With the PDC World Championship fast approaching, I thought I would take a look at some of the quirkier facts about the tournament. I've certainly learned a thing or two.
1. Sibling Rivalry
Several sets of siblings have played at the PDC World Championship. Ronny and Kim Huybrechts of Belgium actually played each other in 2014. Austrian players Rowby-John and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez have also appeared. Uniquely is Al and Deta Hedman. The only brother and sister to appear at the event. Al Hedman represented Jamaica, while sister, Deta represented England.
2. Age Not A Factor
Although Luke Littler is the most famous young player at the PDC Championship, the record for the youngest player goes to the Australian, Mitchell Clegg He won the 2007 Oceanic Masters title at the age of just 15 years, 345 days,thus becoming the youngest player ever to qualify for the PDC World Championship.
On the flip side the oldest player to win a World Championship was Phil Taylor in 2013. The oldest to play in a PDC World Championships is Asian darts legend Paul Lim, who was 67 when he competed in the 2022 event.
3. Nine-Darters
There have been 16 nine-dart finishes at the PDC World Championships. Only Raymond van Barneveld of the Netherlands, has hit two in the competition.
Another Dutchman, Jelle Klaasen, has the unfortunate record as the only player to have two World Championship nine-darters, hit against him.
4. A Global Tournament
Since its inception in 1994, the PDC World Championship has seen (or will see) representatives from nearly 50 nationalities. Europe lead the way, with 27 nationalities, and Asia have had 10. All other continents (except Antarctica, of course) have had representatives. Some countries you may not have expected include Barbados, Jamaica ,Zimbabwe and South Korea.
The 2026 edition will feature debut appearances from Kenya and Argentina, as the darts world expands even more.
5. England Dominates
As far as PDC World Championship finals are concerned, the English are by far the biggest representatives with 42 out of 64 finalists are English. Phil Taylor alone makes up 19 of these!
Next come Netherlands with 9 and Scotland just behind on 8.
Canada, Australia and Wales make up the rest of final representative nations.
6. Cross-Overs
Some players have been successful in other sports apart from darts. Perhaps the most well-known is Gerwyn Price, who played professional rugbu union, prior to taking up full time darts.
However he is not the only multi-talented player:
Mensur Suljovic played competitive table tennis in Austria before turning to darts.
Devon Petersen was part of a professional dance crew in South Africa
Laurence Ryder played semi-professional rugby league in Australia.
So there you have it, some facts to share or test your friends with. I hope you enjoed reading them .I'm sure I'll be back with more soon!
