2001 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2001 Skol World Darts Championship was held between December 28, 2000–January 3, 2001 at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet.
The tournament saw a notable first as Gayl King of Canada became the first woman to appear in the men's World Championship, having been given a wild card by organisers the Professional Darts Corporation. It was seen as a publicity stunt by the PDC to raise the profile of the game and also came in the year that rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation had announced that they were starting a Women's World Championship to run alongside the men's championship at Lakeside.
Five-time former World Champion, Eric Bristow missed his first World Championship for 23 years, having played each year since the World Championship began in 1978. John Lowe was now the only player with a 100% appearance record. Peter Manley became the first top seed to go out in the first round since the PDC event began in 1994.
The final was between John Part and Phil Taylor. Part won the BDO World Championship in 1994. Part had won only two matches in his previous three attempts in the PDC World Darts Championship, he defeated Colin Lloyd, Dennis Smith, Alan Warriner and Rod Harrington to reach the final.
Taylor defeated Nigel Justice, Les Fitton, Keith Deller and Dave Askew to reach the final. Taylor never lost a single set from the quarterfinals on and lost just three legs during the final.
The final was won 7-0 by Phil Taylor. This was Taylor's seventh consecutive World title and his ninth in total.
Read more about 2001 PDC World Darts Championship: Results
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