| Tournament Name: | 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship |
| Dates: | 17 December 2015 – 3 January 2016 |
| Venue: | Alexandra Palace |
| Location: | London |
| Organisation: | PDC |
| Format: | Sets Final – best of 13 |
| Prize Fund: | £1,500,000 |
| Winners Share: | £300,000 |
| Nine Dart: | (semi-finals) |
| Winner: | |
| Prev: | 2015 |
| Next: | 2017 |
The 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship was the 23rd World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event was held at the Alexandra Palace, London, between 17 December 2015 and 3 January 2016.
Gary Anderson was the defending champion, having won his first world title in the 2015 final by beating 16-times champion Phil Taylor 7–6. He retained his title by beating Adrian Lewis 7–5.[1] He also threw a nine-dart finish in his semi-final against Jelle Klaasen to add a bonus £15,000 to his winnings, and hit two maximum checkouts of 170 in the progress.[2]
There were 654 maximums thrown during the event, beating the record of 625 from the previous year. 34 of these were produced in the final, which was the record for a professional match for 7 years when the 2023 World Darts Championship final produced 37.
Three-time world champion John Part was a notable absentee in this tournament, having failed to qualify for the first time since joining the PDC in 1997.
The tournament featured 72 players. The top 32 players on the PDC Order of Merit on 30 November 2015 (after the Players Championship Finals) were seeded for the tournament. They were joined by the 16 highest non-qualified players from the Pro Tour Order of Merit, based on the events played on the 2015 PDC Pro Tour.
These 48 players were joined by two PDPA qualifiers (as determined at a PDPA Qualifying event held in Coventry on 30 November 2015), and 22 international players: the four highest names on the European Order of Merit not already qualified, and 18 further international qualifiers determined by the PDC and PDPA. Some of the international players, such as the four from the European Order of Merit, and the top American and Australian players entered straight into the first round, while others, having won qualifying events in their countries, were entered into the preliminary round.[3]
Thanawat Gaweenuntawong became the first player from Thailand to play at a World Darts Championship.[4]
The 2016 World Championship featured a prize fund of at least £1,500,000 – an increase of £250,000 from the 2015 tournament.[5]
The prize money was allocated as follows:
| Position (num. of players) | Prize money (Total: £1,500,000) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | align=center | (1) | align=center | £300,000 | |
| Runner-up | align=center | (1) | align=center | £150,000 | |
| Semi-finalists | align=center | (2) | align=center | £70,000 | |
| Quarter-finalists | align=center | (4) | align=center | £35,000 | |
| Third round losers | align=center | (8) | align=center | £22,000 | |
| Second round losers | align=center | (16) | align=center | £15,000 | |
| First round losers | align=center | (32) | align=center | £10,000 | |
| Preliminary round losers | align=center | (8) | align=center | £4,250 | |
| Nine-dart finish | align=center | (1) | align=center | £15,000 | |
Order of Merit
Pro Tour
European Pro Tour
PDPA Qualifier
First round qualifier
Preliminary round qualifier
International qualifiers
First round qualifiers
Preliminary round qualifiers
The format in the preliminary round was extended from a best-of-seven legs to a best-of-three sets format. One match was played in the first eight sessions with the winners playing their first-round matches at the end of the session.
