1996 WDC World Darts Championship

Vernons World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Venue	Circus Tavern
Location	Purfleet, Essex
Country	England
Organisation(s)	PDC (WDC)
Format	Sets Final – best of 11
Prize fund	£61,000
Winners share	£14,000
High checkout	170 Phil Taylor 170 Kevin Spiolek
Champion(s)
Phil Taylor
«1995 1997»

The 1996 Vernons World Darts Championships was the third year that the Professional Darts Corporation (then known as the World Darts Council) held their own World Championships following an acrimonious split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992/93. The tournament had its third sponsor in as many years, with Vernons taking over from Proton Cars.

Although he hadn't officially announced his retirement, Jocky Wilson had played his last competitive televised match at the World Matchplay in Blackpool in the summer of 1995, so missed out on the World Championship for the first time since the 1979 Embassy Championship. Nigel Justice and Steve Raw were the two English players making their WDC World Championship debuts.

Phil Taylor gained revenge for his 1994 final defeat against Dennis Priestley to retain his title - his fourth overall World Championship victory.

Seeds

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

Prize money

The prize fund was £61,000.

Champion: £14,000

Runner-Up: £7,000

Semi-Finalists (2): £4,000

Quarter-Finalists (4): £2,500

Group RU (8): £1,500

Group 3rd (8): £1,250

Results

1st Round - Group Stages

Group 1 Gerald Verrier (78.30) 1 - 3 (7) Bob Anderson (83.97) Gerald Verrier (81.03) 2 - 3 Jamie Harvey (82.71) (7) Bob Anderson (83.82) 2 - 3 Jamie Harvey (83.34)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Jamie Harvey 2 2 0 6 4 +2 4 2 (7) Bob Anderson 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 3 Gerald Verrier 2 0 2 3 6 -3 0

Group 2 Larry Butler (78.63) 3 - 2 Nigel Justice (79.93) (2) Rod Harrington (77.10) 3 - 0 Nigel Justice (70.89) Larry Butler (79.23) 3 - 2 Rod Harrington (81.69)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Larry Butler 2 2 0 6 4 +2 4 2 (2) Rod Harrington 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 3 Nigel Justice 2 0 2 2 6 -4 0

Group 3 Eric Bristow (84.24) 0 - 3 (3) Dennis Priestley (92.85) Eric Bristow (81.33) 3 - 2 Richie Gardner (84.63) Richie Gardner (66.15) 0 - 3 (3) Dennis Priestley (86.16)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (3) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Eric Bristow 2 1 1 3 5 -2 2 3 Richie Gardner 2 0 2 2 6 -4 0

Group 4 (6) Alan Warriner (82.47) 3 - 2 Graeme Stoddart (80.40) Graeme Stoddart (80.34) 2 - 3 Steve Brown (81.33) (6) Alan Warriner (96.09) 3 - 0 Steve Brown (87.09)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (6) Alan Warriner 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Steve Brown 2 1 1 3 5 -2 2 3 Graeme Stoddart 2 0 2 4 6 -2 0

Group 5 (5) Peter Evison (82.53) 3 - 0 Gary Mawson (?) Steve Raw (78.45) 3 - 0 Gary Mawson (?) (5) Peter Evison (86.10) 3 - 2 Steve Raw (85.44)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (5) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Steve Raw 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 3 Gary Mawson 2 0 2 0 6 -6 0

Group 6 (4) John Lowe (84.42) 3 - 0 Dennis Smith (83.43) Dennis Smith (76.98) 1 - 3 Tom Kirby (83.10) (4) John Lowe (91.50) 3 - 2 Tom Kirby (86.49)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (4) John Lowe 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Tom Kirby 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 3 Dennis Smith 2 0 2 1 6 -5 0

Group 7 Sean Downs (?) 3 - 0 (8) Kevin Spiolek (79.23) Keith Deller (82.35) 3 - 2 (8) Kevin Spiolek (80.23) Sean Downs (?) 1 - 3 Keith Deller (78.90)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Keith Deller 2 2 0 6 3 +3 4 2 Sean Downs 2 1 1 4 3 +1 2 3 (8) Kevin Spiolek 2 0 2 2 6 -4 0

Group 8 (1) Phil Taylor (100.95) 3 - 0 Shayne Burgess (85.41) Shayne Burgess (92.07) 3 - 1 Cliff Lazarenko (94.03) (1) Phil Taylor (91.77) 3 - 0 Cliff Lazarenko (82.98)

Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (1) Phil Taylor 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Shayne Burgess 2 1 0 3 4 -1 2 3 Cliff Lazarenko 2 0 2 1 6 -5 0

Knockout Stages

	Quarter Finals					Semi Finals					Final
	Group 1 Winner	Jamie Harvey 89.44	4
	Group 2 Winner	Larry Butler 87.56	0
							Jamie Harvey 90.48	1
						3	Dennis Priestley 94.39	5
	Group 3 Winner	(3) Dennis Priestley 92.75	4
	Group 4 Winner	(6) Alan Warriner 90.61	1
											3	Dennis Priestley 101.48	4
											1	Phil Taylor 98.52	6
	Group 5 Winner	(5) Peter Evison 94.66	2
	Group 6 Winner	(4) John Lowe 94.85	4
						4	John Lowe 86.58	1
						1	Phil Taylor 93.14	5
	Group 7 Winner	Keith Deller 86.29	0
	Group 8 Winner	(1) Phil Taylor 94.22	4