World Darts Federation
The World Darts Federation (WDF) Is a sport governing body and tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1976, by representatives of fifteen (15) nations. Membership is open to the official National organizing body for Darts in all nations. The WDF encourages the promotion of the Sport of Darts among and between those bodies, in an effort to gain international recognition for Darts as a major Sport.
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[edit] Members
68 national members[1]:
One of the member organisations is the British Darts Organisation (BDO), which is the official darts body for Britain, the leading darts country. It is one of two rival British darts organisations, the other being the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which runs its own world championship.
[edit] WDF World No. 1s
| Year | Men | Women | Year | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Eric Bristow | Sandy Reitan | 1997 | Martin Adams | Deta Hedman |
| 1985 | Eric Bristow | Lilian Barnett | 1998 | Ronnie Baxter | Francis Hoenselaar |
| 1986 | John Lowe | Linda Batten | 1999 | Raymond van Barneveld | Trina Gulliver |
| 1987 | Bob Anderson | Maaritt Fagerholm | 2000 | Raymond van Barneveld | Trina Gulliver |
| 1988 | John Lowe | Jayne Kempster | 2001 | Mervyn King | Trina Gulliver |
| 1989 | Bob Anderson | Sharon Colclough | 2002 | John Walton | Trina Gulliver |
| 1990 | Eric Bristow | Sharon Colclough | 2003 | Martin Adams | Trina Gulliver |
| 1991 | Phil Taylor | Sharon Colclough | 2004 | Raymond van Barneveld | Trina Gulliver |
| 1992 | Rod Harrington | Mandy Solomons | 2005 | Raymond van Barneveld | Trina Gulliver |
| 1993 | Leo Laurens | Mandy Solomons | 2006 | Martin Adams | Trina Gulliver |
| 1994 | Steve Beaton | Deta Hedman | 2007 | Gary Anderson | Trina Gulliver |
| 1995 | Richie Burnett | Deta Hedman | 2008 | Scott Waites | Francis Hoenselaar |
| 1996 | Martin Adams | Deta Hedman | 2009 |
The rankings show Trina Gulliver as consistently being the leading women's player, having been number one on eight consecutive occasions. However, it is more difficult to determine the best male player. No male player has held the number one position as many years in a row as Gulliver, although both Martin Adams and Raymond van Barneveld have held the top position four times. The rankings for the men has become even more complex since the inception of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) formerly the World Darts Council (WDC). The leading ranked players in 1993/94 split from the BDO and they have their own world ranking system known as the Order of Merit. The players from the PDC are not included in the rankings because the BDO, which is the British governing body, is the one that is recognised by the WDF.
