2003 BDO World Darts Championship
Encyclopedia
The 2003 Embassy World Professional Darts Championship was held between 4–12 January 2003 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green
, Surrey
. Notably, it was the last World Championship to be sponsored by Imperial Tobacco
.
In the final, Raymond van Barneveld
came up against Wales
's Ritchie Davies
who had whitewashed defending champion, Tony David
, in the quarter-finals. Barneveld raced into a four sets to nil lead before Davies pulled back to 4-3, but the Dutchman held his nerve to take the final two sets and thus seal his third World title.
In the ladies event top seed Francis Hoensellaar was taken to the final set against Karin Krappen before triumphing 2-1. She would meet 2001 World Master and number 4 seed Anne Kirk would comfortably advance with a 2-0 win over Gaynor Williams of Wales.
The two time champion and 2nd seed Raymond van Barneveld would be the next man for Burton after Barney eliminated Matt Clark from England by 3-1. Part of a five strong contingent of Orangemen and Orangewomen, the man tipped to be the main challenger to David averaged 85.07 in qualifying for the last 16. Austrian born Norwegian Robert Wagner would also go through 3-1 against Gary Robson. In the final game the first surprise, Tony Eccles seeded 7th crashing out 3-1 to Belgian Erik Clarys.
In the Ladies World Championship defending champion Trina Gulliver opened her defence up with a 2-1 win over Dawn Standley. The 2nd seed would meet the 3rd seed Mieke De Boer after the Dutchwoman won 2-0 against Linda Rogers Pickett.
Number 6 seed Tony O'Shea overcame fellow Englishman and by far the strongest unseeded player in the championship Ted Hankey by 3-2, with both players averaging 88, it was tense all the way through before O'Shea progressed, he would be meeting Colin Monk after the 2002 World Semi-Finalist came through against Shaun Greatbatch by 3 sets to nil.
Anderson would meet Bob Taylor in Thursday's quarter-finals after the Scot sent out the 4th seed Martin Adams by 3 sets to 1. Again Adams' world title challenge fades before coming to fruition. - An impressive run from Richie Davies did for the number 8 seed and 2001 World Champion John Walton 3-0. Davies' reward would be a showdown with the reigning champion after David averaging 90.28 knocked out Vincent van der Voort by 3-1.
Raymond van Barneveld stepped up his billing to be a serious challenger for the title after a 3-0 win over John Burton averaging 98.01. His opponent would be Eccles' conqueror Erik Clarys after the Belgian knocked out Robert Wagner by 3-0.
Both quarter-finals this evening were routs, however a massive shock followed in the dethronement of the World Champion Tony David. Richie Davies in the form of his life took a 4-0 lead at the interval and any thoughts of a recovery were soon dispelled when Davies took the opening set after the break to win 5-0. - Gary Anderson would meet Davies after Anderson averaging 94.23 defeated Bob Taylor 5-0.
The shocks were not just confined to the men's World Championship. The top seed in the Ladies event Francis Hoensellaar crashed out 2-0 to Anne Kirk in the Semi-Finals; meeting Kirk would be Trina Gulliver, the 2nd seed eliminated Mieke De Boer 2-0 to reach her third final seeking her third title.
The second Semi-final saw Barneveld take control from the start, swiftly taking a 2-0 lead. In the opening leg on the third set both players opened up with back-to-back 180's to leave a nine dart possibility. Both missed but Barneveld soon moved 3 sets up. King recovered in taking the last set and first set after the interval to close the gap to 3-2; With King level at 2-2 in the 6th set Barneveld played a tremendous leg to go 4-2 up and he sealed the win with a 3-0 set win in the 7th.
In the Ladies final, Trina Gulliver took her third world title with a 2-0 win over Anne Kirk, Kirk however had been 2-0 up in the second set so the match could have been a different story.
Barneveld took the opening nervy set 3-1 following a 132 checkout, Having pinched the second set from 2-1 down and leading 2 sets to nil, Barneveld took the third and fourth sets in deciding legs to lead by a lop sided 4 sets to 0 even though Davies himself could have led 3-1.
Davies took the last set before the interval to close the gap to 4-1. After stealing the 6th set and strolling the seventh 3-0 Davies closed the gap to 4-3 and set up a nervous finale. At 2-2 in the 8th set however Barneveld slotted home a nervous double 18 to go 5-3 up in what was the crucial leg as Barneveld took the ninth set by 3-1 to secure a 6-3 victory to take his Third World title.
Frimley Green
Frimley Green is a large village in Surrey, South East England, UK, close to the border with Hampshire. It is close to the towns of Camberley and Frimley, with the nearest major town being Guildford, approximately 10 miles away....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Notably, it was the last World Championship to be sponsored by Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
.
In the final, Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
came up against Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
's Ritchie Davies
Ritchie Davies
Ritchie Davies is a Welsh former professional darts player from Aberdare. Davies is most well known for his run at the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship, where he reached the final.-Darts career:...
who had whitewashed defending champion, Tony David
Tony David
Tony David is a darts player and is the only Australian player to have been a senior singles world champion. David won the 2002 Embassy World Championship. He plays under the nickname The Deadly Boomerang.-Career:David started playing darts at the age of 25 and progressed into the Queensland State...
, in the quarter-finals. Barneveld raced into a four sets to nil lead before Davies pulled back to 4-3, but the Dutchman held his nerve to take the final two sets and thus seal his third World title.
Tournament Review Day 1 - Saturday 4 January
Reigning champion and number 1 seed Tony David got his defence of the World Championship underway with a fairly comfortable win over Dane Brian Sorenson by 3-1. The reigning champion having swept to the top of the World rankings following victory in the World Darts Trophy looked comfortable in averaging 92.7 for the first round. He would meet Dutchman Vincent van der Voort who also won 3-1 against Finland's Jarrko Komula. Also safely through the first round were seeds John Walton (3-2 over Martin Phillips) and Andy Fordham (3-0 over Stefan Nagy). Also in the men's draw Richie Davies of Wales and Gary Anderson would go through, starting their quite remarkable runs this year.In the ladies event top seed Francis Hoensellaar was taken to the final set against Karin Krappen before triumphing 2-1. She would meet 2001 World Master and number 4 seed Anne Kirk would comfortably advance with a 2-0 win over Gaynor Williams of Wales.
Day 2 - Sunday 5 January
Eight more first round matches over the two events as the Embassy World Championship began to gather its momentum. Bob Taylor, who made his championship debut in 1990 advanced to the second round following a comfortable 3-0 win over Peter Hunt of New Zealand, however with just 0.03 between their averages the match could easily have been a different story. Perennial bridesmaid at the World Championship Martin Adams would begin his quest for the title with a 3-1 one win over 2000 Semi-Finalist Co Stompe in a difficult match to call. Then a surprise followed in John Burtons 3-1 win over Darryl Fitton.The two time champion and 2nd seed Raymond van Barneveld would be the next man for Burton after Barney eliminated Matt Clark from England by 3-1. Part of a five strong contingent of Orangemen and Orangewomen, the man tipped to be the main challenger to David averaged 85.07 in qualifying for the last 16. Austrian born Norwegian Robert Wagner would also go through 3-1 against Gary Robson. In the final game the first surprise, Tony Eccles seeded 7th crashing out 3-1 to Belgian Erik Clarys.
In the Ladies World Championship defending champion Trina Gulliver opened her defence up with a 2-1 win over Dawn Standley. The 2nd seed would meet the 3rd seed Mieke De Boer after the Dutchwoman won 2-0 against Linda Rogers Pickett.
Day 3 - Monday 6 January
Four matches today as the first round of the 2003 Embassy World Championship drew to its conclusion. 2002 World finalist Mervyn King opened his campaign to reach another final with a 3-1 win over Steve Coote. King, seeded 3rd after a decent year on the circuit however struggled to find his best form. He would meet Dennis Harbour who overcame 19 year old James Wade by 3 sets to 2. Wade had several chances to progress but his finishing let him down, and let the 41 year old qualifier in.Number 6 seed Tony O'Shea overcame fellow Englishman and by far the strongest unseeded player in the championship Ted Hankey by 3-2, with both players averaging 88, it was tense all the way through before O'Shea progressed, he would be meeting Colin Monk after the 2002 World Semi-Finalist came through against Shaun Greatbatch by 3 sets to nil.
Day 4 - Tuesday 7 January
Matches in the second round started today in the 2003 World Championship, Matches still held over the best of 5 sets. After the relatively comfortable passage to this stage by the four seeds in the top half of the draw, the draw would open up after three seeds were eliminated. Scot Gary Anderson defeated number 5 seed Andy Fordham 3-1 in a high quality match, Anderson averaged 99.54 to Fordham's 97.62.Anderson would meet Bob Taylor in Thursday's quarter-finals after the Scot sent out the 4th seed Martin Adams by 3 sets to 1. Again Adams' world title challenge fades before coming to fruition. - An impressive run from Richie Davies did for the number 8 seed and 2001 World Champion John Walton 3-0. Davies' reward would be a showdown with the reigning champion after David averaging 90.28 knocked out Vincent van der Voort by 3-1.
