World dart championship games are held in England every year and are commonly referred to as the Lakeside Tournament or the Embassy World Tournament. The Lakeside Tournament sponsors both men and women's tournaments each year. The 2008 World Professional champions are Anastasia Dobromyslova (age 23, from Russia) and Mark Webster (age 24, from North Wales).
The Lakeside World Darts Championship was first held in 1978 in England at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub in Nottingham, England. In 1979 the event was moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke, England and there it remained until 1985. Finally, in 1985 the tournament permanently moved to the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey, England, which is considered the spiritual home of darts.
The Lakeside Tournament has been organized by the BDO (British Darts Organization, founded in 1973 with 69 affiliate countries) for the last 35 years. It used to be referred to as the Embassy World Championship when it was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco. These days it is known simply as the Lakeside Tournament.
In 1978 the first winner of the Lakeside Tournament was a Welshman by the name of Leighton Rees. He was followed in 1979 by an English dart player named John Lowe who went on to win the world champion title for 30 years. Two other Welshman have followed in Rees' footsteps - Ritchie Burnett in 1995 and most recently, Mark Webster in 2008.
Phil Taylor is also a successful world champion from England, winning his 13th title in 2006. Eric Bristow has won five world titles, and Raymond van Barneveld is the only other player to rival that record.
In 1983 an unseeded Keith Deller became the youngest ever world champion and caused one of the great dart upsets by beating the seemingly invincible Eric Bristow. It wasn't until 2006, when Jelle Klaasen shocked van Barneveld, that somebody so young would win it again.
When Leighton Rees won the first world championship dart player title in 1978 he won only U.S. $5,700. In 1988 Bob Anderson won U.S. $30,600 and in 1998 van Barneveld's winner's check was for U.S. $76,500. Thirty years later, Mark Webster won a whopping U.S. $162,500 by beating finalist Simon Whitlock, who earned himself a U.S. $57,400 payout.
In 1990 American player Paul Lim hit the tournament's only perfect 9-dart finish in the second round against Irishman Jack McKenna to win a bonus of U.S. $95,500 -- which was more than the eventual champion won that year.
Many league dart players pay homage to the world champion dart players by playing with the same darts that the champions used during tournament play, which are thought to be lucky and can be purchased at specialized dart stores.
Bjorn Nelisse is the owner of an online sports equipment store and an avid dart and soccer player.
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