The 1979 Embassy World Darts Championship was the second World Professional Championships. Having been held the previous year at the Heart of the Midlands Club in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, the event moved to

Jollees Cabaret Club Jollees was a live music and cabaret venue in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. The venue was re-established in March 2016, after having closed in 1992. The original venue was opened in October 1973 and was the largest capacity cabaret ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

where it was to remain until 1985. The tournament was held between 2 February and 9 February and had been expanded from 16 players to 24. The eight seeded players each received a bye into the second round. The format also changed from a straight matchplay (legs) to sets. Each set was the best of 5 legs. - For matches in the opening rounds the matches were best of three sets, - best of five for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final being best of 9 sets, split over an afternoon and evening session with the play-off for third held in between. Defending champion,

Leighton Rees Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship and was a former Wor ...

of Wales again progressed to the final where he met

John Lowe John Lowe may refer to: Sports * John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player. * John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player * John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer * John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...

in a repeat of the inaugural championship. This time, Lowe was the top seed and came out on top in the final by 5 sets to 0.

New players

With the expansion from 16 to 24 players in the finals, 11 players made their championship debuts, the most notable being John Wilson of Scotland, - no doubt to be soon known as Jocky. Wilson's performances over 1978 had enabled him to be seeded 8th for the tournament, and thus ensure a place in round 2 straight away.

Seeds

Wilson entering the seeds meant he would replace Rab Smith, the Scot having to play the first round before moving into the later stages. England's John Lowe had risen to be number 1 seed, with Eric Bristow dropping to 2nd seed after his first round defeat a year earlier. Leighton Rees remained seeded 3, with Tony Brown moving up to number 4. The Semi-Finalist from 1978 Nicky Virachkul was seeded 5th with the other Last 4-man, Stefan Lord seeded 6th. Alan Evans was the 7th seed along with Wilson as 8th. #

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 ...

# Tony Brown #

Nicky Virachkul Nicholas "Nick" Virachkul (June 3, 1948 – April 17, 1999) was an American professional darts player who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Personal life Nicky Virachkul was born in Thailand, studied in the United States and became a naturalized ...

# Stefan Lord #

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 ...

Jocky Wilson John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again ...

First round - Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February

The second Embassy World Championship opened up with the first surprise,

Doug McCarthy Douglas "Doug" McCarthy is an English former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation events in the 1970s and 1980s. Career McCarthy played in four BDO World Darts Championships. In 1979, he beat Charlie Ellix in ...

's 2–1 win over

Charlie Ellix Charlie Ellix (18 October 1941 – 18 March 2002) was an English professional darts player. Career Ellix reached the final in the 1976 Indoor League, losing to Leighton Rees. He then reached the quarter finals of the 1977 Winmau World Masters ...

. - McCarthy would meet Lowe in the last 16 later on in the event. Jim McQuillian, following Paddy Clifford as only the second Irishman to pay in the World Championship, looked comfortable in his 2–0 win over Murray Smith.

Prize money

Total Prize fund was £15,000 (plus a £12,000 bonus for a

nine-dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...

- not won) *Champion £4,500 *Runner-up £2,000 *Third Place £1,500 *Fourth Place £1,000 *Quarter finalists £500 *2nd round losers £300 *1st round losers £200

Results

won the final 5-0 (3-1, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2, 3-0) and thus became the 1979 BDO World Darts Champion. Illness prevented

from playing the third-place match, so Tony Brown took third place by default.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 Bdo World Darts Championship BDO World Darts Championships BDO World Darts 1979 Bdo World Darts Championship, 1979

Bdo World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champio ...

BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champio ...