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WDC UK Matchplay

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UK Matchplay
SportDarts
Founded1993 (1993)
Folded1996
CountryEngland
VenuesChesterfield (1993)
Sheffield (1994)
Doncaster (1995-96)
Last champion
England Phil Taylor
(1996)
Tournament formatLegs
Quadro board

The WDC UK Matchplay was a professional darts tournament held from 1993 to 1996.[1] Broadcast on ITV's Yorkshire Television and later on Sky Sports, it was one of the inaugural series of events established by the then-World Darts Council, along with the Lada UK Masters and Samson Darts Classic.[2] These events, plus the WDC's World Championship and World Matchplay tournaments from 1994, became a big part of the BDO's decision to ban the WDC's 16 players from darts competitions worldwide, and began a four-year legal battle known as the split in darts.[3]

The event initially featured the top 15 WDC 'rebel' players, along with the winner of an open qualifier, but was later changed to feature fourteen automatic players and two qualifiers.[4][5][6][7]

As with the UK Masters (which had used the equal darts format), the WDC sought to differentiate the tournament from the others on their calendar. To do this, they introduced the Harrows "Quadro 240" dartboard, which had an extra scoring ring halfway between the treble ring and the bullseye that was worth quadruple points. Thus, the maximum number of points that could be scored in a single turn was 240, and the highest possible checkout was 210.[8] This was designed to provide an innovation not previously seen in televised darts, and attracted mixed reviews in the press.[9]

Several players, including Jocky Wilson, Phil Taylor, Shayne Burgess, Bob Anderson and Peter Evison, scored a 240 maximum in the event.[10][8][11] Bob Anderson checked out a 180 outshot in the 1994 final and Phil Taylor hit an outshot of 188 in the 1996 final.[8] The tournament also carried a £100,000 bonus prize for hitting a record seven-dart finish.[12] No one achieved this,[13] though John Lowe came within one dart of a nine-dart finish in the 1993 event.

Despite being listed in at least one national newspaper as part of the WDC/PDC calendar for 1997, the event was discontinued following the 1996 iteration.[14]

Finals

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Year Winner Score Runner up Total prize fund Winner's share Venue Source
1993 England Dennis Priestley 6–1 (legs) Scotland Jocky Wilson £17,000 £5,000 Aquarius Club, Chesterfield [15]
1994 England Dennis Priestley 7–5 England Bob Anderson £23,000 £5,000 Utilita Arena, Sheffield [16]
1995 England Alan Warriner 6–4 England Rod Harrington £23,000 £5,000 The Dome, Doncaster [17]
1996 England Phil Taylor 6–2 England Dennis Priestley £23,000 £5,000 The Dome, Doncaster [18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Nigel Boeg (2021). PDC Darts (2nd ed.). BookRix. ISBN 9783748770367.
  2. ^ "25 Years On - The WDC's First Event". pdc.tv. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018.
  3. ^ "History of Darts". pdpa.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  4. ^ "Feb 11, 1995, page 83 - Hull Daily Mail at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  5. ^ "Feb 21, 1996, page 76 - Stockport Express at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  6. ^ "Mar 31, 1994, page 22 - Mansfield and Ashfield Recorder at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  7. ^ "Feb 13, 1996, page 30 - Evening Post at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  8. ^ a b c "The Quadro 240". patrickchaplin.com.
  9. ^ "Mar 02, 1995, page 33 - Ely Standard at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  10. ^ "Master Warriner". Hull Daily Mail. 11 March 1995.
  11. ^ "Skol title KO for Staffs pair". Sheffield Star Green 'Un. 13 March 1993.
  12. ^ "Seven-up the target for Phil". Evening Sentinel. 12 March 1993.
  13. ^ "The dartboard has had lots of variations over the years". Darts Weekly. No. 54. 13 January 2017. p. 12.
  14. ^ "Dec 29, 1996, page 40 - The Observer at Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  15. ^ "UK Matchplay 1993". Mastercaller. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  16. ^ "UK Matchplay 1994". Mastercaller. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  17. ^ "UK Matchplay 1995". Mastercaller. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  18. ^ "UK Matchplay 1996". Mastercaller. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
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