1996 WDC World Darts Championship

The 1996 Vernons World Darts Championship was the third year that the Professional Darts Corporation (then known as the World Darts Council) held their own World Championships following an acrimonious split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992/93.^[1] The tournament had its third sponsor in as many years, with Vernons taking over from Proton Cars. The tournament was held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet between 26 December 1995 and 1 January 1996.^[1]

1996 Vernons World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates	26 December 1995 – 1 January 1996
Venue	Circus Tavern
Location	Purfleet
Country	England
Organisation(s)	PDC (WDC)
Format	Sets Final – best of 11
Prize fund	£62,500
Winner's share	£14,000
High checkout	170  Phil Taylor  Kevin Spiolek
Champion(s)
Phil Taylor
«1995 1997»

Although he had not officially announced his retirement, Jocky Wilson had played his last televised competitive darts match at the World Matchplay in Blackpool in the summer of 1995, and had walked away from darts suddenly on 23 December 1995, so didn't appear at the 1996 World Championship, with Phil Taylor and Dennis Priestley both making an appeal after their 1996 World Championship final for Jocky and Malvina (Jocky's wife) to return.^[2] Nigel Justice and Steve Raw were the two English players making their WDC World Championship debuts.

Phil Taylor defeated Dennis Priestley 6–4 in the final, with Taylor gaining revenge for his 1994 final defeat against Priestley. It was Taylor's fourth overall World Championship victory.^[2]

Seeds

1. Phil Taylor
2. Rod Harrington
3. Dennis Priestley
4. John Lowe
5. Peter Evison
6. Alan Warriner
7. Bob Anderson
8. Kevin Spiolek

Prize money

The prize fund was £62,500.^[2]

Position (num. of players)		Prize money (Total: £62,500)
Winner	(1)	£14,000
Runner-Up	(1)	£7,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£4,000
Quarter-finalists	(4)	£2,500
Group stage runners-up	(8)	£1,500
Group stage 3rd place	(8)	£1,250
Highest finish bonus	(1)	£1,500

Results

Group stage

Group A Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (1) Phil Taylor 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Shayne Burgess 2 1 1 3 4 −1 2 3 Cliff Lazarenko 2 0 2 1 6 −5 0 26 December 91.78 (1) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Cliff Lazarenko 76.66 27 December 92.07 Shayne Burgess 3 – 1 Cliff Lazarenko 84.02 28 December 100.95 (1) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Shayne Burgess 85.40

Group B Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Keith Deller 2 2 0 6 3 +3 4 2 Sean Downs 2 1 1 4 3 +1 2 3 (8) Kevin Spiolek 2 0 2 2 6 –4 0 26 December 79.24 (8) Kevin Spiolek 0 – 3 Sean Downs 85.57 27 December 80.14 (8) Kevin Spiolek 2 – 3 Keith Deller 82.35 28 December 76.77 Sean Downs 1 – 3 Keith Deller 78.90

Group C Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (5) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Steve Raw 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 3 Gary Mawson 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 26 December 83.83 (5) Peter Evison 3 – 2 Gary Mawson 73.34 27 December 78.44 Steve Raw 3 – 0 Gary Mawson 76.03 28 December 86.10 (5) Peter Evison 3 – 2 Steve Raw 85.44

Group D Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (4) John Lowe 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Dennis Smith 2 1 1 3 4 −1 2 3 Tom Kirby 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0 26 December 84.41 (4) John Lowe 3 – 0 Dennis Smith 83.66 27 December 76.19 Dennis Smith 3 – 1 Tom Kirby 83.11 28 December 90.92 (4) John Lowe 3 – 2 Tom Kirby 86.49

Group E Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Larry Butler 2 2 0 6 4 +2 4 2 (2) Rod Harrington 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 3 Nigel Justice 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0 26 December 77.10 (2) Rod Harrington 3 – 1 Nigel Justice 71.71 27 December 81.23 Larry Butler 3 – 2 Nigel Justice 80.25 28 December 81.68 (2) Rod Harrington 2 – 3 Larry Butler 79.20

Group F Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Jamie Harvey 2 2 0 6 4 +2 4 2 (7) Bob Anderson 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 3 Gerald Verrier 2 0 2 3 6 −3 0 26 December 83.82 (7) Bob Anderson 2 – 3 Jamie Harvey 83.33 27 December 83.98 (7) Bob Anderson 3 – 1 Gerald Verrier 78.29 28 December 81.04 Gerald Verrier 2 – 3 Jamie Harvey 82.71

Group G Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (6) Alan Warriner 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Steve Brown 2 1 1 3 5 −2 2 3 Graeme Stoddart 2 0 2 4 6 −2 0 26 December 96.08 (6) Alan Warriner 3 – 0 Steve Brown 87.07 27 December 80.35 Graeme Stoddart 2 – 3 Steve Brown 80.08 28 December 82.47 (6) Alan Warriner 3 – 2 Graeme Stoddart 80.41

Group H Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (3) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Eric Bristow 2 1 1 3 5 –2 2 3 Ritchie Gardner 2 0 2 2 6 −4 0 26 December 92.85 (3) Dennis Priestley 3 – 0 Eric Bristow 84.23 27 December 80.66 Eric Bristow 3 – 2 Ritchie Gardner 84.59 28 December 86.16 (3) Dennis Priestley 3 – 0 Ritchie Gardner 66.16

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals (best of 7 sets) 29 December

Semi-finals (best of 9 sets) 30 December

Final (best of 11 sets) 1 January

A1

Phil Taylor (1) 96.01

4

B1

Keith Deller 78.77

0

A1

Phil Taylor (1) 94.84

5

D1

John Lowe (4) 83.78

1

C1

Peter Evison (5) 82.78

2

D1

John Lowe (4) 85.33

4

A1

Phil Taylor (1) 98.52

6

H1

Dennis Priestley (3) 101.48

4

E1

Larry Butler 81.93

0

F1

Jamie Harvey 90.55

4

F1

Jamie Harvey 85.13

1

H1

Dennis Priestley (3) 90.38

5

G1

Alan Warriner (6) 89.99

1

H1

Dennis Priestley (3) 90.56

4

References

1. "PDC World Championship". Mastercaller. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
2. "PDC World Championship 1996". Mastercaller. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.

External links

• Results from Mastercaller Archived 6 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine