PDC World Darts Championship

William Hill
World Darts Championship


Tournament information
Venue Alexandra Palace (2008–)
Circus Tavern (1994–2007)
Location London
Country England
Established 1994
Organisation(s) PDC
Format Sets
Prize fund £2,500,000 (2019)
Month(s) Played December/January
Current champion(s)
England Rob Cross

The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the William Hill World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is one of the two World Professional Darts Championships held annually in the sport of darts. The other is the BDO World Darts Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO). The PDC championship begins in December and ends in January and is held at Alexandra Palace in London. It is the highest profile of the PDC's tournaments, with the winner receiving the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the darts commentator Sid Waddell, who died in 2012.

The PDC championship began in 1994 as the WDC World Darts Championship as one of the consequences of the split in darts, which saw the World Darts Council break away from the BDO. As a result of the settlement between the BDO and the WDC in 1997, the WDC became the PDC, and players are now free to choose which world championship to enter (but not both in the same year), as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria.

The current PDC champion is Rob Cross. With 14 wins from 25 appearances, Phil Taylor has dominated the competition, last winning it in 2013. Other than Taylor, there have only been seven other champions. The only other players to win it more than once are John Part (2003 & 2008), Adrian Lewis (2011 & 2012), Gary Anderson (2015 & 2016) and Michael van Gerwen (2014 & 2017). The one-time winners are the inaugural champion Dennis Priestley, the Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld (2007), and reigning champion Cross.

History

In 1992, 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 in 1994, held their first World Championship. 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 from 1994 to 2001, the prize fund for the players in the WDC/PDC World Championship was lower than the prize fund in the BDO version, although the 1997 PDC World Champion received £45,000 compared to that year's BDO World Champion receiving £38,000. In 2002, the PDC prize fund overtook that of the BDO for the first time, and the PDC event now boasts the largest prize fund of any darts competition. In 2010, the prize fund reached £1 million for the first time, with the World Champion collecting £200,000.

The 2014 and 2015 PDC World Champions collected £250,000 for their respective wins. In 2018, the prize fund will be increased to £1.8 million, with the World Champion receiving £400,000.[1]

Venue

The PDC World Darts Championship has been held at Alexandra Palace in London since 2008, having previously been held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex, from 1994 to 2007.[2]