Day 5 - Wednesday 8 January
Four more matches as the second round concluded in Frimley Green. Mervyn King looked more comfortable in averaging 95.85 in knocking out Dennis Harbour 3-1. Then followed a classic encounter between O'Shea and Monk, Monk again managing to prevail against O'Shea in the odd set in five. This time the match would go to a tense and nerve-racking tie-break won by Monk.Raymond van Barneveld stepped up his billing to be a serious challenger for the title after a 3-0 win over John Burton averaging 98.01. His opponent would be Eccles' conqueror Erik Clarys after the Belgian knocked out Robert Wagner by 3-0.
Day 6 - Thursday 9 January'
The opening two quarter-finals and the women's Semi-Finals were held today, the quarter-finals had been extended to the best of 9 sets so first to five advances. The Ladies matches remained best of 3 sets.Both quarter-finals this evening were routs, however a massive shock followed in the dethronement of the World Champion Tony David. Richie Davies in the form of his life took a 4-0 lead at the interval and any thoughts of a recovery were soon dispelled when Davies took the opening set after the break to win 5-0. - Gary Anderson would meet Davies after Anderson averaging 94.23 defeated Bob Taylor 5-0.
The shocks were not just confined to the men's World Championship. The top seed in the Ladies event Francis Hoensellaar crashed out 2-0 to Anne Kirk in the Semi-Finals; meeting Kirk would be Trina Gulliver, the 2nd seed eliminated Mieke De Boer 2-0 to reach her third final seeking her third title.
Day 7 - Friday 10 January
The quarter-finals were completed today, in the opening match second seed Raymond van Barneveld, big favourite to win the title after David's demise averaged 100.83 in a 5-1 drubbing of Erik Clarys. Barneveld's opponent would be Mervyn King after the 3rd seed comfortably despatched Colin Monk 5-0 in a performance similar to the 2002 Semi-Final.Day 8 - Saturday 11 January
The Men's semi-finals and Ladies final would be held today still over their respective distances of 9 and 3 sets. In the opening last four clash Richie Davies would advance after a hardfought 5-2 win over Gary Anderson. Anderson took the opening set however three sets on the bounce from Davies put him 3-1 up at the interval. Anderson recovered, an 11 darter securing the fifth set and closing the gap to 3-2. The Scot soon led in the sixth set at 2-1 however Davies took the two sets to go 4-2 in front. The seventh set went to Davies 3-1 to clinch a 5-2 win and a place in the final.The second Semi-final saw Barneveld take control from the start, swiftly taking a 2-0 lead. In the opening leg on the third set both players opened up with back-to-back 180's to leave a nine dart possibility. Both missed but Barneveld soon moved 3 sets up. King recovered in taking the last set and first set after the interval to close the gap to 3-2; With King level at 2-2 in the 6th set Barneveld played a tremendous leg to go 4-2 up and he sealed the win with a 3-0 set win in the 7th.
In the Ladies final, Trina Gulliver took her third world title with a 2-0 win over Anne Kirk, Kirk however had been 2-0 up in the second set so the match could have been a different story.
Day 9 - Sunday 12 January
Sunday's David v Goliath final saw Davies up against Barneveld over the Best of 11 sets.Barneveld took the opening nervy set 3-1 following a 132 checkout, Having pinched the second set from 2-1 down and leading 2 sets to nil, Barneveld took the third and fourth sets in deciding legs to lead by a lop sided 4 sets to 0 even though Davies himself could have led 3-1.
Davies took the last set before the interval to close the gap to 4-1. After stealing the 6th set and strolling the seventh 3-0 Davies closed the gap to 4-3 and set up a nervous finale. At 2-2 in the 8th set however Barneveld slotted home a nervous double 18 to go 5-3 up in what was the crucial leg as Barneveld took the ninth set by 3-1 to secure a 6-3 victory to take his Third World title.
Seeds
Men-
Tony DavidTony DavidTony David is a darts player and is the only Australian player to have been a senior singles world champion. David won the 2002 Embassy World Championship. He plays under the nickname The Deadly Boomerang.-Career:David started playing darts at the age of 25 and progressed into the Queensland State... -
Raymond van BarneveldRaymond van BarneveldRaymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player... -
Mervyn King - Martin AdamsMartin AdamsMartin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...
- Andy FordhamAndy FordhamAndy "The Viking" Fordham is an English darts player. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship, beating Mervyn King in the final...
- Tony O'SheaTony O'SheaTony O'Shea is an English darts player who competes in British Darts Organisation events. He was born in Stockport. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname Silverback. His walk-on music is "Hey Baby" by DJ Ötzi...
- Tony EcclesTony EcclesTony Eccles is a Winmau sponsored darts player currently residing in Hartlepool. He uses the nickname The Viper.-BDO career:...
- John WaltonJohn Walton (darts player)John Michael Walton is an English darts player who is a former World Champion. He has adopted the nickname The Boy and uses the song Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex as his walk-on theme.-Darts career:...