There’s no greater spectacle in darts than the PDC World Darts Championship with a rocking crowd at Ally Pally and below we go through 5 of the best PDC World Championship finals. From Phil Taylor’s 16th and final world championship win to the Canadian upset in 2003, there are some beauties in this list, a list that does feature quite of bit of ‘The Power’!
1. 2007 Raymond Van Barneveld defeated Phil Taylor 7-6
The last World Championship final to be played at the Circus Tavern a venue that Phil Taylor played like he owned it! In the 14 PDC World Darts Championship finals played at ‘The Circus’, Taylor played in all 14, winning 11. Two of his losses are mentioned on this list (including the number 1 entry to this list) whilst the other loss was a 6-1 thrashing by Dennis Priestley. An amazing record from an amazing player!
Background: No 2 order of merit ranked Phil Taylor was the reigning world Darts Champion having won 3 in a row from 2004-2006 and 11 of the last 12 from 1995-2006. No 32 order of merit ranked Raymond van Barneveld came into the PDC in 2007 as the 2005 BDO world champion and BDO runner up in 2006 (van Barneveld was the first player in history to play in BDO and PDC world championship finals in successive years). This was a match up between two of the best darts players of that time and the final didn’t let anyone down!
Getting to the final, Taylor had been rampant and belted Andrew Hamilton 6-0 in the semi final. Van Bar Barneveld was also dominant in his lead up to the final with the exception of his 2nd round match against the No 1 order of merit ranked Colin Lloyd. Van Barneveld was very close to an early exit in this, eventually getting through 3 sets to 2. Other than that match van Barneveld didn’t drop a set to get to the final, winning his semi final 6-0 against Andrew Jenkins.
Final: Phil Taylor raced out to a 3-0 lead (including winning the first 8 legs of the match) and the final look over with van Barneveld real trouble! The Dutchman then managed to work his way back and eventually took the lead 6-5 before Taylor won the 12th set 3-2 to set up a thrilling last set. This last set was neck and neck (the winner needing to win by 2) and after the 12th leg we were all tied heading into sudden death!
To determine who threw first, Taylor’s attempt at the bull went green, while van Barneveld unusually asked for Taylor’s dart to be left in when he threw for the bull, using Taylor’s dart to hit the red bull. Van Barneveld then got first throw in the last leg and eventually won it by hitting double top with his first attempt winning the greatest PDC world darts championship final, a final in which both players also averaged over 100!
2. 2011 Adrian Lewis defeated Gary Anderson 7-5
The last match called by the great Sid Waddell, the final between Lewis and Anderson was a beauty and even featured the first 9 dart finish in a world championship final (thrown by Lewis).
Background: No 1 seed and reigning champ Phil Taylor was knocked out in the quarter finals. Number 5 ranked Lewis won through to the final defeating Mark Webster 6-4 while No 11 ranked Anderson defeated Terry Jenkins 6-2 in his semi final. This edition of the world championship was also the first to feature a 9 dart finish (by van Barneveld against Jan van der Rassel)
Final: Whilst not one of the closest final in terms of sets (the final score was 7-5) it was still a great final and the first one to feature a 9 dart finish. Lewis raced out to a 2-0 lead and a 3-1 and managed to hold off a game Anderson who never gave up. Anderson eventually won 7-5 winning his first world title. These two would have a rematch in the 2016 final where Anderson would get his revenge winning in the same score line as their 2011 final, 7-5.
3. 2009 Phil Taylor defeated Raymond van Barneveld 7-1
A rematch of the amazing 2007 final and while this wasn’t a close final and never lived up to the hype of 2007, it was the quality of darts display that Taylor put on that made this final so memorable. Taylor ended the final with a record 110.94 average, a record that still stands to this day.
Background: No 1 seed Taylor was the reigning world champ while van Barneveld entered the tournament as the No 2 seed. Taylor was in fine form leading up to the final, reaching the final after a 6-2 semi final win over Mervyn King. Van Barneveld had a slightly tighter semi final getting through to the final after beating James Wade 6-4.
Final: This final was one of the most lopsided in history but a good reason for that was the quality of darts that Taylor was throwing. The Power was turned on from the outset, winning the first two sets 3-0 and comfortably winning the match 7-1 with a record PDC world darts championship final average of 110.94, simply unbelievable darts at the highest level of competition!
4. 2013 Phil Taylor defeated Michael van Gerwen 7-4
A match between the great one and the heir apparent. Phil Taylor was 52 when winning his 16th and final world championship while the young gun van Gerwen was only 24 in his first world championship final.
Background: No 1 seed Taylor was in an unfamiliar place being 3 years since his last triumph in 2010 while No 7 seed van Gerwen was taking all before him in his rise to the top. Taylor made the final after a 6-4 semi final win over old foe Raymond van Barneveld while van Gerwen knocked off James Wade 6-4 in his semi final to book a spot in the final.
Final: Whilst the final match was tantalising, the actual match never lived up to the billing. Van Gerwen raced out to an early lead and looked to be holding Taylor when the score was 3-1 however Taylor reeled off 5 sets in a row to eventually take his 16th and final world championship 7-4.
5. 2003 John Part defeated Phil Taylor 7-6
The first final to feature a non UK finalist and the first tournament a non UK world champion (Part is from Canada).
Background: No 1 seed Taylor was at the peak of his powers having won this tournament for the last 8 years (as well as having a streak of 44 successive victories at The Circus Tavern) and also having easily beaten Part 7-0 in the 2001 edition of the PDC world darts championship. Taylor’s path to the final wasn’t easy in the earlier rounds though he had a comfortable 6-1 semi final win against Alan Warriner. No 2 ranked Part had a reasonably close 6-4 semi final win over Kevin Painter to set up the 2003 PDC World Darts Championship final.
Final: This final came right down to the wire and was the first final to have a deciding set. Part got out to a 4-1 lead over Taylor and looked to have the final all parceled up. Taylor then roared back into the contest to take a 5-4 lead before the match eventually went to a deciding set. Taylor failed to take his chances and Part hit a double top to end Taylor’s amazing 8 year run as PDC World Darts Champion.
We hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. You may even have other finals that you think would be a worthy addition to this list. Let’s hope the 2023 final lives up to some of the finals mentioned above.