List of finals

Year Champion (average in final)[3] T. Score Runner-Up (average in final) Prize Money Sponsor Venue
Total[4] Champion Runner-Up
1994 England Dennis Priestley (94.38) 1st 6–1 England Phil Taylor (90.62) £64,000 £16,000 £8,000 Skol Circus Tavern, Purfleet
1995 England Phil Taylor (94.11) 1st 6–2 England Rod Harrington (87.15) £55,000 £12,000 £6,000 Proton Cars
1996 England Phil Taylor (98.52) 2nd 6–4 England Dennis Priestley (101.48) £61,000 £14,000 £7,000 Vernon's Pools
1997 England Phil Taylor (100.92) 3rd 6–3 England Dennis Priestley (96.78) £98,000 £45,000 £10,000 Red Band
1998 England Phil Taylor (103.98) 4th 6–0 England Dennis Priestley (90.75) £71,000 £20,000 Skol
1999 England Phil Taylor (97.11) 5th 6–2 England Peter Manley (93.63) £104,000 £30,000 £16,000
2000 England Phil Taylor (94.42) 6th 7–3 England Dennis Priestley (91.80) £110,000 £31,000 £16,400
2001 England Phil Taylor (107.46) 7th 7–0 Canada John Part (92.58) £124,000 £33,000 £18,000
2002 England Phil Taylor (98.47) 8th 7–0 England Peter Manley (91.35) £200,000 £50,000 £25,000
2003 Canada John Part (96.87) 1st 7–6 England Phil Taylor (99.98) Ladbrokes
2004 England Phil Taylor (96.03) 9th 7–6 England Kevin Painter (90.48) £256,000
2005 England Phil Taylor (96.14) 10th 7–4 England Mark Dudbridge (90.66) £300,000 £60,000 £30,000
2006 England Phil Taylor (106.74) 11th 7–0 England Peter Manley (91.72) £500,000 £100,000 £50,000
2007 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (100.93) 1st 7–6 England Phil Taylor (100.86)
2008 Canada John Part (92.86) 2nd 7–2 England Kirk Shepherd (85.10) £589,000 Alexandra Palace, London
2009 England Phil Taylor (110.94) 12th 7–1 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (101.18) £724,000 £125,000 £60,000
2010 England Phil Taylor (104.38) 13th 7–3 Australia Simon Whitlock (100.51) £1,000,000 £200,000 £100,000
2011 England Adrian Lewis (99.40) 1st 7–5 Scotland Gary Anderson (99.41)
2012 England Adrian Lewis (93.06) 2nd 7–3 England Andy Hamilton (90.83)
2013 England Phil Taylor (103.04) 14th 7–4 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (100.66)
2014 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (100.10) 1st 7–4 Scotland Peter Wright (95.71) £1,050,000 £250,000
2015 Scotland Gary Anderson (97.68) 1st 7–6 England Phil Taylor (100.69) £1,250,000 £120,000 William Hill
2016 Scotland Gary Anderson (99.26) 2nd 7–5 England Adrian Lewis (100.23) £1,500,000 £300,000 £150,000
2017 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (107.79) 2nd 7–3 Scotland Gary Anderson (104.93) £1,650,000 £350,000 £160,000
2018 England Rob Cross (107.67) 1st 7–2 England Phil Taylor (102.26) £1,800,000 £400,000 £170,000
2019 £2,500,000 £500,000 £200,000

Records and statistics

As of 1 January 2018

Total finalist appearances

Rank Name Nationality Winner Runner-up Finals Appearances
1 Phil Taylor  England 14 5 19 25
2 Gary Anderson  Scotland 2 2 4 8
3 Michael van Gerwen  Netherlands 2 1 3 10
Adrian Lewis  England 2 1 3 12
John Part  Canada 2 1 3 18
6 Dennis Priestley  England 1 4 5 19
7 Raymond van Barneveld  Netherlands 1 1 2 11
8 Rob Cross  England 1 0 1 1
9 Peter Manley  England 0 3 3 13
10 Mark Dudbridge  England 0 1 1 10
Andy Hamilton  England 0 1 1 12
Rod Harrington  England 0 1 1 10
Kevin Painter  England 0 1 1 16
Kirk Shepherd  England 0 1 1 4
Simon Whitlock  Australia 0 1 1 9
Peter Wright  Scotland 0 1 1 8

Nine-dart finishes

Nine nine-darters have been thrown at the World Championship. The first one was in 2009.

Player Year (+ Round) Method Opponent Result
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2009, Quarter-Final 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 5-1
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2010, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Northern Ireland Brendan Dolan 4-0
England Adrian Lewis 2011, Final 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Scotland Gary Anderson 7-5
England Dean Winstanley 2013, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 2-4
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2013, Semi-Final 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 England James Wade 6-4
England Terry Jenkins 2014, 1st Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Denmark Per Laursen 2-3
Australia Kyle Anderson 2014, 1st Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 England Ian White 1-3
England Adrian Lewis 2015, 3rd Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 3-4
Scotland Gary Anderson 2016, Semi-Final 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 6-0

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.

An average over 100 in a match in the PDC World Championship has since been achieved over 150 times.[5] This is compared to 21 times in the BDO World Championship, following the 2018 event. In 2010 Phil Taylor became the first player to average over 100 in all six rounds of the tournament. He repeated this feat (though lost the final) in 2015 and Michael van Gerwen achieved it in 2017.

