World Masters (darts)
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| Winmau World Masters | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Hull City Hall |
| Location | Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Established | 1974 |
| Organisation(s) | BDO/WDF |
| Format | Sets |
| Month(s) Played | Varies between September-December |
| Current champion(s) | |
 Martin Adams Julie Gore | |
The Winmau World Masters is one of the longest running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments, which began in 1974 - even before the current World Professional Championship. The tournament has been sponsored by Darts board manufacturer, Winmau for 30 years and they have currently extended their contract to sponsor the event until 2015.[1]
It was previously the final leg of the BDO’s Grand Slam title of televised majors, along with the Topic International Darts League, the Bavaria World Darts Trophy and the Lakeside World Professional Championship. However, it is now one of only two major BDO events and is considered to be the second biggest tournament after the World Championship. The champion is prestigiously referred to as the World Master.
Sponsors
1974-1975 Phonogram
1976–present Winmau
Venues
[2]
1974-1976 West Centre Hotel, Fulham
1977-1981 Wembley Conference Centre (finals were played at Horticultural Hall, Victoria, London in 1978 due to electrician's industrial action at Wembley)
1982-1989 Rainbow Suite, Kensington
1990-1991 Ramada Inn. Lillie Road, West London
1992-1995 Earls Court, London
1996-1997 Paragon Hotel, Lillie Road, London
1998-2001 Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green Surrey
2002-2005 Bridlington Spa Royal Hall
2006-2007 Leisure World, Bridlington
2008-2009 Bridlington Spa Royal Hall
2010-present Hull City Hall
Records
Most tournament wins 5 - Eric Bristow. Bob Anderson and Martin Adams have both notched 3 wins (also both achieving 'hatricks' by winning in three consecutive years). Dave Whitcombe, John Lowe and Raymond van Barneveld have won the Masters twice each.
Youngest champion Michael van Gerwen (2006) aged 17 years, 174 days eclipsed the record of Eric Bristow
Double Champion Leeanne Maddock (1992) Aged 17 years won both the youth title and women's title.
Joint World Championship & Masters Champions Only five players have ever won the World Masters and the World Professional Championship in the same season. Eric Bristow achieved the feat three times (1979 Masters 1980 World, 1983–84 and 1984–85). Bob Anderson (1987–88), Richie Burnett (1994–95), John Walton (2000–01) and Martin Adams (2009–10) were the others. There have been two other instances of players holding both championships at the same time (Phil Taylor 1990 and Raymond van Barneveld 2005) - but these were not during the same season which is considered to end with the World Championship.
There are 12 players who have won the Masters and World Professional during their careers - Bristow, Anderson, Walton and Burnett plus John Lowe, Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Steve Beaton, Les Wallace, Andy Fordham, Raymond van Barneveld and Martin Adams.
Winners
Media coverage
The World Masters was first broadcast on television by ITV in 1979 for four years. The event in 1984 and 1985 were not shown but returned to ITV in 1986 for two years. After that, it was not screened on free-to-air television until 2001, where the BBC broadcast the tournament to today. Sky Sports broadcast the event for one year in 1991, with Eurosport occasionally picking up the rights for some years, however in other years the event was not broadcast.
There is speculation that Bradders is a ginger gayer, but this is yet to be televised.
References
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/darts/8637903.stm
- ^ Masters venues Superstars of Darts forum