1993 BDO World Darts Championship

Embassy World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates 1-9 January 1993
Venue Lakeside Country Club
Location Frimley Green, Surrey
Country England
Organisation(s) BDO
Format Sets
Final – best of 11
Prize fund £128,500
Winners share £30,000
High checkout 170 Raymond van Barneveld
Round 2
vs John Lowe
Champion(s)
John Lowe

The 1993 Embassy World Darts Championship will have a notoriety within the history of World Darts. It was the 16th staging of the competition, but it turned out to be the last time that the sport had a unified World Championship.

For the previous five years, the Embassy was the only tournament which had received television coverage and a group of 16 players (including all previous World Champions) wanted to appoint a PR consultant to improve the image of the game. They created the World Darts Council (WDC), later the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) a few months before this tournament. The WDC had already held their own tournament, the 1992 Lada UK Classic (won by Mike Gregory). The tournament had been broadcast on Anglia Television and the top players wanted to see their exposure to television coverage increase.

During these championships, the WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves. They were later told to remove them by the tournament organisers, the BDO.[1] The WDC players decided that if they were not going to be recognised by the BDO they would no longer play in the Embassy Championships.[2]

The second round saw several upset results including defeats of three former World Champions. Eric Bristow lost to Bob Anderson, while defending champion Phil Taylor lost to Kevin Spiolek. Dennis Priestley, the number one seed, lost to Steve Beaton after achieving a record average of 102.63 against Jocky Wilson in the first round.

John Lowe went on to beat Alan Warriner in the final and claim this last ever unified title - the third of his career. With his previous victories in 1979 and 1987, he became the first player to win the World title in three different decades.

Prize money

Total Prize fund was £128,500 (plus a £51,000 bonus for a nine-dart finish - not won)

The Results

First Round Second Round Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals
Best of 5 sets Best of 5 sets Best of 7 sets Best of 9 sets
                           
           
  Steve Beaton (96.21)  3
  Dave Richardson (88.71)  1  
  Steve Beaton (96.09)  3
    Dennis Priestley (93.27)  1  
  Dennis Priestley (102.63)  3
  Jocky Wilson (96.09)  0  
  Steve Beaton (97.29)  4
    Bob Anderson (91.20)  1  
  Eric Bristow (86.67)  3
  Per Skau (84.69)  1  
  Eric Bristow (85.41)  0
    Bob Anderson (89.88)  3  
  Bob Anderson (90.48)  3
  Scott Coleman (90.90)  1  
  Steve Beaton (91.86)  2
    Alan Warriner (90.24)  5
  Ronnie Sharp (94.47)  3
  Peter Hunt (82.44)  0  
  Ronnie Sharp (88.83)  1
    Alan Warriner (95.49)  3  
  Alan Warriner (98.46)  3
  Mitchell Crooks (91.62)  0  
  Alan Warriner (90.81)  4
    Wayne Weening (86.85)  1  
  Albert Anstey (82.71)  3
  Sean Downs (73.62)  0  
  Albert Anstey (89.07)  0
    Wayne Weening (93.93)  3  
  Wayne Weening (86.64)  3
  Rod Harrington (93.39)  0  
           
  Jann Hoffmann (81.99)  3
  Bernd Hebecker (70.53)  0  
  Jann Hoffmann (86.55)  1
    Mike Gregory (91.56)  3  
  Mike Gregory (94.77)  3
  Jamie Harvey (86.91)  0  
  Mike Gregory (93.39)  2
    Bobby George (93.21)  4  
  Martin Phillips (87.27)  3
  Dave Kelly (83.34)  1  
  Martin Phillips (90.00)  0
    Bobby George (91.26)  3  
  Bobby George (86.55)  3
  Keith Sullivan (88.89)  1  
  Bobby George (90.51)  3
    John Lowe (92.10)  5
  Raymond van Barneveld (89.43)  3
  Graham Miller (85.68)  2  
  Raymond van Barneveld (86.94)  2
    John Lowe (86.97)  3  
  John Lowe (85.23)  3
  Chris Johns (79.56)  1  
  John Lowe (89.25)  4
    Kevin Spiolek (86.46)  3  
  Kevin Spiolek (84.33)  3
  Kevin Kenny (82.95)  1  
  Kevin Spiolek (86.49)  3
    Phil Taylor (87.93)  1  
  Phil Taylor (91.59)  3
  John Joe O'Shea (86.97)  1  
Final (Best of 11 sets) Saturday January 9th
(82.32) Alan Warriner 3-6 John Lowe (83.97)
Highest Checkout: 1-3, 0-3, 3-2, 0-3, 1-3, 2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 1-3 Highest Checkout:
John Lowe wins the 1993 Embassy World Darts Championship

References

  1. ^ Myweb.tiscali.co.uk
  2. ^ Theiceman.co.uk