PDC World Darts Championship
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The PDC World Darts Championship is the biggest of the PDC tournaments, held at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Essex beginning in late December and finishing in early January. The tournament is currently sponsored by Ladbrokes.com
In 1994 some high profile players including all previous winners of the BDO World Darts Championship who were still active in the game formed the WDC (now PDC), and began to organise their own World Championships. There is often dispute and debate amongst players, organisations and viewers as to which event is the more prestigious.
The PDC event boasts the largest prize fund of any darts competition, currently at £500,000 in total with £100,000 for the winner. Dennis Priestley won the inaugural competition. Phil Taylor has since dominated this tournament in particular and has continued to win an unprecedented number of major titles, bringing both him and the Professional Darts Corporation much media coverage.
Raymond van Barneveld is the current champion having won a remarkable final against Taylor on New Year's Day 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Sponsors
Sponsored by Skol 1994 and 1998-2002
Proton 1995
Vernons 1996
Red Band 1997
Ladbrokes.com 2003-present
[edit] Final Results and statistics
| Year | Champion (average in final)[1] | Score | Runner-Up (average in final) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 |  Dennis Priestley (94.38) |
6-1 | Phil Taylor (85.62) |
| 1995 | Phil Taylor (94.11) |
6-2 | Rod Harrington (87.15) |
| 1996 | Phil Taylor (98.52) |
6-4 | Dennis Priestley (101.49) |
| 1997 | Phil Taylor (100.92) |
6-3 | Dennis Priestley (96.78) |
| 1998 | Phil Taylor (103.98) |
6-0 | Dennis Priestley (90.75) |
| 1999 | Phil Taylor (97.11) |
6-2 | Peter Manley (93.63) |
| 2000 | Phil Taylor (94.42) |
7-3 | Dennis Priestley (91.80) |
| 2001 | Phil Taylor (107.46) |
7-0 |  John Part (92.58) |
| 2002 | Phil Taylor (98.47) |
7-0 | Peter Manley (91.35) |
| 2003 | John Part (96.87) |
7-6 | Phil Taylor (99.98) |
| 2004 | Phil Taylor (96.03) |
7-6 | Kevin Painter (90.48) |
| 2005 | Phil Taylor (96.14) |
7-4 | Mark Dudbridge (90.66) |
| 2006 | Phil Taylor (106.74) |
7-0 | Peter Manley (91.72) |
| 2007 |  Raymond van Barneveld (100.55) |
7-6 | Phil Taylor (100.86) |
[edit] Television Coverage
The PDC World Championship has been broadcast live and in its entirety by Sky Sports in the UK since its inception. The tournament has become more and more popular in recent years with the 2007 World Final achieving a viewing figure in excess of 1 million for the first time.
World Final viewing figures where available.
- 2007 1,028,000
- 2006 761,000
- 2005 530,000
- 2004 820,000
- 2003 610,000
- 2002
- 2001 420,000
- 2000 240,000
- 1999 200,000
Dutch broadcaster SBS6 has begun to cover the event in recent years. Sports 1 in the Czech Republic and Hungary, DSF in Germany, Supersport in South Africa and Ten Sports in India now also broadcast the event.
[edit] Records & Trivia
- Taylor's record at the Circus Tavern is exceptional - he's won 11 titles, having won 65 matches and only 3 defeats. He's also played in every final to date.
- Taylor also has the longest unbeaten run of 44 matches between his loss at the 1994 final and his next defeat the final of 2003.
- The most 180s scored in a tournament is 51 by Raymond van Barneveld in 2007 who surpassed Phil Taylor's 2006 record of 49.
- The PDC World title has twice been decided on a final set, sudden-death leg. Kevin Painter took Phil Taylor to 6-6 in sets and 5-5 in legs before Taylor won the match. In 2007, Taylor was on the wrong end of the sudden-death leg in his defeat by Raymond van Barneveld. There have been two finals in the BDO World Championship that have gone to a tie-break.
- John Part was the first player to have won both versions of the World Championship since the split. He won the 1994 BDO Championship and 2003 PDC Championship. Raymond van Barneveld matched the feat with his 2007 PDC title.
- Part was the first overseas player to win the PDC World Championship with his 2003 title. He was also the first overseas player to win the BDO title in 1994.
- Raymond van Barneveld is the only player to play in the BDO World Championship final and PDC World Championship final in successive years. He lost the 2006 BDO final to Jelle Klaasen, but won the 2007 PDC final against Phil Taylor.
- John Lowe's defeat in 2005 World Championship qualifying ended his run of 27 consecutive appearances at the world championships - he failed to qualify for the 2006 & 2007 events and was the last surviving player from the inaugural world championships in 1978.
- Bob Anderson now holds the record for consecutive unbroken appearances in the world championship. Having made his debut in 1984, he will be making his 24th successive appearance at the 2007 tournament.
