1998 PDC World Darts Championship

 Peter Evison

 Phil Taylor

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]

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

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

The prize fund was £72,500.^[3]

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 Dennis Smith 2 1 1 3 4 –1 2 3 Kevin Spiolek 2 0 2 1 6 –5 0 29 December–1 January 83.05 (1) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Kevin Spiolek 66.99 81.98 Dennis Smith 3 – 1 Kevin Spiolek 81.21 96.96 (1) Phil Taylor 3 – 0 Dennis Smith 80.88

Group B Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Shayne Burgess 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 (8) Bob Anderson 2 1 1 3 4 -1 2 3 Gerald Verrier 2 0 2 1 6 –5 0 29 December–1 January 79.60 (8) Bob Anderson 0 – 3 Shayne Burgess 84.40 83.92 (8) Bob Anderson 3 – 1 Gerald Verrier 76.31 87.03 Shayne Burgess 3 – 0 Gerald Verrier 80.07

Group C Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (5) Rod Harrington 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 Jamie Harvey 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 3 John Ferrell 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 29 December–1 January 89.61 (5) Rod Harrington 3 – 2 Jamie Harvey 88.31 89.47 Jamie Harvey 3 – 0 John Ferrell 77.55 81.79 (5) Rod Harrington 3 – 0 John Ferrell 78.62

Group D Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (4) Peter Evison 2 2 0 6 2 +4 4 2 John Part 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 3 Paul Lim 2 0 2 1 6 −5 0 29 December–1 January 85.61 (4) Peter Evison 3 – 2 John Part 85.31 74.82 Paul Lim 1 – 3 John Part 81.43 82.97 (4) Peter Evison 3 – 0 Paul Lim 84.29

Group E Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (2) Dennis Priestley 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Steve Raw 2 1 1 3 3 0 2 3 Eric Bristow 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 29 December–1 January 96.87 (2) Dennis Priestley 3 – 0 Steve Raw 82.01 78.74 Eric Bristow 0 – 3 Steve Raw 86.53 85.82 (2) Dennis Priestley 3 – 0 Eric Bristow 81.53

Group F Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (7) Peter Manley 2 2 0 6 0 +6 4 2 Gary Mawson 2 1 1 3 3 0 2 3 John Lowe 2 0 2 0 6 −6 0 29 December–1 January 91.36 (7) Peter Manley 3 – 0 Gary Mawson 86.57 67.38 John Lowe 0 – 3 Gary Mawson 76.83 90.88 (7) Peter Manley 3 – 0 John Lowe 79.63

Group G Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 (6) Keith Deller 2 1 1 5 4 +1 2 2 Graeme Stoddart 2 1 1 4 3 +1 2 3 Mick Manning 2 1 1 3 5 −2 2 29 December–1 January 77.82 (6) Keith Deller 2 – 3 Mick Manning 79.18 85.13 (6) Keith Deller 3 – 1 Graeme Stoddart 81.66 69.58 Mick Manning 0 – 3 Graeme Stoddart 79.69

Group H Pos Player P W L SF SA +/- Pts 1 Harry Robinson 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 2 Steve Brown 2 1 1 4 5 −1 2 3 (3) Alan Warriner 2 1 1 3 4 –1 2 29 December–1 January 85.28 (3) Alan Warriner 0 – 3 Harry Robinson 83.66 81.31 (3) Alan Warriner 3 – 1 Steve Brown 78.93 82.86 Steve Brown 3 – 2 Harry Robinson 76.00

Knockout stages

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

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