An average of over 105 in a match in the PDC World Championship has been achieved 36 times. The highest match average ever in the BDO World Championship is 103.83 by Raymond van Barneveld in his Quarter final victory over John Walton in 2004.

Ten highest PDC World Championship one-match averages[6]
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
114.05 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017, Semi-Final Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 6–2
111.21 England Phil Taylor 2002, 2nd Round England Shayne Burgess 6–1
110.94 England Phil Taylor 2009, Final Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 7–1
109.34 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2017, Semi-Final Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2–6
109.23 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2016, 2nd Round England Darren Webster 4–0
109.00 England Phil Taylor 2007, 2nd Round Republic of Ireland Mick McGowan 4–1
108.80 England Phil Taylor 2009, Quarter-Final Netherlands Co Stompé 5–0
108.65 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2018, 2nd Round England James Wilson 4–0
108.39 Scotland Gary Anderson 2011, 3rd Round England Andy Smith 4–0
108.31 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2013, 1st Round England Michael Smith 3–0
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
109.34 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2017, Semi-Final Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2–6
106.07 Spain Cristo Reyes 2017, 2nd Round Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2–4
105.78 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2016, 3rd Round Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 3–4
104.93 Scotland Gary Anderson 2017, Final Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 3–7
104.63 England Dave Chisnall 2017, Quarter-Final Scotland Gary Anderson 3–5
Five highest combined match averages
Average Winner Year (+ Round) Loser Result
223.39 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017, Semi-Final Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 6–2
212.72 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017, Final Scotland Gary Anderson 7–3
212.12 England Phil Taylor 2009, Final Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 7–1
211.31 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017, 2nd Round Spain Cristo Reyes 4–2
210.82 England Phil Taylor 2007, 2nd Round Republic of Ireland Mick McGowan 4–1
Different players with a 100+ match average - updated 1/1/18
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ Round)
England Phil Taylor 56 111.21 2002, 2nd Round
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 21 114.05 2017, Semi Final
Scotland Gary Anderson 19 108.39 2011, 3rd Round
England Adrian Lewis 14 106.51 2010, 1st Round
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 13 109.34 2017, Semi Final
Scotland Peter Wright 10 105.07 2014, 3rd Round
Australia Simon Whitlock 6 105.37 2010, Quarter-Final
England Rob Cross 4 107.67 2018, Final
England Michael Smith 4 103.29 2018, 2nd Round
England Dave Chisnall 3 104.63 2017, Quarter-Final
Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 3 102.54 2016, 1st Round
Wales Jamie Lewis 2 107.27 2018, 2nd Round
England Terry Jenkins 2 102.64 2012, 3rd Round
England Andy Hamilton 2 102.04 2012, Quarter-Final
Spain Cristo Reyes 1 106.07 2017, 2nd Round
England Darren Webster 1 104.64 2017, 2nd Round
Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh 1 104.17 2018, 1st Round
Wales Richie Burnett 1 103.38 2001, 1st Round
Australia Corey Cadby 1 102.48 2017, Preliminary
Netherlands Co Stompé 1 102.42 2010, 3rd Round
England Stephen Bunting 1 102.34 2015, 3rd Round
Netherlands Benito van de Pas 1 102.30 2017, 3rd Round
Republic of Ireland Mick McGowan 1 101.82 2007, 2nd Round
Wales Gerwyn Price 1 101.55 2018, 1st Round
Scotland Robert Thornton 1 101.49 2015, Quarter-Final
England Dennis Priestley 1 101.48 1996, Final
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 1 101.17 2018, 2nd Round
England Joe Cullen 1 100.88 2017, 1st Round
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 1 100.51 2018, 1st Round
Netherlands Christian Kist 1 100.23 2018, 1st Round
Five highest tournament averages
Average Player Year Reference
106.32 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017 [7]
104.68 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2016 [8]
104.63 England Phil Taylor 2010 [9]
104.19 England Adrian Lewis 2010 [9]
104.08 England Phil Taylor 2009 [10]

