Pub Darts Champion of Champions Grand Final
Based on the legendary News of the World Championship rapid fire shoot-out format; that pub players love and professional’s hate, the best of three legs tournament will see the winner walk away with a tasty £1500.00 first prize, as part of an overall £4200.00 tournament prize fund.
The News of The World tournament played annually from 1947-90, was seen by many as the hardest darts tournament to win; because of its unique short format, was a huge part of popularising the game of darts, as thousands of competitors battled to win pub and club qualifiers around the country in order to play at the Alexandra Palace in front of a packed out audience.
Players - even those considered professionals, were not exempt from the unique qualifying process and even darting royalty such as John Lowe, who won the title representing the Willow Tree in 1980, and Eric Bristow who represented the Foaming Quart in 1982 and the Milton Hayes Club in1983, had to battle through pub qualifiers to claim their titles the hard way.
The same format existed when the tournament made a brief comeback for one year in 1995 with PDC kingpin Phil Taylor representing the Cricketer’s Arms – of which he was the then Landlord beating another current PDC star in Ian White who was playing for the Dockside Inn in the final.
This year’s qualifiers have been played out across 128 pubs throughout Wales, and the 128 winner’s including PDC stars Jamie Lewis and Barrie Bates; will play a best of three format to decide who win the crown of Pub Darts Champion of Champions.
With plans to expand the tournament next year, the competition looks set to become a popular addition to the darting calendar.
Stay tuned to the Red Dragon Darts Twitter news feed for updates on results throughout what looks sure to be an action-packed day of darting action.