Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. First opened in 1974, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship. Its capacity is 1100 seated. Darts Championships The Circus Tavern was the venue of the PDC World Darts Championships from its inauguration event in 1994, up until 2007, and broadcast on Sky Sports. Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor reached the final in all 14 of the PDC World Darts Championship tournaments that were held at the Circus Tavern, winning 11 of those 14 finals. The last World Championship match held at the Circus Tavern was the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship final, where Raymond van Barneveld came from 0–3 down in sets to defeat Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor, 7–6 in sets, after a sudden death leg. Many people consider this match to be the greatest in the history of darts. At the time of the match, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Circus Tavern - Geograph-3222467-by-David-Anstiss
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobatics, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hooping, hoopers, tightrope walkers, juggling, jugglers, magic (illusion), magicians, Ventriloquism, ventriloquists, and unicycle, unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term ''circus'' also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances dev ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder member of the World Darts Federation in 1976. It also staged a BDO World Darts Championship, World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020. In the early 1990s, a dispute between Olly Croft and the top darts players over the decline in TV coverage and sponsorship led to an acrimonious Split in darts, split in the game, with the players breaking away to form their own governing body which became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Henceforth, the BDO and PDC ran their own separate tours, each with its own world championship. The BDO suffered an increasing number of problems in its later years. Many of its top players defected to the more lucrative PDC. Irregularities at the 2019 World Masters led to the BDO being demoted to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Thornton (darts Player)
Robert "Bob" Thornton (born 17 July 1967) is a Scottish professional darts player, who is the current World Seniors champion. Thornton is a three-time major winner between the BDO and PDC, having won the World Masters in 2007, UK Open in 2012, and World Grand Prix in 2015. He is also a former finalist at the Players Championship Finals in 2009 and Grand Slam of Darts in 2013. In addition, Thornton has reached three World Championship quarter-finals across both organisations and was a participant in the Premier League in 2013, 2014 and 2016. BDO career Thornton returned to playing darts in 2002, having given up the game for two decades to raise his children. He qualified for the BDO World Championship for the first time in 2005. He beat Martin Atkins and Tony West before losing to Darryl Fitton in the quarter-finals. He then failed to qualify for the 2006 and 2007 events. Thornton's first professional title came in the Central Scotland Open in April 2007, beating Mike Veitc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2022 World Seniors Darts Championship
The 2022 World Seniors Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 JENNINGSbet World Seniors Darts Championship) was the first World Seniors Darts Championship organised by the World Seniors Darts Tour and was held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet between 3 and 6 February 2022. The event was open to players over the age of 50, and was a joint venture between MODUS Sports and Jason Francis, which organised Snooker Legends and World Seniors Championship of Snooker in 2017–18. Target Darts were announced as one of the leading sponsors for the 2022 World Seniors Darts Championship. The World Seniors Darts Championship was broadcast in United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland. Robert Thornton became the inaugural champion, defeating Martin Adams 5–1 in the final. Prize money The prize fund for the event was £72,500, with £30,000 going to the champion. Qualifiers The first player announced to take part in the event on 3 April 2021 was 16-t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andy Fordham
Andrew Fordham (2 February 1962 – 15 July 2021) was an English professional darts player, commonly known as The Viking. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship and the 1999 Winmau World Masters. Darts career Fordham made his first appearance on the stage at Lakeside in the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship and reached the semi-finals before losing to Richie Burnett. Another semi-final defeat followed in 1996, this time to Steve Beaton. On both these occasions, his victor then went on to claim the title. Second round defeats followed in 1997 (to Marshall James) and 1998 (to Raymond van Barneveld) before Fordham made it to the semi-final stage of the World Championship for third time in 1999, but was defeated by Ronnie Baxter. His 2000 campaign ended in the quarter-finals at the hands of Chris Mason and his fourth semi-final loss in 2001 was to Ted Hankey. In 2002 and 2003 he went out in the first and second rounds respectively. Fordham finally put an end to his "nea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wayne Mardle
Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil Taylor on each occasion. He was also a five-time world semi-finalist. He currently works as a pundit and commentator. He has been known as "Hawaii 501" since 2000, a play on the title of the popular television series ''Hawaii Five-O'', due to the Hawaiian shirts he started wearing in 1998 for a bet, and 501 being the start score of a leg of darts. This dress sense coupled with his crowd-pleasing onstage activity (such as dancing to the interval music) saw him become one of the most popular players on the circuit. Early life and career Mardle was born in Dagenham, East London, England. He started playing darts at the age of 11, when he practised with his dad. His first 180 came two weeks after he started playing. He soon became better t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turned full-time professional in 2001 having previously worked as a publican. Despite his Dutch nationality, Scholten speaks with a strong English accent having lived in Peterborough for several years. His considerable height and throwing technique means his darts hit the board at a considerably narrow angle. BDO career Scholten was runner-up in the 1992 Austrian Open, losing to Rod Harrington. He then won the 1993 WDF World Cup, beating Denmark's Troels Rusel in the final. Scholten made his BDO World Championship debut in 1994 where he beat Sean Palfrey in the first round and became the only seed to progress to the second round where he lost to Ronnie Sharp. He followed up with a quarter final showing in the 1994 Winmau World Masters, bea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Lowe (darts Player)
John Lowe (born 21 July 1945) is an English former professional darts player. Along with Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson, he was known for dominating darts during the 1980s. Lowe was world champion on three occasions, in 1979, 1987 and 1993. He was also a two-time winner of the Winmau World Masters and a two-time World Cup singles champion. In total, Lowe won 15 BDO and WDF majors. He held the World No. 1 ranking on four occasions. In October 1984, he became the first player to hit a televised nine-dart finish. Lowe is one of only six players to have won the World Championship three or more times, and was the first person to win it in three separate decades; along with Phil Taylor, he remains one of only two players to achieve this. Amidst growing dissatisfaction with the British Darts Organisation, Lowe was also one of 16 players who in 1993 broke away to form their own governing body, the World Darts Council (now known as the Professional Darts Corporation). Career Lowe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sky Box Office
Sky Box Office is Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, the system ran under unified Sky Box Office branding. On 4 January 2017, all Sky Cinema Box Office channels ceased broadcasting, with only Sky Sports Box Office remaining available. History Sky Box Office launched on 16 March 1996 on Sky Analogue. At the time it carried mainly sporting events, such as major boxing fights. The first of these was Frank Bruno's WBC World Heavyweight Championship defence against Mike Tyson. Initially events were ordered by telephone, either on the day of broadcast for £14.95 or in advance at a reduced price of £9.99. Ordering an event charged the viewer and then the subscriber's VideoCrypt viewing card would be activated over the air, enabling the viewing of the broadcast. The charge would be levied unless the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richie Burnett
Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Championship. Burnett is known for coming on to "Dakota" and dancing on stage. He is also known for his fiery personality, fighting with Adrian Lewis on stage during the 2012 Players Championship Finals. BDO career Burnett was born in Cwmparc, Rhondda and first came to prominence shortly after the split in the game, after the PDC and the BDO players went their separate ways. Burnett began to win many titles in the BDO in 1994, which included the Dutch Open, Welsh Open, British Matchplay and the Denmark Open. He then added one of the two BDO major titles, the Winmau World Masters beating Steve Beaton in the final. Although the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship was his debut, he had risen in the rankings to become number two seed. After de ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alan Evans
David "Alan" Evans (14 June 1949 – 12 April 1999) was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Evans was one of the early faces of television darts and had some tournament success in the 1970s, including scoring the first televised 180 in the 1973 Indoor League semi final. By the time that darts had gained major popularity in the early 1980s, Evans's form had faded and he wasn't in the limelight as much as Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jocky Wilson, all of whom found fame and success from the game. Darts career Evans was one of the first players to appear on televised darts in reaching the final of the 1972 News of the World Championship – the first event to be shown in the UK, which was broadcast on ITV. In 1973 and 1974, Evans reached the final of the darts event on Yorkshire Television's The Indoor League on ITV. Evans won the 1975 British Open, which was the first televised darts event on the BBC, and later in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eric Bristow
Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was a five-time World Champion, a five-time World Masters Champion a four-time World Cup singles champion and 2-time champion of the News of the World Darts Championship. He won 22 WDF and BDO Major titles, he won 62 individual career titles, added to 20 titles in team events, winning 82 overall. In the 1980s, Bristow's skill and personality helped turn darts into a worldwide spectator sport. In 1993, Bristow was one of sixteen top players who broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form their own organisation, which became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He retired from competitive darts in 2007 and subsequently worked as a commentator and pundit on Sky Sports darts coverage. Early career In 1957, Bristow was b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |