| Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship |
|
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Alexandra Palace |
| Location | London |
| Country | England |
| Established | 1994 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Legs (preliminaries and 3rd/4th place play off) Sets (from first round) |
| Prize Fund | £1,000,000 (2010) |
| Month(s) Played | December/January |
| Current champion(s) | |
| Adrian Lewis | |
The PDC World Darts Championship is a world championship competition for the sport of darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). It was introduced following a dispute in 1994 with the British Darts Organisation, which has run its own world championship since 1978. The biggest of the PDC tournaments, it traditionally begins in late December, finishing in early January just as the BDO's version gets underway.
The tournament is currently sponsored by Ladbrokes.com and is now staged at the Alexandra Palace in London after being held the Circus Tavern in Purfleet for its first 14 years.[1]
Only 5 players have won this championship: Dennis Priestley, Phil Taylor, John Part, Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis. Of these, only Taylor, Lewis and Part have won it more than once. In addition, Lewis is the only PDC World Champion never to have won the BDO World Championship. Taylor has dominated the tournament, winning 13 titles and reaching 16 of the first 17 finals.
Contents |
In 1994 some high profile players, including all previous winners of the BDO World Darts Championship still active in the game, formed the WDC (now PDC), and began to organise their own World Championships. Dennis Priestley won the inaugural competition.
The players who broke away were taking a significant gamble - the tournament was broadcast on satellite television rather than terrestrial and the prize fund for the early WDC World Championships was lower than the BDO version. In 2002, the PDC prize fund overtook the BDO for the first time and the PDC event now boasts the largest prize fund of any darts competition, the PDC and sponsors Ladbrokes have announced that prize money will reach £1 million by 2010 with the winner set to collect £200,000.
Sponsored by Skol 1994 and 1998-2002
Proton 1995
Vernons 1996
Red Band 1997
Ladbrokes.com 2003–present
| Venue | Years |
|---|---|
| Circus Tavern, Purfleet | 1994–2007 |
| Alexandra Palace, London | 2008–present |
| Year | Champion (average in final)[2] | Score | Runner-Up (average in final) | Sponsor | Total Prize Money[3] |
Champion | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Dennis Priestley (94.38) | 6–1 | Phil Taylor (90.62) | Skol | £64,000 | £16,000 | £8,000 |
| 1995 | Phil Taylor (94.11) | 6–2 | Rod Harrington (87.15) | Proton Cars | £55,000 | £12,000 | £6,000 |
| 1996 | Phil Taylor (98.52) | 6–4 | Dennis Priestley (101.49) | Vernons | £61,000 | £14,000 | £7,000 |
| 1997 | Phil Taylor (100.92) | 6–3 | Dennis Priestley (96.78) | Red Band | £98,000 | £45,000 | £10,000 |
| 1998 | Phil Taylor (103.98) | 6–0 | Dennis Priestley (90.75) | Skol | £71,000 | £20,000 | £10,000 |
| 1999 | Phil Taylor (97.11) | 6–2 | Peter Manley (93.63) | Skol | £104,000 | £30,000 | £16,000 |
| 2000 | Phil Taylor (94.42) | 7–3 | Dennis Priestley (91.80) | Skol | £110,000 | £31,000 | £16,400 |
| 2001 | Phil Taylor (107.46) | 7–0 | John Part (92.58) | Skol | £124,000 | £33,000 | £18,000 |
| 2002 | Phil Taylor (98.47) | 7–0 | Peter Manley (91.35) | Skol | £200,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 |
| 2003 | John Part (96.87) | 7–6 | Phil Taylor (99.98) | Ladbrokes | £200,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 |
| 2004 | Phil Taylor (96.03) | 7–6 | Kevin Painter (90.48) | Ladbrokes | £256,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 |
| 2005 | Phil Taylor (96.14) | 7–4 | Mark Dudbridge (90.66) | Ladbrokes | £300,000 | £60,000 | £30,000 |
| 2006 | Phil Taylor (106.74) | 7–0 | Peter Manley (91.72) | Ladbrokes | £500,000 | £100,000 | £50,000 |
| 2007 | Raymond van Barneveld (100.93) | 7–6 | Phil Taylor (100.86) | Ladbrokes | £500,000 | £100,000 | £50,000 |
| 2008 | John Part (92.86) | 7–2 | Kirk Shepherd (85.10) | Ladbrokes | £605,000 | £100,000 | £50,000 |
| 2009 | Phil Taylor (110.94) | 7–1 | Raymond van Barneveld (101.18) | Ladbrokes | £740,000 | £125,000 | £60,000 |
| 2010 | Phil Taylor (104.38) | 7–3 | Simon Whitlock (100.51) | Ladbrokes | £1,000,000 | £200,000 | £100,000 |
| 2011 | Adrian Lewis (99.40) | 7–5 | Gary Anderson (99.41) | Ladbrokes | £1,000,000 | £200,000 | £100,000 |
| 2012 | Adrian Lewis (93.06) | 7–3 | Andy Hamilton (90.83) | Ladbrokes | £1,000,000 | £200,000 | £100,000 |
The PDC World Championship has been broadcast live and in its entirety by Sky Sports in the UK since its inception. Since 2009 the tournament has been shot in High Definition (HD). 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. Sky's contract to cover the event has been extended until 2013, which will be the 20th year of the tournament.[4]
Sky Television World Final viewing figures:[5]
Holland SBS6
Germany SPORT1 (until 2010 DSF)[6]
Dutch broadcaster SBS6, having covered the BDO World Darts Championship for many years, also covers the event until RTL7 took over broadcasting. Fox Sports (USA), TSN (Canada), Fox Sports (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa), Ten Sports (India), CCTV (China), Showtime (Middle East), Ukraine TV, Sky New Zealand, IKO (Poland), Starhub (Singapore), Sport1 (Hungary), Meersat (Malaysia), 7TV (Russia), Measat (Indonesia), J Sports (Japan) now also broadcast the event.
Since the split in darts two versions of the world championship have existed since 1994, this record section relates specifically to achievements in the PDC version
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.
Prior to the split there had been only three occasions when a player had managed to achieve an average of 100 for a match:
An average over 100 in a match in the PDC World Championship has since been achieved 58 times, compared to 20 times in the BDO World Championships, despite the BDO tournament's longer history. 9 different men have achieved an average of over 100 in the PDC tournament, compared to 8 different men in the BDO tournament since the split in 1994.
Highest PDC one-match averages:[11]
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