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Professional darts organisation

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The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.

The PDC developed and holds several championship competitions, including the annual PDC World Darts Championship, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open, Premier League, and Grand Slam. It also runs its own world rankings based on players' performances.

History

Darts had experienced a boom in the s. A number of tournaments were televised on BBC and ITV, which allowed the top players to make a full-time living from the sport and turn professional. However, darts steadily dropped from television schedules and by the only remaining televised event was the annual Embassy World Championship. Some of the players felt that not enough was being done by the governing body, the British Darts Organisation, to encourage new sponsors into the sport and arrange more television coverage. BDO chairman Olly Croft stated "I don't owe any dart players a living" and refused to guarantee more televised tournaments or permit the players to organise their own.

As a result, 16 professional players, including every previous BDO world champion who was still active in the game, created their own darts organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC), in January .[1] The players were led by sports promoters Tommy Cox and Dick Allix, both of whom used their own money to fund the fledgling organisation.

They wanted to appoint a PR consultant to improve the image of the game. The Embassy World Championship was the last time there was one unified world championship. The WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves during the tournament but were told to remove them by the BDO.[2] The WDC players decided that if they were not going to be recognised by the BDO they would no longer play in the Embassy tournament.

The BDO took the step of banning the rebel players from playing in county darts and even threatened to ban any player who participated in exhibition events with WDC players.[3]

Tomlin order

The WDC players took the matter to court in a dispute which accrued large and perhaps unaffordable costs during a protracted legal process. The two bodies reached an out-of-court settlement on 30 June in the form of a Tomlin order.[4]

The BDO recognised the WDC and agreed that all players shall have the freedom of choice as to which open events they wish to play in. The WDC dropped its claim to be a world governing body and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation. The PDC accepted and recognized the World Darts Federation (WDF) as the governing body for the sport of darts worldwide, and the BDO the governing body for darts in the UK. The stated purpose of the agreement was to promote the freedom of individual darts players to participate freely in open competition.

Another condition of this Tomlin order is that the top 16 players, and any Home Country players ranked between 17 and 32 in each year's BDO Championship, and the top 16 players in each year's PDC Championship, shall not be permitted to enter the other competition in the immediate following year.

Despite this condition, Raymond van Barneveld switched to the PDC within weeks of reaching the BDO final, later playing in (and winning) the PDC World Championship &#; the Tomlin order should have made him ineligible to play.[5]

There was further controversy following the BDO World Championship, when Jelle Klaasen announced that he would be switching to the PDC. As a BDO World Champion, he signed a three-year deal in to return to the Lakeside event. The BDO threatened to take legal action for breach of contract,[6] but with previous damage and costs incurred by other legal cases it has become less likely that any action will be taken in future with regards to player contracts and the Tomlin Order.[7] semi-finalist Mervyn King also moved to the PDC, seemingly against the contracted condition that semi-finalists and finalists were bound to appear the next year.

In January , the PDC invited the four semi-finalists of the BDO world championships, after obtaining a written agreement to release any player without penalty. Ted Hankey was the first player to move,[8] as well as several players (who were not guaranteed a pro tour card due to not reaching the BDO semi finals) entering the PDC qualifying school, including Dean Winstanley, Tony West, Steve West, and Stuart Kellett.

Television coverage

Following the breakaway groups first televised event in (the Lada UK Masters on Anglia Television), satellite broadcaster Sky Sports signed a deal to exclusively cover three PDC tournaments each year. To capitalise on its investment, the channel introduced a number of new techniques[vague] to make the coverage more interesting for armchair fans.[citation needed]

Unlike the BDO world championship, which was covered via the general entertainment BBC Two channel, Sky's dedicated sports channel allowed the PDC matches to be covered in their entirety. Over ten hours per day of live darts on Sky Sports is not uncommon.[citation needed] The British Darts Organisation's events were more limited to selected matches and highlights, although in recent years the BBC increased its interactive TV coverage allowing viewers to see many more events live.[9]

Sky television is an advertisement and subscription based channel, and generally after each set a commercial break is taken. Planet Funk's single "Chase the Sun" is played in the auditorium and it has become a cult track amongst darts fans, who tend to dance along to the tune during the breaks.[10]

Currently Sky Sports broadcasts six tournaments live each year in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. PDC events are also televised in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa and the United States (One World Sports).

The PDC signed a three-year deal with ITV in with the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts from and the inaugural Players Championship from . The matches are shown live on ITV4 with highlights on ITV1. ITV being an advertisement channel like Sky Sports, commercial breaks are taken after 5 legs; the tournaments that ITV cover do not play in sets. The Fratellis single "Chelsea Dagger" is played during the breaks on ITV. In , Bravo signed a contract to show the European Championships.

In , Sky Sports decided to extend their coverage of the Premier League Darts to following the high number of viewers to previous tournaments.[11]

In February , it was announced the BBC would cover the PDC for the first time with a new tournament being formed using the top 8 players on the PDC Order of Merit after the World Matchplay, known as the Champions League of Darts. As a result, the BBC dropped coverage of the BDO World Darts Championship, which they covered from to (this was the original World Championship prior to the formation of the PDC). DJ Ötzi's "Hey! Baby" is played during the breaks on the BBC.

Cameras

Sky Sports introduced more cameras to cover the sport, and many of these innovations have been copied by other broadcasters.

Unique flight cams show the trajectory of the dart through the air in slow motion to sometimes surprising results. A tiny camera has also been inserted into the dartboard itself beside the number 16 &#; one of the most common doubles &#; that shows the darts being thrown towards the board. Sky Sports have also used a player cam; a tiny camera was fitted to Dennis Priestley's shirt to capture his view of the action while playing.

Elsewhere, floating video cameras capture the action of the watching crowds. Spectators become far more animated and vocal than their BDO counterparts, often acting similar to a football crowd, while holding up humorous placards &#; often featuring corny puns &#; regarding the players, and chanting or singing various songs related to the players or to the event in general. Some supporters even wear face paint or crazy costumes or they dress up as their favourite player via their trademark attire or customary nickname.

The players' wives have also been a focus for the cameras, as they cheered on their husbands. In January , Sky One commissioned a programme entitled Darts Players' Wives, primarily focusing on the wives and their relationships.

In December , Sky started to broadcast darts in High Definition (with the exception of the final Las Vegas Desert Classic in ), and in July (at the World Matchplay), broadcast the Semi Finals and Final in 3D to around 1,000 licensed premises in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Another frequent cam is a split-screen camera, with the players on the right, and the dartboard on the left. If the first two darts hit the triple 20, the camera will zoom in to the spot before the third dart is thrown.

John Gwynne covered 20 PDC World Championships and 20 PDC World Matchplays, from the inaugural WDC World Darts Championship until his retirement in .[12] Dave Lanning covered all events up until December , when he retired. Contrary to popular belief, long-time BBC darts commentator Sid Waddell did not switch allegiances to Sky until after the BDO World Championship. He brought his own unique brand of commentary to the game, and was a cult figure amongst darts fans and sport fans alike. He continued to commentate until his death in .

The current commentators on Sky include John McDonald (commentator), Rod Studd, Stuart Pyke and Adam Smith, retired player Wayne Mardle and former World Champions John Part and Mark Webster. Jeff Stelling was the original presenter of Sky Sports' darts coverage, before Dave Clark took over in . Clark retired in , since when Emma Paton has been the lead presenter.[13] In addition, the Premier League was fronted by Gary Newbon.

ITV events were fronted by Matt Smith from to but are now hosted by Jacqui Oatley from who became the first regular female darts host in the UK. Commentary for ITV has been provided by John Rawling, Alan Warriner-Little & Pyke since with Chris Mason joining the coverage in . Former darts commentators for ITV include Jim Proudfoot, Peter Drury and Steve Beaton. Ned Boulting presents features and interviews and deputises if the presenter is unavailable.

BBC Sport showed the inaugural PDC Champions League of Darts on BBC One and BBC Two, with 16 hours of coverage over two days presented by BBC Final Score presenter Jason Mohammad alongside PDC professionals Mark Webster, Paul Nicholson and Warriner-Little, commentary by long time BBC darts commentator Vassos Alexander and PDC online reporter and commentator Dan Dawson with reports by Caroline Barker.

Bravo employed James Richardson and Dave Gorman to front its coverage until the channel closed in .

Image

The PDC sought to attract a younger audience of all genders for darts and market the game as a night out rather than just as a sporting event. Through the years, it was not uncommon to see politicians, musicians, football players, boxers and other sporting personalities attending their events. The British Darts Organisation have subsequently sought to emulate most of these innovations.

Players enter matches with their own signature theme music whilst flanked by security men and, until , female valets down to the oche. A "big-time" atmosphere was also created by using smoke machines and pyrotechnics during these sometimes elaborate entrances, similar to those used in boxing or wrestling.

At the oche, players only drink iced water during matches. Though this was intended to further the game's image, which had been tarnished by players' reputation for consuming large quantities of alcohol. The water is also needed to prevent dehydration: with the many lights and packed crowds, temperatures have been measured at over 38-degree Celsius (100-degree Fahrenheit) during some games.

Inside the venues, action is relayed via giant video screens for the large crowds. The BDO now also has video screens, while maintaining their traditional "light boards" of lightbulbs, showing where each dart lands for the benefit of the crowd.

Nicknames

Eric Bristow, the most successful player in the first few years of the World Championship, had his nickname "The Crafty Cockney" emblazoned on the back of his shirt. Very few dart players had their own nicknames until the Professional Darts Corporation circuit made it almost customary for every player to acquire a nickname. This helps to create a new generation of characters with which its audience could identify.

Sky TV commentator Sid Waddell attempted to christen Phil Taylor "The Crafty Potter" &#; referring to him being both a protégé of Bristow and originating from the Potteries. However, the tag never caught on and it was not until a later tournament that he came out to the tune The Power by Snap! that his nickname was accidentally born.

Jamie Harvey from Scotland became "Bravedart" &#; a play on words from Mel Gibson's Braveheart film. Sky Sports even filmed vignettes where a kilt wearing Jamie had his face painted blue and ran through woods throwing his darts whilst looking menacing.

As the only player to wear a shirt, tie and waistcoat whilst playing, Rod Harrington's "Prince of Style" tag appeared apt.

Though originally from the BDO circuit, Wayne Mardle is known as "Hawaii Five-O-One" due to his colourful Hawaiian shirts (a play on words on Hawaii Five-O and the starting score in a leg of darts).

Bob Anderson, now living in Clevedon in Somerset, is known as The Limestone Cowboy, after the limestone hills of Wiltshire where Bob used to live, and the fact that he enjoys Country and Western music. This was once taken even further, with Anderson once walking to the stage accompanied by a horse.

Current tournaments

The Professional Darts Corporation has continued to increase its annual UK televised tournaments in recent years: The World Championship, The Premier League, World Cup of Darts, World Grand Prix and World Matchplay are all covered live by Sky Sports. The US Open was shown on Challenge in and Nuts TV in . Bravo broadcast the European Championships for the first time in , after ITV4 televised the first running in . ITV4 won back the coverage for the European Championship; they also show live coverage of the World Series of Darts, Players Championship, UK Open and the Masters.

Ranked tournaments

World Championship

The World Championship is a single-elimination seeded tournament beginning in mid December and finishing in early January. It is the biggest of the PDC tournaments and has the largest prize fund of any darts competition. Held at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet between and , the championship moved to a bigger venue at Alexandra Palace from .

Phil Taylor has dominated this tournament, reaching the final for the first 14 years between and and winning fourteen titles, including eight successive titles between and . The PDC World Champions have also shared eight BDO World Championships between them, with Van Barneveld winning four, Taylor two, and Part and Priestley one each. These are usually added to each player's haul when describing their achievements &#; hence Taylor is a 16-time champion, van Barneveld 5, Part 3 and Priestley 2.

Previous Winners (&#;)

UK Open

Held each year in June at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton (&#;), and from in March at Butlins, Minehead, the UK Open is played over three days with 168 players in a single elimination tournament. After each round a draw is held where there is no protection for seeded players. This has earned it the nickname The FA Cup of darts. Phil Taylor is the most successful player in the tournament's history, with five victories.

Previous Winners (&#;24)

World Matchplay

Crowds exceeding 2,000 in number assemble at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, the longest serving venue in the PDC. Matches are contested over legs rather than sets, presenting the prospect of some surprising results and upsets. Phil Taylor has been the dominant player in this event, winning 16 titles and being undefeated in his first 15 finals.

Previous Winners (&#;)

World Grand Prix

The World Grand Prix replaced the World Pairs event in . Its original venue was the Casino Rooms in Rochester, Kent until , with one staging in Rosslare in before moving in to its current home at the CityWest Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament has been back in England since .

This tournament has shorter opening rounds and players must commence and finish each leg on a double including the option of the bull, which is a format not used in any other major televised event. Taylor has dominated the event since its inception, with 11 victories.

Previous Winners (&#;)

Grand Slam of Darts

Introduced in , the Grand Slam was the first tournament staged in the UK to feature players from the two different organisations, the PDC and BDO. Players who had reached the finals of each organisations major tournaments for the previous two years were invited to compete in the Grand Slam. It is held over 9 days during November and shown live on Sky Sports. The first four tournaments were shown live on ITV4, and the Grand Slam of Darts was ITV's first networked darts tournament since ending its darts coverage in .

Previous Winners (&#;23)

Players Championship Finals

Introduced in , this tournament was open to the top 32 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit until . In the tournament was expanded to 64 players still using the Players Championship Order of Merit. It is broadcast live on ITV4.

Previous Winners (&#;23)

European Championship

The European Championship is a tournament that allows the top players in Europe to compete against the top players in the PDC Order of Merit. In it changed to the top 32 in the European tour Order of Merit. It started in and for the first six years had a £200,000 prize fund. It has increased since then. Phil Taylor won the first four editions of the tournament, before Simon Whitlock scooped his first, and so far only, major title in .

Previous Winners (&#;23)

Non-ranked tournaments

The Masters

The Masters is a non-ranking darts tournament featuring the Top 24 players in the world, from the PDC Order of Merit. The first event was held between 1&#;3 November at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since it has been held at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes and been the first tournament after the World Championship.

Previous Winners (&#;24)

Premier League Darts

In , Sky Sports launched the Premier League Darts television programme. For five months, ten of the biggest names from the PDC circuit compete in a league table, with matches held across the country at different venues. Phil Taylor topped the table after the weekly rounds for the first eight instances the Premier League has been staged, going on to win the play-offs six times. Taylor's reign ended when Michael van Gerwen joined the league in and topped the table after the weekly rounds in each of the seven times since, winning five times. Glen Durrant was the third player to top the table, doing so in his debut year in . Jonny Clayton became the fourth in .

Previous Winners (&#;24)

World Series of Darts

The World Series of Darts is a series of tournaments taking place on various continents. These tournaments are non-ranked. The field of players usually exists out of a number of eight PDC top-players participating on invitation, complemented by another eight national qualifiers. Since , the players earn points over the tour to compete in the World Series of Darts Finals at the end of the year.

Previous Winners (&#;24)

World Cup of Darts

One of three new tournaments for , players from 24 countries compete for a prize fund of £150,000. The qualifiers are drawn from the PDC Order of Merit. Sky Sports screen the tournament, which rivals the WDF World Cup. England has won the tournament the most with five titles, with the pairings of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis, and Luke Humphries and Michael Smith. The Netherlands have won the title on four occasions, with Raymond van Barneveld being involved in all four Dutch wins. In , Scotland became just the third nation to lift the trophy with a victory over the Republic of Ireland in the final. Wales became the fourth winning nation in , when they whitewashed England in the final, and Australia became the fifth and first non-European nation to win the event in .

Previous Winners (, &#;)

PDC World Youth Championship

The second of the new tournaments for was open to all darts players, from both the BDO and PDC, aged between 18 and 21. The final was televised live on Sky Sports at Alexandra Palace before the final of the World Championship, in later years before the final of the Premier League. The two finalists will also be invited to become PDC ProTour card holders and would receive sponsorship from Rileys Dartzones, the PDC's staging partners in this event. They will also be invited to compete in the Grand Slam of Darts. In the age limit was changed to under 23.

Dimitri Van den Bergh became the first player to defend his title by beating Martin Schindler in the final 6&#;3 though he could not retain it for a third time due to his age.

Previous Winners (&#;23)

Women's World Matchplay

As part of their ever increasing support of the women's game, the PDC unveiled the Women's World Matchplay, a tournament for the Top 8 ladies on the PDC Women's Series Order of Merit. The tournament was played on the same day as the final of the main World Matchplay.

Previous Winners (&#;)

PDC Pro Tour

The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised tournaments. The prize fund is £75,000 for most tournaments and features up to 32 boards in action on an arena floor, hence their nickname "floor tournament". With shorter matches and the floor set up, a different kind of pressure applies compared to televised events and a different set of results can be produced. For instance, Barrie Bates was the PDC Floor Player of the Year in with Colin Lloyd and Mick McGowan also nominated &#; none of whom won a major during the year. The calendar will feature features 30 Players Championships and 13 European Tour events. The European Tour events are different to the Players Championships and are played on a stage in front of an often sizeable crowd.

Past tournaments

Las Vegas Desert Classic (&#;09)

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada was the setting for the Las Vegas Desert Classic each July from to . It furthered the PDC's aim to develop a world darts circuit.

Previous Winners (&#;09)

Las Vegas Women's Desert Classic (&#;05)

Previous Winners (&#;05)

PDC Unicorn Women&#;s World Championship

The PDC Unicorn Women's World Championship was open to all female darts players from both the BDO and PDC. The 32 qualifiers played down to the last 2 in a floor tournament and the final were televised live on Sky Sports before the final of the World Matchplay. The two finalists were also invited to become PDC ProTour card holders for and and would receive sponsorship from Rileys Dartzones, the PDC's staging partners in this event. They were also invited to compete in the Grand Slam of Darts.

The first PDC Women's World Championship, in , was won by Stacy Bromberg who beat Tricia Wright 6&#;5. The match was played after the semi-finals of the World Matchplay in Blackpool. It was first to six legs of which Bromberg was 5&#;3 down before making a comeback to win 6&#;5.[14]

Previous Winners ()

World Series of Darts ()

The predecessor of what would be renamed the US Open in . Phil Taylor won the event.

Previous Winners

US Open (&#;08)

The US Open was a tournament introduced in to replace the World Series of Darts. The World Series ran for just one year in . Phil Taylor won the US Open in and . The tournament was reduced down to Players Championship status for the and editions.

Previous Winners

Championship League Darts (&#;13)

Started in , the Championship League Darts offered the players outside the top 8 in the PDC Order of Merit to compete for the championship. It was also the first tournament to be broadcast only by the internet.This tournament was discontinued after the edition.

Previous Winners (&#;13)

Champions League of Darts (&#;19)

A new event staged for the first time at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff in Cardiff on 24&#;25 September featured the top 8 players in the PDC Order of Merit. It was the first ever PDC event to be shown live on the BBC.[15]

Previous Winners (&#;19)

Other tournaments and contests

Champion versus Champion

There have been two head-to-head matches bringing both respective world champions together in non-affiliated contests.

Billed as the Match of the Century, Phil Taylor beat Raymond van Barneveld 21&#;10 at Wembley Conference Centre on 7 November , to be unofficially crowned the first ever undisputed World Champion since the split in darts.

In a further head-to-head on 21 November at the Circus Tavern, via the first ever darts pay-per-view on Sky Box Office, Phil Taylor again prevailed after his opponent, the 30-stone (420 lbs/191 kg) Andy Fordham, had to retire during the match due to dehydration caused by immense heat, with Taylor leading 5-2 in sets before it was abandoned.

Masters of Darts

This event was staged twice in and . In the Masters of Darts event four top players from both darts circuits together for the first major tournament confrontation since the two organisations separated.

The players were split into two groups, sharing it with only members of their affiliated organisation. Each player then vied against all players from the opposition, with one point awarded for winning a match. Following conclusion of the format, the winner of each respective group played the runner-up at the semi-final stage.

The Professional Darts Corporation pool consisted of Colin Lloyd, Wayne Mardle, Roland Scholten and Phil Taylor; whilst for the British Darts Organisation it was Tony David, Andy Fordham, Co Stompé and Raymond van Barneveld.

In a rematch of their unfinished head-to-head clash, Phil Taylor beat Andy Fordham convincingly in the final, 7&#;1, to be crowned the first Master of Darts. While beating Raymond van Barneveld (BDO World Champion at the time) 4&#;0 and 5&#;2 along the way, the undefeated Taylor only lost 5 sets during the entire tournament.

This event was broadcast to viewers in The Netherlands via RTL 5. Surprisingly, no British broadcaster had agreed television coverage of this unique event. The tournament was not held in , however it returned in February as a Netherlands versus England encounter with five players from each country. Originally announced with a mixture of PDC and BDO players, the BDO players had all switched to the PDC by the time the event began.

World Darts Trophy

This tournament began as a BDO event. The tournament ran from to . PDC players received invitations to play in the and editions of the event.

International Darts League

This tournament began as a BDO event. The tournament ran from to . PDC players received invitations to play in the and editions of the event.

Home Tour

In April , the PDC announced that they would be launching a new tournament starting on 17 April , after most sport had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The home tour would see four players in action each night in a league format, before a knockout stage. The unique feature of this tournament is that player would be playing from their own homes for the first time in a darts tournament.[16]

PDC Hall of Fame

In , the PDC introduced a Hall of Fame similar to other sports to recognise individuals with noteworthy contributions to darts.

The first two inductees were Eric Bristow and John Lowe, great rivals throughout the eighties and early nineties &#; at least one of these two players managed to reach the World Championship Final each year for the first 14 incarnations of the World Professional Darts Championship, from to , with three being played against each other.

Hall of Fame inductees are now announced at the PDC Awards Dinner &#; which was held for the first time on 9 January .

As of , there have been 18 inductees[17]

Roll of Honour

Premier Event Title Roll of Honour

40 players have won at least one PDC major televised event, those players are:

Seven of these players have successfully defended a title at least once: Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, Rod Harrington, Gerwyn Price and Raymond van Barneveld

World Series Roll of Honour

16 different players have won events on the World Series of Darts, excluding the Premier event, the World Series of Darts Finals.

European Tour Roll of Honour

Only eighteen players have won multiple European Tour events, as listed below.

An additional 19 players have won a single title. That list is composed of Justin Pipe, Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, John Part, Wes Newton, Steve Beaton, Vincent van der Voort, Mervyn King, Robert Thornton, Alan Norris, Max Hopp, Daryl Gurney, Jamie Hughes, Devon Petersen, José de Sousa, Damon Heta, Ricardo Pietreczko and Josh Rock.

Records and statistics

Major events

Statistics correct through the end of the Premier League.

Most PDC Major Titles: 79 &#; Phil Taylor (-)

Most PDC Major Titles in a Single Year: 9 - Michael van Gerwen ()[a]

Highest Percentage of Major Titles won in a year: 100% - Phil Taylor ( (2), (2), (3) and (4))

Most Years with at least 1 Major Title: 22 - Phil Taylor (-, -)

Most Consecutive Years with at least 1 Major Title: 20 - Phil Taylor (-)

Most Titles at a Single Major: 16 - Phil Taylor (World Matchplay (, , -, , -, ))

Most Consecutive Titles at a Single Major: 8 - Phil Taylor (World Championship (-))

Youngest Winner of a PDC Major Title: 17 years and 123 days - Luke Littler ( Premier League)

Oldest Winner of a PDC Major Title: 56 years and 351 days - Phil Taylor ( World Matchplay)

Most 9-dart Finishes in PDC Majors: 9 - Phil Taylor (-)

Most Different Major Winners in a Year: 7 ()[b]

See also

Notes

1. ^

   The Masters, UK Open, Premier League Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship, The World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals.

2. ^

   Peter Wright (World Championship), Joe Cullen (The Masters), Danny Noppert (UK Open), Michael van Gerwen (Premier League Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals), Ross Smith (European Championship), Gerwyn Price (The World Series of Darts Finals), Michael Smith (Grand Slam of Darts).

References

This dartboard is re-selected each year by the PDC exclusively for the official PDC Dart World Championship. The PDC dartboard from the Unicorn brand alongside the professional dart players the star, which is most commonly seen in the TV shows.

Intensive use at official tournaments gives the developers of the PDC Dartboard such important feedback that the Dartboard can be improved and developed every year in terms of materials and workmanship.

The official name of the PDC dartboard is "Unicorn Eclipse Pro".

Three different PDC dartboards in comparison

The PDC Dartboard Unicorn Eclipse Pro has the following features:

• Material: Naturmaterial Sisal
• Straße: 46cm x 46cm x 5cm
• Gewicht: 5 kg

What makes the PDC dartboard so special?

There are many good reasons why the PDC has just selected this dartboard for the official tournaments. The professional dart players not only value flawless processing, but also many small additional details that can improve the hit rate .

1. The material of the PDC Dartboard

The Unicorn Eclipse Pro PDC Dartboard is made from the natural material sisal. The sisal is pressed during the production process so that the necessary strength is achieved and the darts remain reliably buried in the board after the impact with the wonderfully pleasant sound (KLONK).

The excellent fabric properties of the PDC dartboard unlike other dartboards are praised by professionals and amateurs.

During production, the sisal bound around the midpoint is fixed with a stable bench. During compression, the sisal is fixed against a wooden back wall. Working with sand creates the typical structure of the front for Bristle Boards.

When the dart is pulled out of the disc, the sisal returns to its original shape due to its natural properties and immediately passes the small hole in the disc.

Due to the high-quality natural product sisal, the PDC dartboard has a long service life. To extend the life of the dartboard even further, you can turn the disc regularly, and so on to equally use the errors.

2. The extra thin metal spider

Every millimeter counts. Especially with the PDC pros every small advantage for a better hit rate is extremely important.

Unicorn has done one thing above all else in the development and implementation of the wire: An even thinner wire for separating the individual segments has enabled the target area to be increased by 30%, in contrast to many other dartboards. Furthermore, the wire on the PDC dartboard is embedded between the segments, resulting in fewer rebounds should the dart hit the wire.

In the bullseye, Unicorn was able to do without the usual staples when attaching the wire. For example, the size of the bull's eye area was also increased

3. PDC Dartboard: Wall mounting and commissioning

The Unicorn Eclipse Pro attaches to the middle of the bullseye with the included wall mount bracket. The screws can be easily turned into the board with a conventional Phillips or Phillips screwdriver.

Make sure the correct distance and the height of the dartboard are in place during installation.

• Bullseye Height: 173 cm
• Distance to the breakout line: 237cm

Here is a detailed guide on how to assemble your PDC dartboard in the right way Distance and the right height.

The weight of the PDC dartboard is 5 KG. We therefore recommend that you select a stable wall or door for the mounting of the disc to prevent it from falling down. If you want to attach the dartboard even more sturdily, you can choose thicker screws and larger dowels instead of the supplied screws for wall mounting.

For the protection of the surrounding wall, we recommend you a suitable dartboard surround or wall protection

The new PDC Dartboard may have odor. This slight smell should have disappeared in only a few days. This dartboard mainly uses natural materials and does not release harmful substances.

4. Enjoy PDC Dartboard for a Longer Time

The official PDC dartboard is just fun from the first throw. To ensure a long life of the dartboard, you should pay attention to the following things.

1. Protection against moisture - Put the dartboard in the face of prolonged moisture. Permanent attachment in the exterior area is not recommended.

   For more information, please visit OEM Dart Board Solution.

2. Regular Dartboard Turn - Distribute the wear on the high traffic segments equally by rotating the dartboard regularly. The number rings can be adjusted correspondingly simple, so that the 20 is also up after the turn.

Other Unicorn PDC Dartboards and Bristle Dartboards.