Bdo world darts championship

BDO World Darts Championship: Past Winners, Stats & History




The BDO World Darts Championship was the pinnacle event on the British Darts Organisation’s tour and had been running since 1978, making it one of the oldest darts tournaments. Winning the World Championship was a feat that immortalised players, and the crowds that attended made it the most prestigious event on the BDO. The BDO had been able to develop the tournament into more than just a British institution, with fans from across the globe making the trip to the UK in the New Year.

The tournament was played for the last time in 2020 at the Indigo at O2, part of the O2 Arena complex in London. Organisers took the decision to move here from the iconic Lakeside Country Club to try to improve attendances, with the new location providing better transport links and accessibility. The move backfired with just a fraction of tickets sold, contributing to the eventual collapse of the BDO. This left the PDC World Championship as the only darts world championship.


The PDC World Darts Championship

Between 1994 and 2020 there were two World Championships in the darts. One was run by the British Darts Organisation (


Darts World Champions



 


PDC / WDF / BDO and WDDA World Champions


 


The World Dart Champions of the past and present. For many, some of the names now might not be known, but they all form part of darts professional history. Below is a glossary of the darts world championship(s) history, the breakaway from several prominent players to form the World Darts Council, Now Professional Dart Corporation (PDC) and more.


There are two recognised World Dart Champions: the former BDO, now run by the WDF and the PDC World Champion. The first World Championship was won by Leighton Rees from Wales. Leighton beat John Lowe of England 11 legs to 7 and won £3,000. The final was played in legs, not sets as it is today. The first World Championship was held at the 'Heart of the Midlands' nightclub in Nottingham before moving to the Jollees Club Stoke-on-Trent, where it remained until 1985.

From 1986 – 2019, the World Darts finals were held at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey. In 2020, The BDO changed the venue to the iconic O2 Arena, London, which was to begin the organisation's downfall.

1992 saw several players split from the BDO and form their own darts org


The BDO World Championship was played from 1978 to 2020 and was till the split in darts the only darts World Championship.
It was always played at the beginning of January so that now the early rounds overlap with the final days of the PDC World Championship.

Since 1985 it is hold in the Lakeside County Club in Frimley Green in Surrey and when Embassy stopped to sponsor the World Championship in 2003 the Lakeside Country Club took over the sponsoring. So one often hears "Embassy" for the early days of the tournament while now it is called "Lakeside".

From the beginning the tournament was televised by the BBC on terrestrial TV. Betweeen 1988 and 2001 it was the only dart tournament on TV but the BBC didn´t start to televise it complete since 2005. Often one hears the quality of the transmission is not as good as that from Sky Sports. But the BDO World Championship nevertheless has much more TV spectaors then the PDC World Championship. Parts of the tournament are televised in other European countries by Eurosport.
Till today many people think of the BDO World Championship as the "real" World Championship and many of those players - including all World Champions to this

BDO world darts championships failing to find their target


On Thursday afternoon in the Indigo at the O
2
Arena, two men appeared at the British Darts Organisation World Championship filled with enthusiasm for the day of sport ahead. Since darts is synonymous with camp, absurd outfits and alcohol-fuelled fun, both were dressed head to toe in as many French stereotypes as they knew. Matching black berets and striped red and white shirts complemented their outfits with necklaces made of onions or garlic strung across their necks. They cheered passionately for each competitor and waited for others to follow their lead. Not many did.

“It’s a bit disappointing,” said Dean, wearer of the garlic necklace, sighing as he gestured towards the room of a few hundred fans. “There’s not many people. The atmosphere is a bit flat, and we’re the only ones in costume. This could be good if there were more people. I’m surprised there are not more people because it’s in London.”

This has been the story of the BDO worlds, a sporting event that appears to be collapsing in real time. A week before the tournament started, competitors received a letter stating that prize money was to be slashed by a