The 1994 Skol World Darts Championship was held following 18 months of controversy within the sport of

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

. 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 The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

(PDC). The WDC decided to introduce their own separate World Championship, with the inaugural tournament being staged before the BDO version. The 1994 Championship started on Boxing Day 1993, and finished on 2 January 1994. This started a tradition for the WDC/PDC World Championship to kick off before the new calendar year begins. The tournament was staged at the

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 Champion ...

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater Lon ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

. 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 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 ...

in the 1991 World Championship. 1994 was the last time that Phil Taylor would fail to win the World Championship until 2003.

The 16 Defectors

Originally 16 players "defected" from the BDO to form the WDC/PDC – Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley,

Rod Harrington Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and former commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed s ...

Alan Warriner Alan Warriner-Little (born Warriner; 24 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Iceman, he is a former World Grand Prix champion and a former runner-up at the World Professional Darts Championship. Darts care ...

, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner,

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 agai ...

Keith Deller Keith Kelvin Deller (born 24 December 1959) is an English former professional darts player best known for winning the 1983 BDO World Darts Championship and Unipart British Professional Championship in 1987. He was the first qualifier ever to ...

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 ...

, Bob Anderson,

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 ...

, Kevin Spiolek,

Jamie Harvey Jamie Harvey (born 15 August 1955) is a Scottish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. He used the nickname Bravedart for his matches – a play ...

, 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 Graeme Stoddart (born 30 July 1959 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a former English– Dutch professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname was Shark. Career Stoddart represented Holland in the 1984 Eu ...

and Kevin Burrows and the field was brought up to 24 by adding eight players who are Larry Butler,

Sean Downs Sean Downs (born February 6 1967) is an American former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Originally from Oregon, Downs first competed in the BDO World Darts Championship in 1993, wher ...

Gerald Verrier Gerald Verrier (born December 5, 1958) is an American former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career Verrier was brought in to make up the numbers in the inaugural 1994 WDC World Darts ...

Jerry Umberger Jerry Umberger (born 21 January 1942) is a former American professional darts player, who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Tucker. Career From Pennsylvania, Umberger first competed in the BDO World Darts C ...

, Jim Watkins, Dave Kelly and Steve Brown from North America and Tom Kirby of Ireland.

The Tournament and 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.

Seeds

# Dennis Priestley #

# Bob Anderson # Peter Evison #

# Phil Taylor # Kevin Spiolek #

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.

Tournament review

Group stage

The majority of the major players came through the group stage without trouble. Phil Taylor eased past

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

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

and Kevin Spiolek.

would go through to meet him after a couple of 3–1 wins against Richie Gardner and

. Peter Evison showed no signs of discomfort, with consecutive 3–0 wins over

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.

also went through after winning group 6, though not without difficulty. After a 3–1 win over five time World Champion,

, he narrowly defeated

by 3 sets to 2 to go through to the last 8. Group 7 would see three-time champion

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

3–2 and

3–0 to book a quarter-final place.

Quarter-finals

In a battle of two former world champions, Phil Taylor defeated Bob Anderson 4–2. Steve Brown upset the odds again to defeat 1993 runner-up

4–3 and book a meeting with Taylor in the semi-finals. Peter Evison continued his good form, recording another 90-plus three-dart average while beating

4–1, while Dennis Priestley ended the run of Tom Kirby with a 4–2 win.

Semi-finals and third-place play-off

Brown's dream run finally ended in the semi-finals, as Taylor beat him 5–0 to reach his third world final. The scoreline seemed harsh on Brown, however, as both players finished with the same three-dart average (91.20). In the other semi-final, Priestley beat Evison 5–3, thus reaching his second world final. Brown capped off his impressive run in fine style, beating Evison 5–1 in the third-place play-off.

Final

The final turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Taylor rarely giving Priestley any trouble at all. Priestley raced into a 5–0 lead, and eventually won 6–1 to take his second world title.

Results