2001 PDC World Darts Championship
Encyclopedia
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.
1995 BDO World Champion Richie Burnett kicked off his campaign with a 3-0 whitewash of the American Steve Brown. Burnett had 2 12-dart legs and finished with an average of 103. Alex Roy, also went through to Round 2 with a 3-2 win against Steve Raw, who had recovered from 2-0 down to level the scores.
However a shock followed, Peter Manley the number 1 seed was eliminated in the first round by world no. 21 Jamie Harvey from Scotland. Manley levelled at two sets apiece after trailing 2-0. However, Harvey won set five by 3 legs to 1 to book a slot in Round Two. Another shock was to follow, Dennis Priestley, 2000 runner-up and seeded fifth, went out to Keith Deller, the 1983 World Champion 3-2 in a final set that went 6-4 to Deller. Les Fitton knocked out Denis Ovens 3-1, whilst three time World Champion John Lowe won 3-1 against Gary Spedding who was making his first appearance in the World Darts Championship.
Phil Taylor won 3-0 versus Nigel Justice, winning with a 151 checkout against the Englishman.
Then came the big match of the round, Graeme Stoddart against Gayl King. King started well taking a 1-0 lead against Stoddart who then recovered to win 3-1 and then called for a championship to be held for women only and one for men only. (A BDO women's one takes place whilst at the Lakeside during the Worlds week.) Rod Harrington then kicked off his campaign to reach a second final at the Circus with a 3-1 win over 1988 champion Bob Anderson.
In other games, John Part began his tournament with a 3-0 win over Colin Lloyd. Dennis Smith would be his round 2 opponent after Smith eliminated former World number 2 Peter Evison in the first round by 3-0. Then another seed went out, Shayne Burgess was defeated 3-0 by Roland Scholten. Scholten being very impressive in the three sets that were played, One leg being won in 11 darts.
7th Seed John Part, also went through but could have walked off 10–15 minutes earlier a 3-1 winner over Dennis Smith. In the end, Part won 3-1 in the fourth to win the match by 3 sets to 2. Roland Scholten completed a second consecutive 3-0 win to become the only man through with a 6-0 record. Today's victim being Cliff Lazarenko. In a battle of two former world champions. Keith Deller taking a second 3-2 win to end the challenge of Wales' Richie Burnett. Rod Harrington also went through, the home man winning 3-0 against Graeme Stoddart.
Jamie Harvey continued his run at the Circus, defeating former champion John Lowe by 3-0.
Phil Taylor continued his march to his 9th crown with a 4-0 whitewash of 1983 world champion Keith Deller, who played well short of his best. Taylor was now the big favourite to win his 9th world title. John Part caused a surprise by knocking out 2nd seed Alan Warriner by a very easy 4-1. Part continuing his run towards a second world title. Jamie Harvey's great run came to an end, losing 4-0 to Dave Askew, winning just 2 out of 14 legs that were played.
Rod Harrington delighted the home fans by eliminating Roland Scholten 4-2 in a very tough game to call. He will now face John Part for a place in a second World final.
Part seeded 7, started off brilliantly, taking a 5-2 lead against the 6th seeded Harrington. Then Harrington turned it around to level up at 5 all and delight the locals. The final set began by Part taking a 122 checkout to go one nil up. Two legs later and Part misses double 16 to go through. Harrington takes double top to force a 2 clear leg situation. Part winning both with an average checkout of 123.5.
Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. However, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship....
, Purfleet
Purfleet
Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex, England. It is situated south of the A13 road on the River Thames and within the easterly bounds of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater London boundary. It was within the traditional Church of England parish of West Thurrock...
.
The tournament saw a notable first as Gayl King of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
became the first woman to appear in the men's World Championship, having been given a wild card
Wild card (sports)
The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...
by organisers the Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
. 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
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 announced that they were starting a Women's World Championship to run alongside the men's championship at Lakeside
Lakeside Leisure Complex
The Lakeside Leisure Complex is a hotel, entertainment and leisure complex in Frimley Green near Camberley in Surrey. It is most famous as being the venue of the BDO World Darts Championship.-History:...
.
Five-time former World Champion, 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 :...
missed his first World Championship for 23 years, having played each year since the World Championship began in 1978. 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 -...
was now the only player with a 100% appearance record. Peter Manley
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley is an English professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed One Dart as he is known for hitting doubles with his first dart...
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
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
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.
Day One
In one of the first games of the tournament, the number eight seed, Dave Askew came within a dart of a nine dart finish. He missed out on £100,000. In the end, his match with Mick Manning (World no. 10) went to a sudden death leg in the fifth and final set. Askew won it to take the first round match by 3 sets to 2.1995 BDO World Champion Richie Burnett kicked off his campaign with a 3-0 whitewash of the American Steve Brown. Burnett had 2 12-dart legs and finished with an average of 103. Alex Roy, also went through to Round 2 with a 3-2 win against Steve Raw, who had recovered from 2-0 down to level the scores.
