1994 WDC World Darts Championship

Skol World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates	26 December 1993-2 January 1994
Venue	Circus Tavern
Location	Purfleet, Essex
Country	England, United Kingdom
Organisation(s)	PDC (WDC)
Format	Sets Final – best of 11
Prize fund	£64,000
Winners share	£16,000
Champion(s)
Dennis Priestley
1995»

The 1994 Skol World Darts Championships was held following 18 months of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 Embassy World Championships, 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 actually started on Boxing Day 1993. This started a tradition for the WDC/PDC World Championship to actually kick off before the new calendar year begins. The tournament was staged at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Essex.

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 seven players from North America and Tom Kirby of Ireland.

The Tournament & 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.

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.

Seeds

^[1]

1. Dennis Priestley
2. Alan Warriner
3. Bob Anderson
4. Peter Evison
5. Rod Harrington
6. Phil Taylor
7. Kevin Spiolek
8. 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.^[2]

Champion £16,000 (BDO £32,000)

Runner-up £8,000 (BDO £16,000)

Third place £5,000 (BDO £7,700)

Fourth place £3,000 (BDO £7,700)

Quarter-finals £1,500 (BDO £3,800)

Group stage £1,250 (BDO last 16 £2,800 last 32 £1,900)

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 Verrirer 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.^[3] 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 the battle of two former world champions, Phil Taylor moved onto the semi-finals with a 4-2 win over Bob Anderson, who would still be searching for his second world title. Steve Brown upset the odds again to defeat 1993 World finalist Alan Warriner 4-3, and a meeting with Taylor. Peter Evison continued his good form with another 90-plus average, in dispensing Rod Harrington 4-1, while Dennis Priestley ended the run of Tom Kirby, with a 4 sets to 2 win.

Semi-Finals and Third Place Play-off

Phil Taylor reached his 3rd World final by finally ending American Steve Brown's dream run. With both players sharing the same 3-dart average, 91.20, a 5-0 scorline to Taylor seemed fairly harsh. Dennis Priestley would book his place in the final by taking out Peter Evison 5-3. Brown capped off his impressive run by taking the 3rd Place Playoff, with an impressive 5 sets to 1 win over Evison.

Final

The final turned out to be a one-sided encounter, with Taylor rarely giving Priestley any trouble at all. Priestley raced out into a 5-0 lead, and would win comfortably, claiming his second world title with a 6-1 win.

Results

1st Round - Group Stages

^[1][3]

Group 1 (6) Phil Taylor 92.58 3 - 1 Jamie Harvey 89.76 Jamie Harvey 91.35 2 - 3 Jim Watkins 87.90 (6) Phil Taylor 80.49 3 - 0 Jim Watkins 78.00

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (6) Phil Taylor 2 2 0 6 1 +5 4 2 Jim Watkins 2 1 1 3 5 -2 2 3 Jamie Harvey 2 0 2 3 6 -3 0

Group 2 (3) Bob Anderson 86.97 3 - 0 Gerald Verrier 82.89 Gerald Verrier 74.43 3 - 0 Dave Kelly 75.39 (3) Bob Anderson 83.43 3 - 0 Dave Kelly 72.48

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (3) Bob Anderson 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Gerald Verrier 2 1 1 3 3 0 2 3 Dave Kelly 2 0 2 0 6 -6 0

Group 3 Keith Deller 88.53 1 - 3 (7) Kevin Spiolek 85.50 Keith Deller 84.57 1 - 3 Steve Brown 85.92 (7) Kevin Spiolek 84.06 0 - 3 Steve Brown 92.61

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Steve Brown 2 2 0 6 1 +5 4 2 (7) Kevin Spiolek 2 1 1 3 4 -1 2 3 Keith Deller 2 0 2 2 6 -4 0

Group 4 (2) Alan Warriner 87.93 3 - 1 Richie Gardner 81.00 Richie Gardner 88.25 3 - 1 Cliff Lazarenko 77.64 (2) Alan Warriner 85.77 3 - 1 Cliff Lazarenko 85.56

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (2) Alan Warriner 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Richie Gardner 2 1 1 4 4 0 2 3 Cliff Lazarenko 2 0 2 2 6 -4 0

Group 5 (4) Peter Evison 93.39 3 - 0 Jerry Umberger 81.06 Jerry Umberger 81.06 3 - 0 Kevin Burrows 77.04 (4) Peter Evison 97.56 3 - 0 Kevin Burrows 87.57

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (4) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Jerry Umberger 2 1 1 3 3 0 2 3 Kevin Burrows 2 0 2 0 6 -6 0

Group 6 Eric Bristow 78.63 1 - 3 (5) Rod Harrington 89.22 Eric Bristow 82.20 3 - 2 Sean Downs 79.20 (5) Rod Harrington 90.60 3 - 2 Sean Downs 83.88

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (5) Rod Harrington 2 2 0 6 3 +3 4 2 Eric Bristow 2 1 1 4 5 -1 2 3 Sean Downs 2 0 2 4 6 -2 0

Group 7 (8) John Lowe 89.94 3 - 2 Tom Kirby 87.66 Tom Kirby 88.44 3 - 1 Larry Butler 89.04 (8) John Lowe 82.86 2 - 3 Larry Butler 81.21

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Tom Kirby 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 2 (8) John Lowe 2 1 1 5 5 0 2 3 Larry Butler 2 1 1 4 5 -1 2

Group 8 (1) Dennis Priestley 95.22 3 - 2 Jocky Wilson 94.38 Jocky Wilson 77.22 1 - 3 Graeme Stoddart 78.21 (1) Dennis Priestley 86.25 3 - 0 Graeme Stoddart 85.92

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (1) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Graeme Stoddart 2 1 1 3 4 -1 2 3 Jocky Wilson 2 0 2 3 6 -3 0

Knockout Stages

	Quarter Finals [3][4]					Semi Finals					Final 2 January 1994
	Group 1 Winner	(6) Phil Taylor 90.21	4
	Group 2 Winner	(3) Bob Anderson 90.72	2
						6	Phil Taylor 91.20	5
							Steve Brown 91.20	0
	Group 3 Winner	Steve Brown 90.21	4
	Group 4 Winner	(2)Alan Warriner 88.29	3
											6	Phil Taylor 85.62	1
											1	Dennis Priestley 94.38	6
	Group 5 Winner	(4) Peter Evison 90.15	4
	Group 6 Winner	(5) Rod Harrington 89.37	1
						4	Peter Evison 82.41	3
						1	Dennis Priestley 94.38	5
	Group 7 Winner	Tom Kirby 84.03	2
	Group 8 Winner	(1) Dennis Priestley 90.93	4

Third-place play-off: Steve Brown 89.28 5 - 1 (4) Peter Evison 83.13

Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

References

1. "Flag references all rounds + seeds". Master caller. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
2. "Prize money breakdown". dartsdatabase. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
3. "Averages all rounds". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
4. "Flag Reference Quarter-finals onwards". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 December 2014.