| width=35px | Player | Score | Player | width=35px | Av. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 83.03 | align=right | Andy Boulton | 2–1 | Per Laursen | align=center | 79.27 | |
| align=center | 64.73 | align=right | Sun Qiang  | 0–2 |  Mick McGowan | align=center | 74.19 | |
| align=center | 63.64 | align=right | Thanawat Gaweenuntawong  | 0–2 | René Eidams | align=center | 69.25 | |
| align=center | 87.69 | align=right | Kim Viljanen  | 2–1 | Sven Groen | align=center | 84.11 | |
| align=center | 91.79 | align=right | Keita Ono  | 2–0 | Alex Tagarao | align=center | 77.40 | |
| align=center | 78.83 | align=right | Michael Rasztovits  | 0–2 |  Rob Szabo | align=center | 78.34 | |
| align=center | 89.33 | align=right | Aleksandr Oreshkin  | 2–1 | Paul Lim | align=center | 88.26 | |
| align=center | 77.12 | align=right | 0–2 |  John Michael | align=center | 88.01 |
| Final: Best of 13 sets. Referee: George Noble. Alexandra Palace, London, England, 3 January 2016. | |||
| 5 – 7 | Gary Anderson (2) | ||
| 3 – 1, 0 – 3, 1 – 3, 3 – 2, 3 – 2, 1 – 3, 1 – 3, 0 – 3, 3 – 0, 0 – 3, 3 – 0, 1 – 3 | |||
| 100.23 | Average (3 darts) | 99.26 | |
| 19 | 180 scores | 15 | |
| 131 | Highest checkout | 170 | |
| 38% (19/50) | Checkout summary | 43% (26/60) | |
| Player | Eliminated | Played | Sets Won | Sets Lost | Legs Won | Legs Lost | Leg Breaks | 100+ | 140+ | 170+ | 180s | High checkout[6] | Checkout Av.% | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 6 | 170 | 42.15 | 102.07 | |||||||||||
| Adrian Lewis | Runner-up | 6 | 164 | 45.95 | 100.67 | ||||||||||
| Raymond van Barneveld | Semi-finals | 5 | 2 | 161 | 38.56 | 96.46 | |||||||||
| Jelle Klaasen | Semi-finals | 5 | 5 | 170 | 42.36 | 99.49 | |||||||||
| Peter Wright | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 131 | 40.16 | 100.45 | |||||||||
| Michael Smith | Quarter-finals | 4 | 4 | 140 | 43.65 | 98.70 | |||||||||
| James Wade | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 141 | 43.48 | 92.64 | |||||||||
| Alan Norris | Quarter-finals | 4 | 0 | 123 | 43.97 | 96.36 | |||||||||
| Phil Taylor | Third round | 3 | 1 | 170 | 37.11 | 97.11 | |||||||||
| Mark Webster | Third round | 3 | 1 | 130 | 36.14 | 93.00 | |||||||||
| Dave Chisnall | Third round | 3 | 0 | 160 | 42.39 | 101.49 | |||||||||
| Michael van Gerwen | Third round | 3 | 7 | 170 | 52.05 | 104.68 | |||||||||
| Mensur Suljović | Third round | 3 | 2 | 160 | 37.66 | 94.80 | |||||||||
| Vincent van der Voort | Third round | 3 | 0 | 134 | 37.68 | 95.32 | |||||||||
| Jamie Caven | Third round | 3 | 1 | 127 | 41.67 | 92.22 | |||||||||
| Benito van de Pas | Third round | 3 | 5 | 148 | 33.70 | 88.76 | |||||||||
| Mervyn King | Second round | 2 | 0 | 122 | 31.94 | 93.28 | |||||||||
| Kevin Painter | Second round | 2 | 1 | 110 | 38.64 | 92.81 | |||||||||
| Andrew Gilding | Second round | 2 | 0 | 132 | 47.83 | 86.81 | |||||||||
 Ronny Huybrechts | Second round | 2 | 0 | 164 | 40.00 | 91.61 | |||||||||
| David Pallett | Second round | 2 | 0 | 132 | 31.76 | 91.82 | |||||||||
| Terry Jenkins | Second round | 2 | 0 | 121 | 35.71 | 90.86 | |||||||||
| Joe Murnan | Second round | 2 | 0 | 112 | 32.43 | 88.32 | |||||||||
| Darren Webster | Second round | 2 | 0 | 116 | 34.38 | 91.37 | |||||||||
| Wes Newton | Second round | 2 | 0 | 161 | 33.33 | 81.35 | |||||||||
| Stephen Bunting | Second round | 2 | 0 | 88 | 40.35 | 92.45 | |||||||||
 Kyle Anderson | Second round | 2 | 0 | 128 | 27.94 | 91.44 | |||||||||
| Dimitri Van den Bergh | Second round | 2 | 4 | 122 | 41.18 | 93.87 | |||||||||
| Steve Beaton | Second round | 2 | 0 | 164 | 40.48 | 93.92 | |||||||||
| Daryl Gurney | Second round | 2 | 0 | 76 | 35.09 | 95.08 | |||||||||
| Christian Kist | Second round | 2 | 1 | 116 | 36.36 | 94.94 | |||||||||
| Ricky Evans | Second round | 2 | 0 | 130 | 44.44 | 88.22 | |||||||||
| Robert Thornton | First round | 1 | 0 | 121 | 33.33 | 88.66 | |||||||||
| Ian White | First round | 1 | 0 | 81 | 35.29 | 92.43 | |||||||||
| Simon Whitlock | First round | 1 | 0 | 121 | 28.57 | 92.85 | |||||||||
