PDC World Matchplay

PDC World Matchplay, Blackpool, Winter Gardens

The World Matchplay, one of the oldest PDC events on the darts circuit and one of the biggest dart events on the PDC Calendar returns to the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. This event sells out fast as many fans spend a week holidaying in Blackpool. One of the biggest holiday resorts in the country hosts one of the biggest events in darts. Phil Taylor won his last major event here last year before his retirement from the darts circuit earlier this year so won’t be defending his title. The likes of Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright will all line-up as potential favourites for the 2018 title.

This event will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and other channels across the World. If you live outside the UK & NI then also check out the PDCTV live stream.

PDC & BDO Featured Tournaments - July / Aug 2018

PDC Dart Events - July 2018

5 - 7	PDC U.S. Darts Masters Las Vegas
13 - 14	Shanghai Masters, Shanghai
21 - 29	World Matchplay, Blackpool

 

PDC Dart Events - August 2018

3 - 5	Auckland Darts Masters, NZ
10 - 12	Melbourne Darts Masters, Aus
17 - 19	Brisbane Darts Masters, Aus
31 - 2nd	German Darts Champ'( ET10)

 

BDO Dart Events - July 2018

6 - 7	BDO Gateway International, Wales
6 - 8	Red Dragon Welsh Masters, Wales
13 - 15	Winmau BDO Classic / Open, Wolver'
21 - 22	Cheshire Open, Crewe
27 - 29	Luxembourg Open / Masters, Lux

 

BDO Dart Events - August 2018

4 - 5	Belgium Open / Masters, Antwerp
8	New Zealand Open, NZ
11	Antwerp Open, Belgium
12	Nottinghamshire Darts Open
18	Scottish Classic
18 - 19	International French Open / Masters
24 - 26	Swedish Open / Classic

 

Freeview Channel 95 , Sky 424 | Live Internet Steam | Live on Demand | Disability Event / Additional Event

Full Events Calendars: 2018 PDC and BDO Dart Event Calendars

2018 Darts Tournaments Calendars

2018 PDC, BDO, WDDA Dart Event Calendars are now available to download. Please note calendars are subject to change without prior notice.

Full events details are also available to download and print from here. The 2017-2018 British Inter-County Championships fixtures are also available to view and print from the Darts Events page.

Updated - Players Nicknames & Walk-on Music

An increased amount of visitors have contacted me about players walk-on music and nicknames. Some of you have kindly supplied me with more information therefore I have updated both the players nicknames and walk-on pages on this site. I hope to add a few more in the near future but in the meantime if you know anymore or if any player has since changed either their Nickname or walk-on please let me know via my contact page.

The revised nickname and walk-on music pages now includes a number of WDDA players

Welcome to Darts501.com

A Brief Introduction to Darts501

The game of darts is played and enjoyed by millions of people in UK pubs and clubs and by millions more across the World. The game has come from the humble roots of the tap and public rooms of the traditional English pub on to the international stage and is regularly televised to millions across the World.

In 1978 the first World Darts Championship was organised by the British Darts Organisation and sponsored by Embassy tobacco. The winner Leighton Rees from Wales received a trophy and a cheque for the sum of £3,000.

Prize money has since increased considerably in the game of darts, and the winner of a major competition can expect to pick up a very attractive amount of money. Take for example the 2017 PDC World Championship, players can pick up anything from £10,000 for a first-round knockout, to a massive £350,000 for the competition winner. One of the biggest contributors to the rise in prize money in such competitions has been as a result of increased lucrative sponsorship deals.

Since 1978 the game has grown into one of the best-loved and viewed sports on television. It has made many darters into household names here are just a few:

John Lowe three times world champion, John Part three-time world champion, Martin Adams three times world champion, Eric Bristow five times world champion, Raymond van Barneveld five times world champion & Phil Taylor sixteen times world champion.

In March 2005 the 'game' of darts was recognized by 'Sports England' as a sporting activity which could pave the way to the sport featuring in future Olympic Games, however, I still feel we are a long way from that day.

Darts is one of the fastest growing sports in Holland, Germany, China and Asia. Over a third of the Dutch population watched Raymond Van Barneveld become the first Dutch player to take the world darts title in 1998; he has since won the title a further four times 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 (PDC World Darts Championship). Raymond beat the reigning champion Phil Taylor 7 sets to 6 and a sudden death leg in the final set. The famous Bull up for the right to throw first will long be remembered as Phil hit an outer Bull Raymond asked for the dart to be left in the board as he used it to push his dart into the centre Bull. Since then the Bulling up procedure in the PDC events has changed. All darts are removed before the opponents throw. Raymond now equals Eric Bristow's achievement but still trails Phil Taylor's staggering sixteen world title victories.