Records

Most titles: 14, Phil Taylor. Taylor's two BDO titles take his total to 16, a record across both organisations.[11] John Part, Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson share the second place with two PDC titles.[12]
Most finals: 19, Phil Taylor, 1994-2007, 2009-2010, 2013, 2015 and 2018.[13]
Most match wins: 110, Phil Taylor, 1994-2018. Taylor has only lost 11 matches at the tournament and reached every final from 1994 until 2008, when he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Wayne Mardle.[14][15][16]
Longest unbeaten run: 44 matches, Phil Taylor, 1995-2003, between his defeats in the 1994 and 2003 finals.
Most 180s in a tournament (total): 708 in 2017. This beat the previous record of 654, set in 2016.[17]
Most 180s in a tournament (individual): 71, Gary Anderson (2017)[18]
Most 180s in a match: 22, Gary Anderson (2017)[19]
Most 180s in a match (both players): 42, Gary Anderson (22) and Michael van Gerwen (20) (2017)
Most appearances: 25, Phil Taylor. Taylor is the only player to have appeared in all 25 editions of the championship.[20]
Youngest player: Mitchell Clegg, 16 years and 37 days. Clegg qualified as a 15-year-old in 2007. He was younger than Michael van Gerwen, who set the BDO World Championship youngest player record a few weeks later.
Youngest finalist: Kirk Shepherd, 21 years and 88 days In the 2008 final,[21] Shepherd was two days younger than Jelle Klaasen, who won the BDO title in 2006.
Record TV audience: 1,500,000 (2015 Final). The 2007 final was the first time that Sky Television achieved a viewing figure of over 1 million for a darts match. The 2013 final had a 1.2 million average, with 10 million viewers over the course of the tournament.[22]
Won both World Championships: Four players. Dennis Priestley was the first player to win both versions of the World Championship,[23][24] winning the 1991 BDO Championship and the 1994 PDC Championship. Phil Taylor, John Part and Raymond van Barneveld have since matched the feat.[25][26]
Overseas World Champions: Three players. John Part was the first player from outside the UK to win the PDC World Championship with his 2003 title, followed by Raymond van Barneveld in 2007 and Michael van Gerwen in 2014. Part was also the first overseas player to win the BDO title, doing so in 1994.

Media

The stage at the 2009 World Championship.

Domestic broadcaster

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). Their coverage is currently presented from a studio overlooking the interior of the Alexandra Palace venue.

The current presenting team is as follows:

Presenters

  • Dave Clark: (2001–present)
  • David Croft: (2013–present, previously worked for BBC Sport Darts Coverage 2003–2012)

Co-presenters

Commentators:

  • Stuart Pyke: (2003–present, also works for ITV Sport Darts Coverage 2007–present)
  • Rod Studd: (2009–present)
  • Nigel Pearson: (2005–present)
  • (David Croft, Wayne Mardle, Rod Harrington & John Part also commentate)

Former presenters and commentators have been:

Overseas broadcasters

Dutch broadcaster SBS6, having covered the BDO World Darts Championship for many years, also covered the event until RTL7 took over broadcasting. Fox Sports (Australia), BBC America (USA), TSN (Canada), SuperSport (South Africa), Sky Sport (New Zealand), StarHub (Singapore), Ten Sports (India), CCTV (China), Showtime (Middle East), Ukraine TV, IKO (Poland), NOVA Sport (Czech Republic and Slovakia), Sport1 (Hungary), Meersat (Malaysia), 7TV (Russia), Measat (Indonesia), J Sports (Japan), Fox Sports (Italy), Eurosport (Romania) now also broadcast the event.