- The 2007 championship saw a record number of 180s scored. The tournament total of 503 in 1298 legs was the equivalent to one every 2½ legs.
- The youngest player to appear in the PDC World Championship is Mitchell Clegg who was just 16 years and 37 days old (having qualified as a 15 year old) in 2007. He was younger than Michael van Gerwen who would set the BDO World Championship youngest player record a few weeks later.
- The 2007 final was the first time that Sky television achieved a viewing figure of over 1 million for a darts match. The subscription channel had an audience of 1,028,000 for the van Barneveld v Taylor classic.
[edit] Averages
Since the breakaway of the PDC players, there has been much debate about the relative merits of the players within each organisation. The debate often focuses on the three-dart averages of players in matches. The averages don't necessarily reflect the quality of the players, but the figures are often analysed.
Prior to the split there had been only three occasions when players had managed to achieve an average of 100 for a match.
- 102.63 Dennis Priestley (1993, 1st Round) v Jocky Wilson
- 100.80 Phil Taylor (1990, Semi-Final) v Cliff Lazarenko
- 100.29 Keith Deller (1985, Quarter-Final) v John Lowe (lost match)
An average over 100 in a match at the Circus Tavern in the PDC World Championship has been achieved 33 times, compared to only 19 times in the BDO World Championships. This statistic is made even more remarkable by the fact that the BDO tournament has been going on twice as long as the PDC tournament. However, only 5 different men have achieved an average of over 100 in the PDC tournament, compared to 7 different men in the BDO tournament since the split in 1994.
- 111.21 Phil Taylor (2002, 2nd Round) v Shayne Burgess
- 109.00 Phil Taylor (2007, 2nd Round) v Mick McGowan
- 108.30 Phil Taylor (2006, 3rd Round) v Andy Hamilton
- 107.46 Phil Taylor (2001, Final) v John Part
- 106.74 Phil Taylor (2006, Final) v Peter Manley
- 106.23 Phil Taylor (2007, Semi-Final) v Andy Hamilton
- 105.87 Phil Taylor (2000, Quarter Final) v Alan Warriner
- 105.57 Phil Taylor (2006, Quarter Final) v Kevin Painter
- 105.15 Phil Taylor (2000, Semi Finals) v Dennis Smith
- 105.03 Phil Taylor (1999, 1st Round) v Reg Harding
- 103.98 Phil Taylor (1998, Final) v Dennis Priestley
- 103.80 Phil Taylor (2000, 2nd Round) v Graeme Stoddart
- 103.44 Phil Taylor (2003, 2nd Round) v Steve Brown
- 103.38 Richie Burnett (2001, 1st Round) v Steve Brown
- 103.26 Phil Taylor (2000, 1st Round) v Mick Manning
- 103.20 Phil Taylor (2001, Quarter Final) v Keith Deller
- 103.08 Phil Taylor (1998, Semi-Final) v Rod Harrington
- 102.87 Phil Taylor (2005, 3rd Round) v Alex Roy
- 102.75 Phil Taylor (2001, Semi-Final) v Dave Askew
- 102.48 Raymond van Barneveld (2007, 3rd Round) v Rico Vonck
- 102.39 Phil Taylor (2006, 2nd Round) v Matt Clark
- 102.00 Phil Taylor (1999, 2nd Round) v John Lowe
- 101.82 Mick McGowan (2007, 2nd Round) v Phil Taylor (lost match)
- 101.51 Phil Taylor (2007, Quarter Final) v Darren Webster
- 101.49 Dennis Priestley (1996, Final) v Phil Taylor (lost match)
- 100.95 Phil Taylor (1996, Group Stages) v Shayne Burgess
- 100.92 Phil Taylor (1997, Final) v Dennis Priestley
- 100.86 Phil Taylor (2007, Final) v Raymond van Barneveld (lost match)
- 100.77 Phil Taylor (2005, 4th Round) v Dennis Priestley
- 100.55 Raymond van Barneveld (2007, Final) v Phil Taylor
- 100.38 Phil Taylor (2003, Quarter Finals) v Dennis Smith
- 100.23 Phil Taylor (2002, Quarter Finals) v John Part
- 100.02 Phil Taylor (2004, Semi Finals) v Wayne Mardle
[edit] Notes & References
- ^ Each player's average score is based on the average for each 3-dart visit to the board (ie total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)
[edit] 2007 Event
The 2007 PDC World Championship was held between Monday December 18, 2006 and Monday January 1, 2007.
see main article: 2007 PDC World Darts Championship
| World Darts Championship |
|---|
| World Professional Darts Championship |
| 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 |
| BDO World Championship |
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| PDC World Championship |
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Winners and statistics |
| List of winners from 1978 to present |
