1996 WDC World Darts Championship

Vernons World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Venue	Circus Tavern
Location	Purfleet, Essex
Country	England
Organisation(s)	PDC (WDC)
Format	Sets Final – best of 11
Prize fund	£61,000
Winners share	£14,000
High checkout	170 Phil Taylor 170 Kevin Spiolek
Champion(s)
Phil Taylor
«1995 1997»

The 1996 Vernons World Darts Championships 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. The tournament had its third sponsor in as many years, with Vernons taking over from Proton Cars.

Although he hadn't officially announced his retirement, Jocky Wilson had played his last competitive televised match at the World Matchplay in Blackpool in the summer of 1995 so missed out on the World Championship for the first time since the 1979 Embassy Championship. Nigel Justice and Steve Raw were the two English players making their WDC World Championship debuts.

Phil Taylor gained revenge for his 1994 final defeat against Dennis Priestley to retain his title - his fourth overall World Championship victory.

Seeds

1

Prize money

The prize fund was £61,000.

Champion: £14,000

Runner-Up: £7,000

Semi-Finalists (2): £4,000

Quarter-Finalists (4): £2,500

Group RU (8): £1,500

Group 3rd (8): £1,250

Results

1st Round - Group Stages

• Group 1
  • Gerald Verrier (USA) (78.3) - Bob Anderson (Eng) (83.97) 1 - 3
  • Gerald Verrier (USA) (81.03) - Jamie Harvey (Sco) (82.71) 2 - 3
  • Bob Anderson (Eng) (83.82) - Jamie Harvey (Sco) (83.34) 2 - 3

• Group 2
  • Larry Butler (USA) (81.24) - Nigel Justice (Eng) (80.28) 3 - 2
  • Rod Harrington (Eng) (77.1) - Nigel Justice (Eng) (70.89) 3 - 0
  • Larry Butler (USA) (79.23) - Rod Harrington (Eng) (81.69) 3 - 2

• Group 3
  • Eric Bristow (Eng) (84.24) - Dennis Priestley (Eng) (92.85) 0 - 3
  • Eric Bristow (Eng) (81.33) - Richie Gardner (Eng) (84.63) 3 - 2
  • Richie Gardner (Eng) (66.15) - Dennis Priestley (Eng) (86.16) 0 - 3

• Group 4
  • Alan Warriner (Eng) (82.47) - Graeme Stoddart (Eng) (80.4) 3 - 2
  • Graeme Stoddart (Eng) (80.34) - Steve Brown (USA) (81.33) 2 - 3
  • Alan Warriner (Eng) (96.09) - Steve Brown (USA) (87.09) 3 - 0

• Group 5
  • Peter Evison (Eng) (83.82) - Gary Mawson (Can) 3 - 0
  • Steve Raw (Eng) (78.45) - Gary Mawson (Can) 3 - 0
  • Peter Evison (Eng) (86.1) - Steve Raw (Eng) (85.44) 3 - 2

• Group 6
  • John Lowe (Eng) (84.42) - Dennis Smith (Eng) (83.43) 3 - 0
  • Dennis Smith (Eng) (76.98) - Tom Kirby (IRE) (83.1) 1 - 3
  • John Lowe (Eng) (91.5) - Tom Kirby (IRE) (86.49) 3 - 2

• Group 7
  • Sean Downs (USA) - Kevin Spiolek (Eng) (79.23) 3 - 0
  • Keith Deller (Eng) (82.35) - Kevin Spiolek (Eng) (80.23) 3 - 2
  • Sean Downs (USA) - Keith Deller (Eng) (78.9) 1 - 3

• Group 8
  • Phil Taylor (Eng) (100.95) - Shayne Burgess (Eng) (85.41) 3 - 0
  • Shayne Burgess (Eng) (92.07) - Cliff Lazarenko (Eng) (84.03) 3 - 1
  • Phil Taylor (Eng) (91.77) - Cliff Lazarenko (Eng) (82.98) 3 - 0

Knockout Stages

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals

Final

Group 1 Winner

Jamie Harvey 89.44

4

Group 2 winner

Larry Butler 87.56

0

Jamie Harvey 90.48

1

Dennis Priestley 94.39

5

Group 3 winner

Dennis Priestley 92.75

4

Group 4 winner

Alan Warriner 90.61

1

Dennis Priestley 101.48

4

Phil Taylor 98.52

6

Group 5 winner

Peter Evison 94.66

2

Group 6 winner

John Lowe 94.85

4

John Lowe 86.58

1

Phil Taylor 93.14

5

Group 7 winner

Keith Deller 86.29

0

Group 8 winner

Phil Taylor 94.22

4