The 2006 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 13th World Championship organised by the
Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since it
separated from 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 ...
(BDO). It was held from 19 December 2005 to 2 January 2006 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 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 River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
.
Format and qualifiers
A record field of 64 finalists assembled to battle for
Phil Taylor's world crown. Play was not held between 22 December and
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
due to the Christmas break. Play resumed on
Boxing Day in the lead-up to the final. A day's break was also held on New Year's Eve for the New Year. Record prize money of £100,000 for the winner was on offer.
Despite the record field, there was a notable absentee.
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 ...
's world ranking had fallen to a level which meant he was forced to qualify for the event – which he failed to do for the first time in his career. His run of 28 successive appearances (including the
BDO World Championship) had come to an end. He was the last player to have appeared in a world championship each year since it began in 1978.
Bob Anderson, who made his debut in 1984, now had the longest unbroken run – making his 23rd consecutive appearance for these championships.
A major shock came in the first round when world number one and top seed
Colin Lloyd lost to Gary Welding – it was only the second time in the history of the PDC World Championship that the top seed fell in the first round (Peter Manley being the first in 2001). Welding, who had recovered from two sets down in his best-of-five-sets match against Lloyd, went on to reach the quarter-finals.
Phil Taylor became World Champion for the 13th time, this being his 11th PDC success. His toughest battle en route to the championship was a tight semi-final against
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 ...
which he managed to win by 6 sets to 5. The final was a more one-sided affair as Taylor overcame
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twic ...
7–0. It was Manley's third final defeat against Taylor and the second time he was whitewashed, mirroring the result of the
2002 final.
Order of Merit
Order of Merit
PDPA Qualifiers
#
Andy Smith ''(Third round)''
#
Steve Hine ''(First round)''
#
Steve Alker
Steve "Snakeman" Alker (born 14 February 1964) is a Welsh retired professional darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation and Professional Darts Corporation events.
Career
Alker won the 1998 Welsh Open, beating Colin Monk in the f ...
''(Third round)''
#
David Platt
David Andrew Platt (born 10 June 1966) is an English former professional football coach and player, who played as a midfielder.
Born in Chadderton, Lancashire, Platt began his career as an apprentice at Manchester United before moving to Crewe ...
''(First round)''
#
Jimmy Mann ''(First round)''
#
Geoff Wylie
Geoffrey "Geoff" Wylie (born 23 September 1956 from Ballymena) is a retired Northern Ireland, Northern Irish professional darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation events.
Darts career
Wylie played in three stages o ...
''(First round)''
#
Wayne Jones ''(Semi-finals)''
#
Dave Whitcombe
David Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals between 1980 and 1992.
Biography
Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World M ...
''(First round)''
#
Gary Welding ''(Quarter-finals)''
#
Jason Clark ''(Second round)''
#
Alan Tabern
"The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Darts career
A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...
''(Second round)''
#
Dale Newton ''(First round)''
#
Kevin Spiolek
Kevin Spiolek (born 5 May 1962 in Cambridge) is a retired English professional darts player who played during the 1980s and 1990s. He made a brief return to form in 2006, when qualifying to play in the PDC World Darts Championship.
Career
His ...
''(First round)''
#
Mark Salmon ''(First round)''
#
Dave Honey ''(First round)''
#
Andy Hamilton
Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor.
Early life and education
Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...
''(Third round)''
International Qualifiers
*
John Kuczynski ''(Third round)''
*
Darin Young Darin may refer to
Places
*Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
*Darin, Yazd, a villa ...
''(First round)''
*
Ray Carver ''(Second round)''
*
Ken Woods ''(First round)''
*
Gerry Convery
Gerald "Gerry" Johnny Convery (born September 27, 1955) is a former Northern Irish born Canadian professional darts player.
Darts career
From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Convery played in the 2001 Winmau World Masters, where he lost in the Last 192 st ...
''(Second round)''
*
Brian Roach ''(First round)''
*
Warren Parry
Warren "Wazza" Parry (born 9 January 1964) is a New Zealand professional darts player who played in the World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Parry is widely considered the greatest New Zealand player of all time.
Career
Parry reached the final o ...
''(First round)''
*
John MaGowan
Johnny "John" Magowan (born 10 June 1941 in Newtownards, County Down) is a Northern Irish former professional darts player who competed in the Professional Darts Corporation and British Darts Organisation events.
BDO career
MaGowan reached th ...
''(First round)''
*
Winston Cadogan ''(First round)''
*
Yasuhiko Matsunaga ''(First round)''
*
Chengan Liu ''(First round)''
*
Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel (born 5 January 1964) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He used the nicknames The Project and Rassel Dazzle for his matches.
Career
He began his darts career competing on the BDO circuit in 2002, and reached the ...
''(Second round)''
*
Erwin Extercatte
Erwin Extercatte (born 16 April 1981 in Delden, Overijssel) is a Dutch former darts player who competed for the Professional Darts Corporation.
Career
Extercatte showed great promise in his first two years in the PDC, winning the Open Oust Ned ...
''(Second round)''
*
Patrick Bulen ''(First round)''
*
Tomas Seyler ''(Second round)''
*
Andree Welge ''(First round)''
Prize money
Results
Representation from different countries
This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship.
References
{{2006 in PDC darts
PDC World Darts Championships
PDC World Darts Championship 2006
PDC World Darts Championship 2006
PDC World Darts Championship
PDC World Darts Championship
PDC World Darts Championship
Purfleet
Sport in Essex