DARTS’ major event calendar moves relentlessly from the European Championship toward the Grand Slam of Darts theae days.
Before that, there will be two Players Championship (PC) double-headers – one this week.
In addition, the early stages of the ADC’s global Championship will be underway from this weekend coming.
Fifteen Darts Years Ago
James Wade and Merv King were adding to their respective totals by winning Players’ Championships in Benidorm, Spain.It is remarkable to see how their careers diverged afterward.
Wade won his 21st PDC title and 11th PC event. He has gone on to win circa 40 snr-level events, with 20 of them being PCs, the latest of which was early in 2026. King, on the other hand, would have to wait seven years for another PC title, and that one, in 2018, would be his last ( as we speak).
Twenty Darts Years Ago
Phil Taylor was featured on the cover of DW magazine as the winner of the World Trophy.
Another tournament from the brief period where certain hybrid events were held, with PDC and BDO players both invited to take part.
Taylor’s performance was supreme. 4 x 100+ averages in 5 games and a demolition of the BDO flag bearer and England Captain Martin Adams in the final.
Twenty-Five Darts Years Ago
Denis Ovens, main picture, possibly the most understated man in darts, as picking up the Jersey Festival of Darts crown this week in 2001.
Denis’s career is hugely underestimated due to the fact that he did not lift a major trophy. But he had been reaching the later stages of important events since 1986 at the British Professional.
He continued to do so through one of the toughest periods in the game’s history and was reaching the semi-finals of the UK Open as late as 2012.
——
Inages: Tip Top Pics
Magazine Graphics: Darts World magazine.