| Kim Huybrechts | First round | 1 | 0 | 106 | 32.00 | 92.66 | |||||||||
| Brendan Dolan | First round | 1 | 0 | 126 | 22.73 | 87.19 | |||||||||
| Justin Pipe | First round | 1 | 0 | 104 | 50.00 | 75.55 | |||||||||
| Andy Hamilton | First round | 1 | 0 | 73 | 34.21 | 86.75 | |||||||||
| Dean Winstanley | First round | 1 | 0 | 120 | 32.35 | 88.00 | |||||||||
| Jamie Lewis | First round | 1 | 0 | 78 | 46.15 | 90.34 | |||||||||
| John Henderson | First round | 1 | 0 | 80 | 46.15 | 81.06 | |||||||||
| Gerwyn Price | First round | 1 | 0 | 54 | 23.08 | 83.86 | |||||||||
| Keegan Brown | First round | 1 | 0 | 72 | 25.00 | 83.61 | |||||||||
| Rowby-John Rodriguez | First round | 1 | 1 | 170 | 35.29 | 89.37 | |||||||||
| Max Hopp | First round | 1 | 0 | 81 | 25.00 | 89.49 | |||||||||
 Cristo Reyes | First round | 1 | 0 | 105 | 26.92 | 87.05 | |||||||||
| Joe Cullen | First round | 1 | 0 | 40 | 33.33 | 93.86 | |||||||||
| Jyhan Artut | First round | 1 | 0 | 76 | 16.67 | 81.08 | |||||||||
| Dirk van Duijvenbode | First round | 1 | 0 | 110 | 50.00 | 79.77 | |||||||||
| Jeffrey de Zwaan | First round | 1 | 0 | 128 | 30.77 | 96.20 | |||||||||
| Andy Boulton | First round | 2 | 0 | 83 | 27.03 | 84.17 | |||||||||
| Jan Dekker | First round | 1 | 0 | 114 | 83.33 | 89.68 | |||||||||
| Jermaine Wattimena | First round | 1 | 0 | 70 | 66.67 | 87.10 | |||||||||
 Darin Young | First round | 1 | 0 | 100 | 53.33 | 83.49 | |||||||||
| John Michael | First round | 2 | 0 | 161 | 28.57 | 86.14 | |||||||||
| Mick McGowan | First round | 2 | 0 | 80 | 36.36 | 80.04 | |||||||||
| Kim Viljanen | First round | 2 | 0 | 92 | 52.63 | 84.16 | |||||||||
| Koha Kokiri | First round | 1 | 0 | 80 | 22.73 | 93.22 | |||||||||
| Laurence Ryder | First round | 1 | 0 | 86 | 50.00 | 81.37 | |||||||||
| Rob Szabo | First round | 2 | 0 | 70 | 34.78 | 82.42 | |||||||||
| René Eidams | First round | 2 | 0 | 122 | 31.82 | 79.87 | |||||||||
| Keita Ono | First round | 2 | 0 | 86 | 46.67 | 87.64 | |||||||||
| Aleksandr Oreshkin | First round | 2 | 0 | 134 | 40.54 | 87.74 | |||||||||
| Per Laursen | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 80 | 37.50 | 79.27 | |||||||||
| Sven Groen | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 110 | 33.33 | 84.11 | |||||||||
| Michael Rasztovits | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 121 | 23.53 | 78.83 | |||||||||
 Paul Lim | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 117 | 28.57 | 88.26 | |||||||||
| Sun Qiang | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 48 | 11.11 | 64.73 | |||||||||
| Alex Tagarao | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 24 | 25.00 | 77.40 | |||||||||
| Warrick Scheffer | Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7.69 | 77.12 | |||||||||
| Prelim. Round | 1 | 0 | 58 | 12.00 | 63.64 |
This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship, the total number including the preliminary round.
| ENG | NED | SCO | AUS | BEL | WAL | AUT | GER | NIR | NZL | SPA | THA | GRE | RSA | RUS | USA | JPN | FIN | PHI | DEN | SIN | CHN | IRE | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | |
| Semis | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | |
| Quarters | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | |
| Round 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | |
| Round 2 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 32 | |
| Round 1 | 25 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 64 | |
| Prelim. | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| Total | 25 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 72 | |
The tournament was available in the following countries on these channels:[7]
| Country | Channel | |
|---|---|---|
 United Kingdom Ireland | Sky Sports Darts † | |
| RTL7 | ||
| Germany | Sport1/Sport1+ | |
| TV3 Sport1/TV3 Sport2 | ||
Australia Italy | Fox Sports | |
| Sky Sport (New Zealand) | ||
| Nova Sport 2 | ||
| OSN | ||
| United States | ESPN 3 | |
| Viasat | ||
| Eleven Sport Network |
† Sky Sports F1 was renamed as Sky Sports Darts for the duration of the tournament.