| Embassy World Darts Championship | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6–14 January 1989 |
| Venue | Lakeside Country Club |
| Location | Frimley Green, Surrey[1] |
| Country | England |
| Organisation(s) | BDO |
| Format | Sets Final – best of 11 |
| Prize fund | £86,900 |
| Winners share | £20,000 |
| High checkout | Mike Gregory |
| Champion(s) | |
| Jocky Wilson[2] | |
The 1989 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 12th World Professional Championships, and was staged at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey, England for the fourth successive year. The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
Following the 1988 Winmau World Masters ITV pulled all their coverage of darts and the BBC decided to withdraw their coverage of the 1988 British Professional Championship, meaning that this World Championship was the only televised darts tournament in 1989.[3] The World Championship would remain the only annual televised event for the next four years.
In an attempt to improve the image of the game (which contributed to the loss of television coverage and sponsors), the BDO decided that players would no longer be allowed to drink alcohol during matches - allowing just water on the stage.
The tournament itself saw old rivals Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow meet in the final after Wilson had beaten defending champion Bob Anderson and Bristow had seen off John Lowe in the semi-finals. Wilson raced into a five sets to nil lead, but Bristow took the next four sets to set up a tense finish - until, after missing several double attempts, Wilson finally took the title 6-4.
| First Round | Second Round | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | |||||||||||
| Best of 5 sets | Best of 5 sets | Best of 7 sets | Best of 9 sets | |||||||||||
| Wayne Weening (88.98) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Cliff Lazarenko (86.37) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Wayne Weening (89.22) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Anderson (99.96) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Anderson (89.19) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Ken Summers (75.48) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Anderson (92.91) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Whitcombe (88.71) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Rick Ney (88.14) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Leo Laurens (86.16) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Rick Ney (79.92) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Whitcombe (84.63) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Whitcombe (87.51) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Sinnaeve (81.03) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Anderson (90.33) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Jocky Wilson (94.35) | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Alan Warriner (91.20) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Arnie Bunn (78.90) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Alan Warriner (87.54) | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Jocky Wilson (88.38) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Jocky Wilson (89.28) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Reynolds (83.76) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Jocky Wilson (85.32) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Mike Gregory (89.04) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Magnus Caris (80.40) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Trevor Nurse (78.48) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Magnus Caris (80.04) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Mike Gregory (91.56) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Mike Gregory (92.07) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Peter McDonald (86.43) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Lim (88.23) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Chris Johns (82.74) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Lim (89.73) | 2 | |||||||||||||
| John Lowe (91.65) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| John Lowe (90.15) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Chris Whiting (82.08) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| John Lowe (92.19) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Denis Hickling (86.61) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Denis Hickling (83.82) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Bert Vlaardingerbroek (77.52) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Denis Hickling (95.67) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Russell Stewart (88.41) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Russell Stewart (88.86) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Burden (84.81) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| John Lowe (89.07) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Bristow (93.27) | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Lars Erik Karlsson (84.60) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Tony Payne (86.58) | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Lars Erik Karlsson (77.37) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Peter Evison (87.27) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Peter Evison (80.94) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Ray Farrell (81.99) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Peter Evison (88.11) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Bristow (90.39) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Gittins (85.83) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Kexi Heinäharju (75.84) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Gittins (86.19) | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Bristow (89.01) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Bristow (86.22) | 3 | |||||||||||||
| John Fallowfield (74.28) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Final (Best of 11 sets) Saturday January 14th
Referees: Freddie Williams, Bruce Spendley |
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| (94.32) Jocky Wilson | 6-4 | Eric Bristow (90.66) |
| Highest Checkout: | 3-1, 3-0, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1, 1-3, 2-3, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2 | Highest Checkout: |
| Jocky Wilson wins the 1989 Embassy World Darts Championship | ||
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