However a shock followed, Peter Manley the number 1 seed was eliminated in the first round by world no. 21 Jamie Harvey from Scotland. Manley levelled at two sets apiece after trailing 2-0. However, Harvey won set five by 3 legs to 1 to book a slot in Round Two. Another shock was to follow, Dennis Priestley, 2000 runner-up and seeded fifth, went out to Keith Deller, the 1983 World Champion 3-2 in a final set that went 6-4 to Deller. Les Fitton knocked out Denis Ovens 3-1, whilst three time World Champion John Lowe won 3-1 against Gary Spedding who was making his first appearance in the World Darts Championship.
Phil Taylor won 3-0 versus Nigel Justice, winning with a 151 checkout against the Englishman.
Day Two
Friday began with the Number 2 seed and 1993 world finalist Alan Warriner defeating Reg Harding by 3 sets to nil. Despite struggling to take the first set against a player with two broken ribs. Cliff Lazarenko started off his world title campaign with a 3-0 win over Canadian Scott Cummings. Paul Lim went through to face Warriner in the second round after defeating Dan Lauby 3-1.Then came the big match of the round, Graeme Stoddart against Gayl King. King started well taking a 1-0 lead against Stoddart who then recovered to win 3-1 and then called for a championship to be held for women only and one for men only. (A BDO women's one takes place whilst at the Lakeside during the Worlds week.) Rod Harrington then kicked off his campaign to reach a second final at the Circus with a 3-1 win over 1988 champion Bob Anderson.
In other games, John Part began his tournament with a 3-0 win over Colin Lloyd. Dennis Smith would be his round 2 opponent after Smith eliminated former World number 2 Peter Evison in the first round by 3-0. Then another seed went out, Shayne Burgess was defeated 3-0 by Roland Scholten. Scholten being very impressive in the three sets that were played, One leg being won in 11 darts.
Day Three
Saturday saw all eight second round matches played, Still over the best of 5 sets. Alan Warriner booked his place in the quarter-finals with a hardfought 3-2 win over Paul Lim, who had chances aplenty to send the 2nd seed for the championships out of the tournament. Warriner took the fifth set by five legs to three. Phil Taylor also struggled into the quarter-finals, Les Fitton taking a 1 set to 0 lead in their second round match. Taylor then recovered to take the match by 3 sets to 1 and extended his winning streak on stage at the Circus to 32 matches and 36 wins from 37 in total; His 94 final loss 6-1 v Dennis Priestley the only loss. Dave Askew nearly went out to Alex Roy, the number 8 seed winning 6 legs in a row to triumph 3-2 over Roy.7th Seed John Part, also went through but could have walked off 10–15 minutes earlier a 3-1 winner over Dennis Smith. In the end, Part won 3-1 in the fourth to win the match by 3 sets to 2. Roland Scholten completed a second consecutive 3-0 win to become the only man through with a 6-0 record. Today's victim being Cliff Lazarenko. In a battle of two former world champions. Keith Deller taking a second 3-2 win to end the challenge of Wales' Richie Burnett. Rod Harrington also went through, the home man winning 3-0 against Graeme Stoddart.
Jamie Harvey continued his run at the Circus, defeating former champion John Lowe by 3-0.
Day Five
After a day off for New Year's Eve, The World Darts Championships started 2001 at the quarter-final stage. Matches now had been extended to the best of 7 sets (first to 4) for the quarter-finals and this is where the potential champions begin to show their proper darts.Phil Taylor continued his march to his 9th crown with a 4-0 whitewash of 1983 world champion Keith Deller, who played well short of his best. Taylor was now the big favourite to win his 9th world title. John Part caused a surprise by knocking out 2nd seed Alan Warriner by a very easy 4-1. Part continuing his run towards a second world title. Jamie Harvey's great run came to an end, losing 4-0 to Dave Askew, winning just 2 out of 14 legs that were played.
Rod Harrington delighted the home fans by eliminating Roland Scholten 4-2 in a very tough game to call. He will now face John Part for a place in a second World final.
Day Six
Semi-Finals. Phil Taylor started off where he left off from last night and took his place in a 10th world final by ending the brilliant run of Dave Askew the 8th seed in a 6-0 whitewash. Then the second semi brought drama.Part seeded 7, started off brilliantly, taking a 5-2 lead against the 6th seeded Harrington. Then Harrington turned it around to level up at 5 all and delight the locals. The final set began by Part taking a 122 checkout to go one nil up. Two legs later and Part misses double 16 to go through. Harrington takes double top to force a 2 clear leg situation. Part winning both with an average checkout of 123.5.