While A.I.M: were putting together some information for The Word Darts Championship (2019) Ultimate Guide, we could not help but notice the sheer number of players able to boast of being World Champions:
PIC;LAWRENCE LUSTIG
World Champions are special. Regardless of sport, code or status, those who claim a World title always stand out from the crowd. Steel tip darts has two sets of World Champions. From 1976-93 there were simply World Champions. Following the formation of the PDC (originally the WDC) from 1994 there were Lakeside (BDO) Champions and PDC World Professional Darts Champions.
To date, twenty-nine players have lifted either of the overall titles, but only eight have lifted the PDC crown. A glance down the list reveals that these are not normal players! No player has won a senior world title without claiming other titles and reaching the top of the ranking tables. Many have won multiple titles and some have utterly dominated the game for long periods of time.
| Name | World Titles |
| Raymond Van Barneveld | BDO x 4 PDC x 1 |
| MVG | PDC x 3 |
| Glen Durrant | BDO x 3 |
| Gary Anderson | PDC x 2 |
| Adrian Lewis | PDC x2 |
| Rob Cross | PDC x 1 |
| Stephen Bunting | BDO x 1 |
| Steve Beaton | BDO x 1 |
| Jelle Klaasen | BDO x 1 |
| Mikuru Suzuki | BDO (W) x 1 |
| Paul Lim | Soft Tip x 2 |
| Lourance Ilagan | Soft Tip x 1 |
| Aaron Monk | PDC Youth x 1 |
| Max Hopp | PDC Youth x 1 |
| Keegan Brown | PDC Youth x 1 |
| Dimitri van den Burgh | PDC Youth x 1 |
The growth of the sport, and its inclusive nature, mean that there are also World Champions from other darting arenas. The soft tip game, for example, has produced many fine players and its codes/organisations hold their own World Championships. The ladies’ game has held World Championships for nearly forty years and has produced legendary players such as Trina Gulliver, Maureen Flowers and Linda Duffy (ne Batton). The current holder of the title, Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki, will make her debut at Ally Pally this year.
The 2020 PDC World Championship will feature at least fifteen players who can lay claim to World Championships. Many of them can or will be able to claim multiple titles in multiple formats. To date, only John Part can claim World Champion status in the BDO, PDC and Soft Tip formats.
Could Paul Lim add another leg of the treble? Or will Glen Durrant become the latest cross code champion? Whoever claims the 2020 crown will have triumphed in a field containing more darting world champions than ever before.
A version of We are The Champions first appeared, with full graphics, in the guide below:
