The 1997 WDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 1997 Red Band World Darts Championship) was held between 29 December 1996 and 5 January 1997 at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. It was the fourth World Championship organised by the World Darts Council, which had acrimoniously split from the British Darts Organisation in 1992–93. As a result of an ongoing legal battle, this would be the last time that the WDC name would be used – an out-of-court settlement (Tomlin Order) in June 1997 meant that the organisation had to change its name to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

Paul Lim, who famously hit a nine dart finish at the 1990 BDO World Darts Championship appeared at his first WDC World Championship – he had only managed to qualify once for the BDO World Championship since the split, losing a second round match to John Part in 1994.

The Championship saw two tight semi-finals, the most memorable of which was the clash between mentor and protégé – Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor. Taylor emerged victorious 5–4 in sets to reach the final. He matched his mentor's feat of five World Championship titles when he beat Dennis Priestley 6–3 in the final. They were now level as the most successful players of all-time.

Seeds Dennis Priestley Phil Taylor Bob Anderson Peter Evison Jamie Harvey Alan Warriner Keith Deller Rod Harrington

Prize money The prize fund was £99,500.

Position (num. of players) Prize money(Total: £99,500)Winner (1) £45,000Runner-Up (1) £10,000Third place (1) £5,000Fourth place (1) £4,000Quarter-finalists (4) £3,000Group stage runners-up (8) £1,500Group stage 3rd place (8) £1,250Highest finish bonus (1) £1,500

Results

Preliminary round A best of five sets preliminary round match took place between the players who were tied on the rankings. Player Score Player 85.89 Ritchie Gardner 3 – 1 Dave Kelly 78.20 90.00 Paul Lim 3 – 2 Tom Kirby 83.00 95.05 Chris Mason 3 – 0 Peter Manley 89.10 101.89 Gary Mawson 3 – 1 Harry Robinson 87.33 75.21 Graeme Stoddart 3 – 1 Paul Knighton 51.83 79.44 Steve Raw 3 – 2 Jason Lucas 60.10 93.99 Dennis Smith 3 – 0 Jerry Umberger 50.01 73.45 Sean Downs 3 – 2 Tony Holyoake 69.47

Group Stages

Group A PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 Eric Bristow 2 1 1 4 4 0 22 (3) Bob Anderson 2 1 1 4 4 0 23 Gary Mawson 2 1 1 4 4 0 2 Bristow qualified with a higher tournament average.

29 December–1 January 85.10 (3) Bob Anderson 1 – 3 Eric Bristow 87.47 80.06 (3) Bob Anderson 3 – 1 Gary Mawson 78.63 81.17 Eric Bristow 1 – 3 Gary Mawson 80.96

Group B PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (6) Alan Warriner 2 2 0 6 2 +4 42 Graeme Stoddart 2 1 1 4 4 0 23 Larry Butler 2 0 2 2 6 –4 0

29 December–1 January 86.01 (6) Alan Warriner 3 – 1 Larry Butler 80.73 87.89 Graeme Stoddart 3 – 1 Larry Butler 80.58 91.07 (6) Alan Warriner 3 – 1 Graeme Stoddart 86.96

Group C PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (7) Keith Deller 2 2 0 6 2 +4 42 Dennis Smith 2 1 1 5 3 +2 23 Kevin Spiolek 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0

29 December–1 January 83.49 (7) Keith Deller 3 – 0 Kevin Spiolek 75.97 82.18 Dennis Smith 3 – 0 Kevin Spiolek 69.06 83.79 (7) Keith Deller 3 – 2 Dennis Smith 85.71

Group D PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (2) Phil Taylor 2 2 0 6 0 +6 42 Gerald Verrier 2 1 1 3 4 −1 23 Chris Mason 2 0 2 1 6 −5 0

29 December–1 January 90.18 (2) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Chris Mason 79.96 84.54 Gerald Verrier 3 – 1 Chris Mason 80.04 87.83 (2) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Gerald Verrier 76.10

Group E PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (4) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 1 +5 42 Steve Raw 2 1 1 4 4 0 23 Cliff Lazarenko 2 0 2 1 6 −5 0

29 December–1 January 88.77 (4) Peter Evison 3 – 1 Steve Raw 82.07 81.76 Cliff Lazarenko 1 – 3 Steve Raw 78.75 92.02 (4) Peter Evison 3 – 0 Cliff Lazarenko 73.49

Group F PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (5) Jamie Harvey 2 2 0 6 4 +2 42 John Lowe 2 1 1 5 4 +1 23 Paul Lim 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0

29 December–1 January 87.34 (5) Jamie Harvey 3 – 2 Paul Lim 87.75 83.45 John Lowe 3 – 1 Paul Lim 82.73 82.00 (5) Jamie Harvey 3 – 2 John Lowe 81.18

Group G PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (8) Rod Harrington 2 1 1 5 4 +1 22 Sean Downs 2 1 1 4 4 0 23 Shayne Burgess 2 1 1 4 5 −1 2

29 December–1 January 85.62 (8) Rod Harrington 2 – 3 Shayne Burgess 83.82 80.54 (8) Rod Harrington 3 – 1 Sean Downs 76.52 86.76 Shayne Burgess 1 – 3 Sean Downs 82.85

Group H PosPlayerPWLSFSA+/−Pts1 (1) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 1 +5 42 Steve Brown 2 1 1 3 5 –2 23 Ritchie Gardner 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0

29 December–1 January 90.98 (1) Dennis Priestley 3 – 0 Steve Brown 84.33 77.60 Ritchie Gardner 2 – 3 Steve Brown 80.19 88.41 (1) Dennis Priestley 3 – 1 Ritchie Gardner 81.26

Knockout stages

Representation from different countries This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship. Four countries were represented in the World Championship, one less than in the previous championship.

ENG USA CAN SCO IRL Total Final 2 0 0 0 0 2 Semis 4 0 0 0 0 4 Quarters 7 0 0 1 0 8 Group Stages 18 5 1 1 1 26

References