Chris Johns is a Welsh former professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player. He played county darts for

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

and participated in the

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 ...

on five occasions. He is best remembered as a controversial figure in an acrimonious split in the game between 1992 and 1994.

Career

Johns made his debut at the 1988 Embassy World Championship, reaching the second round. He made four further appearances at the championships, losing in the first round in 1989, 1991, and 1993, and in the second round in 1992. His only two wins at Lakeside were against

Mike Gregory Michael Keith Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for Warrington from 1982 to 1994, and won 20 caps fo ...

in 1988 and

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

in 1992. He had only moderate success in

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) Open tournaments. As early as 1986, he reached the semi-finals of the

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

– beating

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 last 16, before falling to Bob Anderson in the last four. He later reached the semi-finals of the Swiss Open in 1991, and of the Denmark Open in the same year. He was one of the 16 players who decided to leave the BDO and form a new organisation – the World Darts Council (WDC), which later became 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 World ...

(PDC). Following the 1993 Embassy World Championship, the BDO suspended the "rebel" players from all tournaments. This also meant that their exhibition work would be restricted – which may have contributed to Johns having a change of heart, and deciding to return to the BDO. Mike Gregory followed suit shortly afterwards; both players were ostracised by the remaining 14 WDC players, who felt they had been let down. Following the split, Johns never made another appearance at the BDO World Championship, and never featured in the later rounds of any BDO Open events again.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1988: Second round (lost to

Rick Ney Richard "Rick" Ney (May 21, 1961 – April 9, 2017) was an American professional darts player who has competed members in the 1980s and 1990s. Career Ney reached the final of the prestigious News of the World Darts Championship in 1986 losing ...

2–3) (sets) * 1989: First round (lost to

Paul Lim Paul Lim Leong Hwa (born 25 January 1954) is a Singaporean professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect nine-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round ...

0–3) * 1991: First round (lost to

Tony Payne Thomas Anthony Payne (born April 10, 1955) is an American former professional darts player. He is also well known for publishing an article in the ''Bulls Eye News'' magazine famously titled "Thermonuclear Cricket". Career Payne played in s ...

1–3) * 1992: Second round (lost to

0–3) * 1993: First round (lost 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 ...

1–3)

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
Living people Welsh darts players British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation founding players Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-darts-bio-stub