1994 BDO World Darts Championship
The 1994 Embassy World Darts Championship was held following 2 years of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 Championships, several players decided it was time to part company with the British Darts Organisation and form their own organisation, known as the World Darts Council. By the start of this tournament, the WDC had already held their own 1994 World Championship, with Dennis Priestley beating Phil Taylor in the final.
Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner, Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Cliff Lazarenko, Kevin Spiolek, Jamie Harvey, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns were the players who formed the WDC and therefore did not participate at these 1994 Championships. Mike Gregory and Chris Johns eventually decided to stay with the BDO - but were unable to play in 1994 as their change of heart came too late for them to be able to qualify.
Of the 32 players who took part in the 1994 Embassy World Championship, 17 were world championship debutants, with many having never appeared in front of TV cameras before, including eventual champion, John Part. Of the remaining 15 players in the tournament, only 8 of those had appeared in the 1993 Embassy World Championship, with the other 7 having previously appeared in the Embassy World Championship in years before 1993.
In an astonishing first round, 7 out of the 8 seeded players were knocked out - including the new BDO World Number One, Steve Beaton who had risen to the top of the rankings as a result of the defecting players. Only number 3 seed, Roland Scholten managed to win his first round match - although he went out in round 2.
As a result, players previously unheard of had a chance to make a name for themselves and Canada's John Part dropped only one set en route to the Championship. He beat Ronnie Baxter, Paul Lim, Steve McCollum and Ronnie Sharp on the way to final. Part then overwhelmed Bobby George 6-0 in the final.
George, despite struggling with back problems, had reached his first final in 14 years. His semi-final against Sweden's Magnus Caris saw him comeback from 4 sets to 2 down, winning 9 successive legs to secure his place in the final. In the final, George hit less than 10% of his checkouts (5 from 49 attempts ) and that was the difference as Part became the first player from outside the United Kingdom to win the World Championship.
Read more about 1994 BDO World Darts Championship: Prize Money, Seeds, The Results
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