The prize fund over the years has steadily increased, with players playing for £400,000 first prize in 2018 PDC World Darts Championships.  This is a far cry from the first World Championships prize of £3,000. The sports prize money continues to grow making a few of the current player's millionaires.

In December 2007 PDC World Darts Championship moved to the Alexandra Palace. The Alexandra Palace is affectionately known as the 'Ally Pally' and was the stage set for the world renowned 'News of the World Individual Darts Tournaments'.

The New of the World Darts Tournament was probably one of the hardest dart events to win with a best of three legs format throughout the competition, including the final. Legendary dart player Bobby George managed to win this event twice and on one occasion Bobby didn’t lose a single leg throughout the tournament.

In 2001 the BDO introduced a Ladies World Darts Championship which was won by England’s Trina Gulliver MBE. Trina has won this event for seven consecutive years and made the final yet again in 2008 and 2009 but only to lose to a new up and coming star Anastasia Dobromyslova from Russia in 2008 and Francis Hoenselaar from Holland in 2009. In 2010 Trina again regained the title beating Rhian Edwards from Wales 2-0 she then repeated this feat in 2011 again beating Rhain Edwards by the same margin 2-0. In 2016 Trina won the World Darts title yet again making her the most successful ladies darts player in the World, a record-breaking Ten World Titles. Trina has been awarded the MBE for services to darts and charitable fundraising.

Anastasia moved to the PDC late 2008 and played in a preliminary qualifying round for the PDC World Darts Championship 2009. She lost to Dutchman Remco van Eijden 5 legs to 3. She also tried to qualify for the 2010 championship but failed. Anastasia moved back to the BDO late 2010 / early 2011 and in 2012 she won BDO / WDF Ladies Worlds Darts Championship for the second time and then again in 2013.

In 2007 the PDC introduced the first Youth World Championship. This event was won by Arron Monk who beat Michael van Gerwen 6 - 4 in the final. It wasn't until 2015 when the BDO followed suit and introduced its own Youth World Championship. It was sixteen-year-old Colin Roelofs from the Netherlands who became the first victor beating seventeen-year-old Harry Ward from England 3 - 0. Harry, unfortunately, didn't win a single leg in the final however I am sure we will be seeing a lot more from all of these youth players in the future.

In 2010 Russ Strobel submitted to the Darts Australia a new recommended dartboard height for Wheelchair users. The height Russ has come up with is 137cm to the centre Bull. The height was based on the perceived origins of the standard hanging height of the standard clock dartboard. It is said the average height of a man in the England UK was 5’8” around 1920’s, the height of the centre bullseye of a standard board. Modern adjustments make that 173cm. Russ has taken this analogy and worked out what the height would be should a man of 5’8” (173cm) be sitting in a wheelchair. His exact figure came out to be 136.5cm however as Russ explained the addition of 0.5cm would make the recommended wheelchair dartboard height easy to remember 137cm (wheelchair) - 173cm (Standard). The concept of the new height for Wheelchair uses was accepted by Darts Australia and in 2012 was also accepted by the World Darts Organisation. More about Disability Darts can be found on this website.

On this site, you will find a brief history of this intriguing sport along with all the information you will need to set up the dart board and organise darting events. You can also learn how boards are made using sisal (a material used in rope making) and how dart weights, lengths, shafts and flights can alter the flight of the dart.

The site also features traditional games played on today’s standard dartboards and UK city dartboards; The Yorkshire and the Manchester log-end to name just two. You can download rules and many games from here as well as those all-important checkouts.

You will also find practise routines to improve your accuracy and scoring consistency as well as information about maintaining your dartboard and darts. There are also many dart related links to professional dart organisations, manufacturers, suppliers, professional dart players and other UK local dart leagues. My thanks go to them for their help and support in building this site.

I hope you enjoy the site your feedback is always welcome and if you like the site please inform others.

Darts501 was established in 2004 and from its humble beginnings and a few makeovers the website has had over 9 Million viewers and the increasing trend continues at a fast rate with over 1m in 2016 and over 1.5m during 2017. The site continues to grow each year so a big thank you to all that visithere is to the next 9 million. Enjoy!

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