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 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Champion(s)
England John Lowe
«1992 1994»

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.

In 1989 and 1990, the Embassy World Championship was the only darts 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) in late January 1992, soon after a controversial VHS release of the 1992 Embassy World Final between Phil Taylor and Mike Gregory.

By the time of the 1993 Embassy World Championship, the WDC had already held their own tournament, the 1992 Lada UK Classic (won by Mike Gregory) in October 1992. The tournament had been broadcast on Anglia Television, and the WDC players wanted to see their exposure to television coverage increase.

During the 1993 Embassy World Championship, the WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves. They were soon 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]

During the tournament, the 16 WDC players released a statement saying that they would only play in the 1994 Embassy World Championship if it came under the auspices of the WDC, and that they only recognised the WDC as having the authority to sanction their participation in darts tournaments worldwide.

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 and tournament favourite, lost to Steve Beaton, despite Priestley having thrown a record average of 102.63 against Jocky Wilson in the first round. Other notable upsets during the tournament were Kevin Spiolek beating Kevin Kenny in the first round, Wayne Weening beating Rod Harrington in the first round, and Bobby George beating Mike Gregory in the quarter finals.

John Lowe went on to beat Alan Warriner in the final and claim this last ever unified world title in the sports of darts - the third world title of Lowe's 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)

Seeds

  1. England Dennis Priestley
  2. England Mike Gregory
  3. England Phil Taylor
  4. England Rod Harrington
  5. England Alan Warriner
  6. England John Lowe
  7. Australia Keith Sullivan
  8. England Bob Anderson

The Results

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

References

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