1994 WDC World Darts Championship

October 2017 August 2020 January 2013 1994 WDC World Darts Championship 28 December 1993 – 2 January 1994 Circus Tavern Purfleet PDC (WDC) SetsFinal – best of 11 £64,000 £16,000 160 Dennis Priestley Dennis Priestley 1995 The 1994 WDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 1994 Skol World Darts Championship) was held following 18 months of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 BDO World Darts Championship, several players decided it was time to part company with the British Darts Organisation (who had always organised the World Championship) and form their own organisation. The new organisation was known as the World Darts Council (WDC). The WDC would later become the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The WDC decided to introduce their own separate World Championship, with the inaugural tournament being staged before the BDO version. The 1994 Championship started on 28 December 1993, and finished on 2 January 1994.Massarik Jack Darts: Darts elite look to Circus in split world - Jack Massarik reports from Purfleet on the best and worst of the breakaway championship https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A170795046/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=0fc9a12a 5 January 2024 The Guardian 29 December 1993 This started a tradition for the WDC/PDC World Championship to kick off before the new calendar year begins. The tournament was staged at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Essex. Dennis Priestley became the first WDC World Darts Champion, winning the final 6–1 against Phil Taylor to add to his 6–0 whitewash victory over Eric Bristow in the 1991 World Championship.Priestley collects WDC title https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500648890/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=59d7a597 5 January 2024 The Times 3 January 1994 1994 was the last time that Phil Taylor would fail to win the World Championship until 2003. The 16 defectors Originally 16 players "defected" from the BDO to form the WDC/PDC – Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner, Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Cliff Lazarenko, Kevin Spiolek, Jamie Harvey, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns. However, Johns and Gregory returned to the BDO without ever competing at the PDC World Championship. They were replaced with Graeme Stoddart and Kevin Burrows and the field was brought up to 24 by adding eight players who are Larry Butler, Sean Downs, Gerald Verrier, Jerry Umberger, Jim Watkins, Dave Kelly and Steve Brown from North America and Tom Kirby of Ireland. Tournament and format There were 24 players involved and the tournament featured an unusual round-robin format. The players were put into groups of three where the order of play was thus: Player A v player B Loser of match 1 v player C Winner of match 1 v player C This was done so that there would usually always be something to play for in the last group game. The group winner would progress to the quarter-finals (best of seven sets) and the tournament then became a straight knock-out event. The semi-finals were the best of 9 sets and the final was best of 11 sets. Seeds ENG Dennis Priestley ENG Alan Warriner ENG Bob Anderson ENG Peter Evison ENG Rod Harrington ENG Phil Taylor ENG Kevin Spiolek ENG John Lowe Prize money The prize money for the tournament was £64,000 – significantly less than the 1994 BDO World Championship which featured a £136,100 prize fund.Prize money breakdown http://www.DartsDatabase.co.uk/EventResultsPrize.aspx?EventKey=244 dartsdatabase 23 November 2007 Position (num. of players) Prize money(Total: £64,000) BDO equivalentprize money(Total: £136,000)Winner (1) £16,000 £32,000Runner-Up (1) £8,000 £16,000Third place (1) £5,000 £7,700Fourth place (1) £3,000 £7,700Quarter-finalists (4) £2,500 £3,800Second place in group (8) £1,500 £2,800 (Last 16)Third place in group (8) £1,250 £1,900 (Last 32) Tournament review Group stage The majority of the major players came through the group stage without trouble. Phil Taylor eased past Jamie Harvey 3–1, and Jim Watkins 3–0 to win Group 1, while 1988 World Champion, Bob Anderson, cruised into the quarter-finals for a showdown against Taylor, after a series of 3–0 wins against Americans Gerald Verrier and Dave Kelly. But there was room for an American to upset the odds, as Steve Brown, surprisingly, took Group 3, with wins against 1983 champion Keith Deller and Kevin Spiolek. Alan Warriner would go through to meet him after a couple of 3–1 wins against Richie Gardner and Cliff Lazarenko. Peter Evison showed no signs of discomfort, with consecutive 3–0 wins over Jerry Umberger and Kevin Burrows, and two 90-plus averages to go with it; the second of which, 97.56, would be the highest three-dart average in the tournament.Averages all rounds http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=244&showAverages=Y Darts Database 29 December 2014 Rod Harrington also went through after winning group 6, though not without difficulty. After a 3–1 win over five time World Champion, Eric Bristow, he narrowly defeated Sean Downs by 3 sets to 2 to go through to the last 8. Group 7 would see three-time champion John Lowe bow out, who narrowed missed out in a tight group, which saw Tom Kirby from Ireland book a quarter-final place, despite suffering defeat in his opening match to Lowe. A 3–1 win over American Larry Butler, and Lowe's 3–2 loss to Butler, ensured the Irishmen's advancement. He would be up against Dennis Priestley, after the Yorkshireman