1998 PDC World Darts Championship

The 1998 Skol World Darts Championship was held between 29 December 1997 and 4 January 1998 at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. Skol, who sponsored the inaugural event in 1994 returned as title sponsors – which they were to fulfil for the next five years.[1]

1998 Skol World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates29 December 1997 –
4 January 1998
VenueCircus Tavern
LocationPurfleet
Country England
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatSets
Final – best of 11
Prize fund£72,500
Winner's share£20,000
High checkout170  Peter Evison
Champion(s)
 Phil Taylor
«1997 1999»

Following an out-of-court settlement (Tomlin Order) on 30 June 1997, the World Darts Council (WDC) agreed to change its name to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the tournament was thus the PDC World Darts Championship.

John Part, who won the first Embassy/BDO World Championship after the 1992–93 "split" had joined the PDC but failed to qualify beyond the group stage. Peter Manley had emerged as a rising talent in the PDC and was seeded 7th for the championship. He lost a close quarter-final to eventual finalist, Dennis Priestley. Priestley lost his third successive final to Phil Taylor – this defeat being the most convincing 6 sets to 0. Rod Harrington was the only player who managed to take any sets from the Power during his 2–5 semi-final defeat. This was the last year the PDC used the group stage in the championship.

Phil Taylor became the most successful player in World Championship history – winning his 6th title (4 in the PDC and 2 in the BDO), eclipsing Eric Bristow who won five titles during the 1980s. It was also Taylor's fourth title in a row.

Seeds

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  1.   Phil Taylor
  2.   Dennis Priestley
  3.   Alan Warriner
  4.   Peter Evison
  5.   Rod Harrington
  6.   Keith Deller
  7.   Peter Manley
  8.   Bob Anderson[2]

Prize money

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The prize fund was £72,500.[3]

Position (num. of players) Prize money
(Total: £72,500)
Winner (1) £20,000
Runner-Up (1) £10,000
Third place (1) £5,000
Fourth place (1) £4,000
Quarter-finalists (4) £2,000
Group stage (16) £1,500
Highest finish bonus (1) £1,500

Results

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Group stage

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Knockout stages

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Quarter-finals (best of 7 sets)
2 January
Semi-finals (best of 9 sets)
3 January
Final (best of 11 sets)
4 January
         
A1   Phil Taylor (1) 101.85 4
B1   Shayne Burgess 85.42 0
A1   Phil Taylor (1) 103.08 5
C1   Rod Harrington (5) 98.01 2
C1   Rod Harrington (5) 94.54 4
D1   Peter Evison (4) 84.34 0
A1   Phil Taylor (1) 103.99 6
E1   Dennis Priestley (2) 90.75 0
E1   Dennis Priestley (2) 88.10 4
F1   Peter Manley (7) 88.91 3
E1   Dennis Priestley (2) 87.14 5 Third-place play-off (best of 7 sets)
G1   Keith Deller (6) 79.36 1
G1   Keith Deller (6) 79.22 4 C1   Rod Harrington (5) 90.00 4
H1   Harry Robinson 81.09 1 G1   Keith Deller (6) 81.69 1

Representation from different countries

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This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship. Four countries were represented in the World Championship, no more than in the previous championship.

 
ENG
 
USA
 
CAN
 
SCO
Total
Final 2 0 0 0 2
Semis 4 0 0 0 4
Quarters 8 0 0 0 8
Group Stages 17 5 1 1 24

References

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  1. ^ "1998 PDC World Championship Results". DartsDatabase.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. ^ "1998 PDC World Championship Seeds". DartsDatabase.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. ^ "1998 PDC World Championship Player Prize Money". DartsDatabase.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2018.