984 and 1986. He also won the News of the World Darts Championship in 1989, the British Matchplay, the Swedish Open 3 times, the Finland Open, the Marlboro Masters and Dunlop Masters tournaments. He was also a prolific county and holiday camp open winner.
He played for and captained Kent in the inter counties league, winning the BDO (Darts World Magazine Sponsored) Tons Trophy and individual averages. In one season, he managed to win all 9 man of the match awards, beating 9 England International players in the process – something that has never been done before or since. He also played for Essex, Suffolk, and London. Whitcombe also represented England on numerous occasions, including the 4 man teams in the Europe and World cups. He also represented England v Rest of the World, and a Great Britain side which competed against the United States.
His overall World Championship record also included three quarter-final appearances in 1983, 1989, 1991 and the semi-finals in 1985. Bristow must be considered as Whitcombe's nemesis at the World Championship. In his 13 appearances at the championships, Whitcombe met Bristow six times and lost every time, including a quarter final in 1991 where Whitcombe lost 3–4 despite having been three sets and two legs up at one stage. However, in other Major championships like the British Matchplay and the World Masters, Whitcombe defeated Bristow in both the semi and finals. Whitcombe also defeated Phil Taylor in the first round of the 1988 British Professional, which was Taylor's first televised appearance, but lost in 2 finals, both to Jocky Wilson.
Whitcombe helped form the players' association WPDPA (World Professional Dart Players' Association) with John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Tony Brown. The association was set up with the intention of promoting more televised tournaments after the big slump of televised darts in 1989 and the early 1990s. Eventually this organisation linked up with the newly formed World Darts Council in 1992, and darts was soon split into two organisations.
Whitcombe never actually joined the PDC darts circuit at its outset – choosing instead to virtually retire from the sport in 1992. He made a comeback in 2004 – rejoining the PDPA and the PDC circuit. He managed to qualify for the 2006 PDC World Championship, losing to Roland Scholten in the first round. After that he failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championship and only competed at one PDC Pro Tour event during 2007 – the UK Open Southern Regional in March.
In May 2008, Whitcombe once again graced the big stage in a televised tournament, taking part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports, playing along with Bristow, Lowe, Lazarenko, Bobby George, Peter Evison, Keith Deller, and the eventual winner Bob Anderson. Whitcombe led the league after the first 4 weeks and was the standout player of the league at that time. Whitcombe's form slumped in the following league weeks, but he still looked on course to cruise into the semi-finals as he was in second place after week 5 and in third place after week 6. However, on the final league night on week 7, due to his own loss to Deller and the match between Evison and Lazarenko ending in a draw, Whitcombe slumped to fifth and failed to reach the semi-final stage.
Whitcombe failed to qualify for the 2010 Lakeside World Darts Championship and the 2009 Winmau World Masters.
Whitcombe did not take part in the 2022 World Seniors Darts Championship, despite several of his contemporaries doing so.
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.
Roland Scholten is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turned full-time professional in 2001 having previously worked as a publican. Despite his Dutch nationality, Scholten speaks with a strong English accent having lived in Peterborough for several years. His considerable height and throwing technique means his darts hit the board at a considerably narrow angle.
Dennis Priestley is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is nicknamed "The Menace", after the Beano character Dennis the Menace, and reflects this by wearing red and black, and using red and black flights.
Robert Charles Anderson is an English former professional darts player who won the 1988 BDO World Darts Championship. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he was the World No. 1 player for over three years in the late 1980s.
Rodney Harrington is an English former professional darts player and former commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed some major success during his professional career including the prestigious Winmau World Masters in 1991 and two successive World Matchplays in 1998 and 1999. At the PDC Awards Dinner held in January 2019, Harrington was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame.
Russell "Rusty" Stewart is an Australian former professional darts player. He used the nickname Rusty for his matches.
Freddie "Fred" McMullan is a Northern Irish former professional darts player who competed in the 1980s.
Cliff Lazarenko is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height and weight, he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage.
Anthony Brown was an English professional darts player. He came close to winning the world championship on a number of occasions, reaching the World Professional Darts Championships semi-finals four times, losing twice to Eric Bristow and twice to John Lowe.
Michael Seward "Mike" 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.
This is a list of some of the major events and competitions in the sport of darts in 2007. Raymond van Barneveld proved to be the most successful player with ten professional tournament wins across the PDC and BDO, including four majors.
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.
Shayne Burgess is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. He is known for his unorthodox throwing action, where he draws the point of the dart up close to his eyeball before releasing.
Jamie Harvey is a Scottish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. He used the nickname Bravedart for his matches – a play on the lead character from the film Braveheart. As darts began to introduce entrance tunes for its players during the 1990s, Harvey used to come to stage whilst the tune "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" was played.
Dennis Smith is a former English professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a stalwart on the PDC circuit, having played there since 1994, but has yet to capture a major title to add to his collection of Open wins. Smith has a very unusual throwing action, turning the dart into a 'flight first' position before returning it to a 'point first' position, rolling his eyes and then throwing. He has a unique, measured action learning his trade under the tutelage of Bob Anderson.
Richard Gardner is an English former professional darts player who had some success during the 1980s, and was one of the 16 top players who formed a breakaway organisation during an acrimonious split in the game during 1992–94.
This is a list of some of the major events and competitions in the sport of darts in 2008.
Stephen Bunting is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former World Masters champion.
Johnny "Jack" McKenna is an Irish former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments.
Raymond "Ray" Farrell is a former Northern Irish professional darts player.
