This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2021) |
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game. Each organisation, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) then arranged their own World Championships, the former in January the latter in December. As a result, there was no longer a unified world champion in the sport for nearly three decades.
The BDO version dated back to 1978, when it was held at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub, Nottingham. The following year it moved to the Jollees Cabaret Club, Stoke, where it stayed until 1985. From then until 2019 it was held at the Lakeside Leisure Complex at Frimley Green, Surrey. In 2020 the tournament was held at The O2 Arena in London. The BDO went into liquidation in 2020 and the World Darts Federation announced later that they would be creating their own version of a World Championship, returning to the Lakeside Leisure Complex. [1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their version didn't get underway until 2022. [2] Since qualification for the BDO version was always based on WDF rankings, most of the player pool and legacy of this new version of the World Championship is based on the old BDO system.
The PDC version has been running since 1994 after "the split", with a field of players containing all active previous World Champions from the BDO. It was originally staged at Purfleet's Circus Tavern, Essex, before moving to its current home Alexandra Palace, London, for the 2008 World Championship.
The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 5 January 2024).
Player | Total | BDO | PDC |
---|---|---|---|
Phil Taylor | 16 | 2 | 14 |
Raymond van Barneveld | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Eric Bristow | 5 | 5 | – |
Martin Adams | 3 | 3 | – |
John Lowe | 3 | 3 | – |
Michael van Gerwen | 3 | – | 3 |
John Part | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Glen Durrant | 3 | 3 | – |
Gary Anderson | 2 | – | 2 |
Peter Wright | 2 | – | 2 |
Ted Hankey | 2 | 2 | – |
Adrian Lewis | 2 | – | 2 |
Dennis Priestley | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Scott Waites | 2 | 2 | – |
Jocky Wilson | 2 | 2 | – |
Bob Anderson | 1 | 1 | – |
Steve Beaton | 1 | 1 | – |
Stephen Bunting | 1 | 1 | – |
Richie Burnett | 1 | 1 | – |
Rob Cross | 1 | – | 1 |
Tony David | 1 | 1 | – |
Keith Deller | 1 | 1 | – |
Andy Fordham | 1 | 1 | – |
Christian Kist | 1 | 1 | – |
Jelle Klaasen | 1 | 1 | – |
Scott Mitchell | 1 | 1 | – |
Gerwyn Price | 1 | – | 1 |
Leighton Rees | 1 | 1 | – |
Michael Smith | 1 | – | 1 |
Les Wallace | 1 | 1 | – |
John Walton | 1 | 1 | – |
Wayne Warren | 1 | 1 | – |
Mark Webster | 1 | 1 | – |
Luke Humphries | 1 | – | 1 |
The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 20 February 2024).
Player | Total | BDO | PDC |
---|---|---|---|
England | 47 | 28 | 19 |
Netherlands | 10 | 6 | 4 |
Scotland | 7 | 3 | 4 |
Wales | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Canada | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Australia | 1 | 1 | – |
Average | Seed | Player | Score | Opponent | Stage | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
97.49 | 3 | Leighton Rees | 6–3 | Alan Evans | QF | 1978 |
99.00 | 5 | John Lowe | 2–0 | Tony Brown | 1st | 1984 |
100.29 | unseeded | Keith Deller | 2–4 | John Lowe | QF | 1985 |
100.80 | unseeded | Phil Taylor | 5–0 | Cliff Lazarenko | SF | 1990 |
102.63 | 1 | Dennis Priestley | 3–0 | Jocky Wilson | 1st | 1993 |
103.98 | 1 | Phil Taylor | 6–0 | Dennis Priestley | F | 1998 |
105.03 | 3 | Phil Taylor | 3–0 | Reg Harding | 1st | 1999 |
105.87 | 2 | Phil Taylor | 6–0 | Alan Warriner | QF | 2000 |
107.46 | 2 | Phil Taylor | 7–0 | John Part | F | 2001 |
111.21 | 2 | Phil Taylor | 6–1 | Shayne Burgess | 2nd | 2002 |
114.05 | 1 | Michael van Gerwen | 6–2 | Raymond van Barneveld | SF | 2017 |
World Darts Federation (formerly British Darts Organisation)
| Professional Darts Corporation
|
The following sortable table lists all winners of all versions of the World Championship (correct as of 10 December 2023).