Viewing figures

Television viewing figures for the final are as follows: [27]

Year Broadcaster
Sky Television Netherlands Germany SPORT1
2018 1,400,000 864,000 (RTL 7) 2,700,000
2017 607,000 2,170,000 (RTL 7)[28] 1,480,000[29]
2016 908,000 869,000 (RTL 7)[30] 950,000[31]
2015 1.5 million peak[32] 908,000 (RTL 7)[33] 1,360,000[34]
2014 668,000 2,054,000 (RTL 7) 560,000[35]
2013 1,270,000[36] 1,748,000 (RTL 7) 810,000
2012 728,000 762,000 (RTL 7)
2011 920,000 435,000 (SBS6)
2010 888,000 854,000 (SBS6) 730,000
2009 809,000 1,441,000 (SBS6) 490,000
2008 731,000 211.000 (compilation SBS6) 340,000
2007 1,028,000 1,339,000 (SBS6)
2006 761,000
2005 530,000
2004 820,000
2003 610,000
2002 Unavailable
2001 420,000
2000 240,000
1999 200,000

Webcasting

The PDC world championship events are now broadcast on www.livepdc.tv which shows the events live, highlights and also classic matches. This website is a subscription only viewing and is limited to certain territorial restrictions.

The tournament has been sponsored by bookmaker William Hill since 2015. Previous sponsors have been:

Trophy

Following popular darts commentator Sid Waddell's death on 11 August 2012, the decision was made to rename the champion's trophy to the Sid Waddell trophy from the 2013 tournament onwards.[37]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ http://tungstentickle.com/hearn-announces-world-championship-shake-up/
  2. ↑ "PDC championship moves to London". BBC Sport. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
  3. ↑ 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)
  4. ↑ PDC World Championship prize fund dartsdatabase
  5. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentPlayerStats.aspx?tournStatKey=6&tournKey=11&pg=1
  6. ↑ dartsdatabase.co.uk; best winning averages
  7. ↑ "2017 PDC World Championship Tournament averages". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "2016 PDC World Championship tournament averages". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  9. 1 2 "2010 PDC World Championship tournament averages". Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "2009 PDC World Championship tournament averages". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  11. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentStats.aspx?tournKey=11
  12. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentPlayerStats.aspx?tournKey=11
  13. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentStats.aspx?tournKey=11
  14. ↑ "PDC WC Match wins page 1". Darts Database. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "PDC WC match wins page 2". Darts Database. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "PDC WC match wins page 3". Darts Database. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  17. ↑ dartsdatabase.co.uk; Total 180s 2015
  18. ↑ dartsdatabse.co.uk; Most 180's in a tournament
  19. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentPlayerStats.aspx?tournStatKey=8&tournKey=11&pg=1
  20. ↑ dartsdatabase.co.uk; tournament appearances
  21. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentStats.aspx?tournKey=11
  22. ↑ pdc.tv; Record Viewing Figures
  23. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?tournKey=11
  24. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?TournKey=2
  25. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?tournKey=11
  26. ↑ http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?TournKey=2
  27. ↑ BARB viewing figures Archived 2007-10-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  28. ↑ . Retrieved on 2017-01-03.
  29. ↑ Niemaier, Timo (2017-01-03). "Darts-WM: Neuer Quotenrekord für Sport1 zum Finale - DWDL.de". DWDL.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  30. ↑ . Retrieved on 2017-12-16.
  31. ↑ Sülter, Björn (2016-01-04). "SportCheck: Darts-Rekorde, Insel-Showdown & Schanzenfieber". Quotenmeter (in German). Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  32. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a619350/gary-andersons-pdc-world-darts-win-pulls-in-viewers-for-sky-sports.html
  33. ↑ Kijkonderzoek. Retrieved on 2015-01-05.
  34. ↑ http://www.quotenmeter.de/n/75469/der-grosse-wurf-darts-finale-fuehrt-sport1-zu-allzeit-rekord
  35. ↑ DWDL: Darts-WM: Sport1 katapultiert sich vor Vox
  36. ↑ BARB. BARB. Retrieved on 2013-08-13.
  37. ↑ "World Darts Trophy Named After Waddell". Sky News. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
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