The 1981 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fourth year that the

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 ...

had staged a world championship. The field was expanded from 24 to 32 players, the format which would remain for many years. For the third successive year the tournament was staged at

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 ...

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 ...

was back to defend his title and would face

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 ...

the champion of two years previously in the final. The final was the best of nine sets, but there was a break scheduled after three sets where the third-fourth place play-off match would be held. Lowe ran away with the first two sets without dropping a leg and took the first leg in the third set before Bristow finally got onto the scoreboard. The "Crafty Cockney" held on to take that third set to go into the break just one set behind. As in the previous year's final, Bristow edged ahead to lead 4–3 in sets and Lowe (as

Bobby George Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King ...

did in 1980) had darts to take the match into a final set. However Lowe missed three attempts at double ten and Bristow took out double four to win the title for the second year running.

Seeds

Prize money

The prize fund was £22,800. :Champion: £5,500 :Runner-Up: £2,500 :3rd Place: £600 :Semi-Finalists (2): £1,200 :Quarter-Finalists (4): £750 :Last 16 (8): £500 :Last 32 (16): £300 There was also a 9 Dart Checkout prize of £52,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £500.

Results

Preliminary round

A best of three sets preliminary round match took place between Steve Brennan and

Wayne Lock Wayne Locke is a Welsh former professional darts player. Darts career 1981 On 14 January 1981, Lock played in the BDO World Darts Championship, losing in the first round to Rab Smith winning a total of £300. Later in the year on 23 August, L ...

, as they were tied on the rankings.

Last 32

Third place match ''(best of 3 sets)''

Cliff Lazarenko Cliff Lazarenko (born 16 March 1952) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height (193 cm / 6'4") and weight (over 127 kg at his peak), he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage ...

(5) 75.06 2– 1 Tony Brown (2) 75.42

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981 Bdo World Darts Championship BDO World Darts Championships BDO World Darts 1981 Bdo World Darts Championship, 1981

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 ...