Player | Total | WDF (BDO) | PDC |
---|---|---|---|
Trina Gulliver | 10 | 10 | – |
Lisa Ashton | 4 | 4 | – |
Anastasia Dobromyslova | 3 | 3 | – |
Mikuru Suzuki | 2 | 2 | – |
Beau Greaves | 3 | 3 | – |
Francis Hoenselaar | 1 | 1 | – |
Stacy Bromberg | 1 | – | 1 |
The following sortable table lists all winners of all versions of the World Championship (correct as of 10 December 2023).
Player | Total | WDF (BDO) | PDC |
---|---|---|---|
England | 16 | 16 | – |
Russia | 3 | 3 | – |
Japan | 2 | 2 | – |
Netherlands | 1 | 1 | – |
United States | 1 | – | 1 |
The British Darts Organisation scores are sets, while the Professional Darts Corporation scores are legs.
British Darts Organisation
| Professional Darts Corporation (current sponsors: Winmau)
|
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.
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).
Martin Adams is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgeshire at county darts level and was the captain of England from 1993 to 2013, the longest any player has held that role. From his debut in 1994, Adams made a record 25 consecutive World Championship appearances, before failing to qualify for the first time in 2019. Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2016, but by the end of the year he was given the all-clear. As well as playing, he also acted as a regular pundit and commentator for televised coverage of BDO events.
The BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and held annually 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.
The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held. Gary Anderson was the final champion, having claimed the title in 2007, when the tournament also became the first major event to witness two nine dart finishes.
The Darts World Rankings are systems designed to determine a list of the best darts players in the world based on their performances in past tournaments.
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.
Tony Martin is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Scott Waites is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. He is also a former Winmau World Masters champion, WDF World Cup singles' champion, Zuiderduin Masters champion. He also won the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, becoming the only BDO representative to win the event.
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).
Richard Ashdown is an English darts master of ceremonies, referee, spotter and statistician who has worked within the sport of darts since 2002, for broadcasters and organisers of both World Darts Federation and Professional Darts Corporation events.
Andy Baetens is a Belgian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World Champion, having won the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship to become the first Belgian player to win a world title. Baetens is also a four-time winner of the Czech Open and bronze medalist of the WDF Europe Cup. In the period from May 2023 to January 2024, he was the leader of the World Darts Federation men's ranking.
Mikuru Suzuki is a Japanese darts player. She was a two-time back-to-back British Darts Organisation (BDO) women's world champion. She plays in both World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
The 2020 BDO World Professional Darts Championship was the 43rd and final World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the only staging at the Indigo at The O2 in London. It was the first BDO World Darts Championship not held at the Lakeside Country Club since 1985. Gabriel Pascaru and Thibault Tricole became the first players from Romania and France respectively to play in a World Darts Championship. Three-time men's defending champion Glen Durrant was absent from the event, having switched to the Professional Darts Corporation in January 2019. The reigning women's champion was Mikuru Suzuki. She successfully retained her title, by defeating Lisa Ashton 3–0 in the final. Wayne Warren won his first world title with a 7–4 win over fellow Welshman Jim Williams in the final. He became the oldest player ever to win a world title.
The 2022 Lakeside WDF World Championship was the first World Championship organised by the World Darts Federation (WDF). The tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, England, which hosted the now-defunct BDO World Darts Championship from 1986 to 2019. The titles were won by Neil Duff in the men's competition, and Beau Greaves in the women's.
The 2024 WDF Lakeside World Darts Championship was the third edition of the WDF World Darts Championship organised by the World Darts Federation (WDF). The tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, England.