saw off Jocky Wilson 3–2 and Graeme Stoddart 3–0 to book a quarter-final place. Quarter-finals In a battle of two former world champions, Phil Taylor defeated Bob Anderson 4–2. Steve Brown upset the odds again to defeat 1993 runner-up Alan Warriner 4–3 and book a meeting with Taylor in the semi-finals. Peter Evison continued his good form, recording another 90-plus three-dart average while beating Rod Harrington 4–1, while Dennis Priestley ended the run of Tom Kirby with a 4–2 win. Semi-finals and third-place play-off Brown's dream run finally ended in the semi-finals, as Taylor beat him 5–0 to reach his third world final. The scoreline seemed harsh on Brown, however, as both players finished with the same three-dart average (91.20). In the other semi-final, Priestley beat Evison 5–3, thus reaching his second world final. Brown capped off his impressive run in fine style, beating Evison 5–1 in the third-place play-off.Sport (Newslines): Shock as Beaton is beaten. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A171393552/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=45083f6a. 5 January 2024 The Observer 2 January 1994 Final The final turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Taylor rarely giving Priestley any trouble at all. Priestley raced into a 5–0 lead, and eventually won 6–1 to take his second world title. Results Group stage Group A PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (1) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 2 +4 42 ENG Graeme Stoddart 2 1 1 3 4 −1 23 SCO Jocky Wilson 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0 26 December 95.24 (1) Dennis Priestley ENG3 – 2 SCO Jocky Wilson 94.39 27 December 77.24 Jocky Wilson SCO1 – 3 ENG Graeme Stoddart 78.20 28 December 86.25 (1) Dennis Priestley ENG3 – 0 ENG Graeme Stoddart 86.80 Group B PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 IRL Tom Kirby 2 1 1 5 4 +1 22 ENG (8) John Lowe 2 1 1 5 5 0 23 USA Larry Butler 2 1 1 4 5 –1 2 26 December 89.95 (8) John Lowe ENG3 – 2 IRL Tom Kirby 87.68 27 December 89.18 Larry Butler USA1 – 3 IRL Tom Kirby 88.47 28 December 82.86 (8) John Lowe ENG2 – 3 USA Larry Butler 81.24 Group C PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (5) Rod Harrington 2 2 0 6 3 +3 42 ENG Eric Bristow 2 1 1 4 5 −1 23 USA Sean Downs 2 0 2 4 6 −2 0 26 December 89.23 (5) Rod Harrington ENG3 – 1 ENG Eric Bristow 78.62 27 December 82.19 Eric Bristow ENG3 – 2 USA Sean Downs 79.37 28 December 90.59 (5) Rod Harrington ENG3 – 2 USA Sean Downs 83.88 Group D PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (4) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 0 +6 42 USA Jerry Umberger 2 1 1 3 3 0 23 ENG Kevin Burrows 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 26 December 93.40 (4) Peter Evison ENG3 – 0 USA Jerry Umberger 81.08 27 December 77.04 Kevin Burrows ENG0 – 3 USA Jerry Umberger 81.06 28 December 97.55 (4) Peter Evison ENG3 – 0 ENG Kevin Burrows 87.58 Group E PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (3) Bob Anderson 2 2 0 6 0 +6 42 USA Gerald Verrier 2 1 1 3 3 0 23 USA Dave Kelly 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 26 December 86.97 (3) Bob Anderson ENG3 – 0 USA Gerald Verrier 82.90 27 December 72.44 Dave Kelly USA0 – 3 USA Gerald Verrier 74.43 28 December 83.44 (3) Bob Anderson ENG3 – 0 USA Dave Kelly 75.04 Group F PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (6) Phil Taylor 2 2 0 6 1 +5 42 USA Jim Watkins 2 1 1 3 5 −2 23 SCO Jamie Harvey 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0 26 December 92.57 (6) Phil Taylor ENG3 – 1 SCO Jamie Harvey 90.71 27 December 91.36 Jamie Harvey SCO2 – 3 USA Jim Watkins 87.91 28 December 80.50 (6) Phil Taylor ENG3 – 0 USA Jim Watkins 78.00 Group G PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 USA Steve Brown 2 2 0 6 1 +5 42 ENG (7) Kevin Spiolek 2 1 1 3 4 −1 23 ENG Keith Deller 2 0 2 2 6 −4 0 26 December 85.49 (7) Kevin Spiolek ENG3 – 1 ENG Keith Deller 88.54 27 December 85.92 Steve Brown USA3 – 1 ENG Keith Deller 84.57 28 December 84.05 (7) Kevin Spiolek ENG0 – 3 USA Steve Brown 92.60 Group H PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/-Pts1 ENG (2) Alan Warriner 2 2 0 6 2 +4 42 ENG Ritchie Gardner 2 1 1 4 4 0 23 ENG Cliff Lazarenko 2 0 2 2 6 −4 0 26 December 87.93 (2) Alan Warriner ENG3 – 1 ENG Ritchie Gardner 81.00 27 December 75.43 Ritchie Gardner ENG3 – 1 ENG Cliff Lazarenko 77.63 28 December 85.76 (2) Alan Warriner ENG3 – 1 ENG Cliff Lazarenko 85.57 Knockout stages Quarter-finals (best of 7 sets)31 DecemberFlag Reference Quarter-finals onwards http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/EventResultGrid.aspx?EventKey=244 Darts Database 29 December 2014 Semi-finals (best of 9 sets)1 January Final (best of 11 sets)2 January Third-place play-off (best of 9 sets) 20 200px A1 ENG Dennis Priestley (1) 90.92 4 B1 IRL Tom Kirby 84.02 2 C1 ENG Rod Harrington (5) 89.36 1 D1 ENG Peter Evison (4) 88.80 4 E1 ENG Bob Anderson (3) 90.73 2 F1 ENG Phil Taylor (6) 90.22 4 G1 ENG Alan Warriner (2) 87.69 3 H1 USA Steve Brown 88.12 4 A1 ENG Dennis Priestley (1) 89.56 5 D1 ENG Peter Evison (4) 82.44 3 F1 ENG Phil Taylor (6) 91.20 5 G1 USA Steve Brown 89.55 0 A1 ENG Dennis Priestley (1) 94.38 6 F1 ENG Phil Taylor (6) 85.62 1 D1 ENG Peter Evison (4) 84.48 1 G1 USA Steve Brown 89.04 5 References Category:PDC World Darts Championships Category:1990s in Essex WDC World Darts Championship WDC World Darts Championship WDC World Darts Championship WDC World Darts Championship Category:Purfleet Category:Sport in Essex Category:1993 in English sport Category:1993 in darts