The 1980 Embassy World Darts Championship was the third year that the British Darts Organisation

British Darts Organisation

The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....

 had staged a world championship. Again the field was 24 players, with the top seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage. For the second successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

.

Defending champion John Lowe

John Lowe

John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...

, who had released a book The Lowe Profile just before the event suffered a surprise defeat 0-2 to Cliff Lazarenko

Cliff Lazarenko

Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...

 saying afterwards "If you miss your doubles in this one, you must expect to go out." Eric Bristow

Eric Bristow

Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...

 was then immediately installed as favourite to win the event and would meet another flamboyant character of the game in the final - Bobby George

Bobby George

Robert Francis George is an English darts player and presenter. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra...

.

George, who wasn't even invited to the qualifiers the previous year appeared in a sequined shirt and when arriving on the stage was presented with a candelabra

Candelabra

"Candelabra" is the traditional term for a set of multiple decorative candlesticks, each of which often holds a candle on each of multiple arms or branches connected to a column or pedestal...

 to complete a Liberace

Liberace

Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...

 effect. He also made the early running in the final leading 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. The first six sets all went to a deciding leg until Bristow won the seventh 3-1 to establish a 4-3 set lead. In the next set at 2-2 in legs, George had a golden opportunity to level the match and take it to a decider but bust his score and nonchalantly threw his third dart into the board before putting his darts into his top pocket in anticipation of Bristow checking out to win the title. Bristow did so.

The results

THIRD PLACE MATCH (Best of 3 sets)

 Kingdom of England Tony Brown

Tony Brown (darts player)

Tony Brown is a former English professional darts player. He reached the World Professional Darts Championships semi-finals four times, losing twice to Eric Bristow and twice to John Lowe....

 beat Cliff Lazarenko

Cliff Lazarenko

Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...

 Kingdom of England 2-0