| UK Matchplay | |
| Sport: | Darts |
| Venue: | Chesterfield (1993) Sheffield (1994) Doncaster (1995-96) |
| Country: | England |
| Folded: | 1996 |
| Organizer: | WDC --> |
| Tournament Format: | Legs Quadro board |
| Champ Season: | 1996 |
The WDC UK Matchplay was a professional darts tournament held from 1993 to 1996.[1] It was broadcast on ITV's Yorkshire Television and sponsored by Skol lager. It was one of a series of events established by the World Darts Council following the acrimonious split in darts between the WDC and the British Darts Organisation in 1993, which led to the WDC's 16 players being banned from darts competitions worldwide by the BDO and a four-year legal battle.[2] [3] It is not to be confused with the PDC's World Matchplay event.
The tournament's innovation was the use of a Harrows "Quadro 240" dartboard, which had an extra scoring ring halfway between the treble ring and the bullseye that was worth quadruple points. Thus, the maximum number of points that could be scored in a single turn was 240, and the highest possible checkout was 210. Several players, including Jocky Wilson, Phil Taylor, Shayne Burgess, Bob Anderson and Peter Evison, scored a 240 maximum in the event.[4] [5] Bob Anderson checked out a 180 outshot in the 1994 final and Phil Taylor hit an outshot of 188 in the 1996 final.[6] The tournament also carried a £100,000 bonus prize for hitting a record seven-dart finish.[7] No one achieved this,[8] though John Lowe came within one dart of a nine-dart finish in the 1993 event.
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner Up | Total prize fund | Winner's share | Venue | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Dennis Priestley | 6–1 (legs) | Jocky Wilson | £17,000 | £5,000 | Aquarius Club, Chesterfield | [9] | |
| 1994 | Dennis Priestley | 7–5 | Bob Anderson | £23,000 | £5,000 | Utilita Arena, Sheffield | [10] | |
| 1995 | Alan Warriner | 6–4 | Rod Harrington | £23,000 | £5,000 | The Dome, Doncaster | [11] | |
| 1996 | Phil Taylor | 6–2 | Dennis Priestley | £23,000 | £5,000 | The Dome, Doncaster | [12] |