1980 BDO World Darts Championship

Embassy World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Venue	Jollees Cabaret Club
Location	Stoke-on-Trent
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BDO
Format	Sets Final – best of 9
Prize fund	£15,000
Winners share	£4,500
High checkout	161 Tony Sontag 161 Terry O'Dea
Champion(s)
Eric Bristow
«1979 1981»

The 1980 Embassy World Darts Championship was the third year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. Again the field was 24 players, with the top seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage. For the second successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.

Defending champion John Lowe, who had released a book The Lowe Profile just before the event suffered a surprise defeat 0–2 to Cliff Lazarenko saying afterwards "If you miss your doubles in this one, you must expect to go out." Eric Bristow was then immediately installed as favourite to win the event and would meet another flamboyant character of the game in the final – Bobby George.

George, who was not invited to the qualifiers the previous year appeared in a sequined shirt and when arriving on the stage was presented with a candelabra to complete a Liberace effect. He also made the early running in the final leading 1–0, 2–1 and 3–2. The first six sets all went to a deciding leg until Bristow won the seventh 3–1 to establish a 4–3 set lead. In the next set at 2–2 in legs, George had a golden opportunity to level the match and take it to a decider but bust his score and nonchalantly threw his third dart into the board before putting his darts into his top pocket in anticipation of Bristow checking out to win the title. Bristow did so.

Seeds

1. John Lowe
2. Eric Bristow
3. Tony Brown
4. Leighton Rees
5. Bobby George
6. Nicky Virachkul
7. Jocky Wilson
8. Ceri Morgan

Prize money

The prize fund was £15,000.

Champion: £4,500

Runner-Up: £2,000

3rd Place: £500

Semi-Finalists (2): £1,000

Quarter-Finalists (4): £500

Last 16 (8): £300

Last 24 (8): £200

The results

	Round 1 Best of 3 sets					Round 2 Best of 3 sets					Quarter-finals Best of 5 sets					Semi-finals Best of 7 sets					Final Best of 9 sets
		Paul Gosling 77.79	0			1	John Lowe 86.43	0
		Cliff Lazarenko 81.40	2				Cliff Lazarenko 89.04	2
												Cliff Lazarenko 86.79	3
											8	Ceri Morgan 86.70	1
		Allan Hogg 72.21	1	8	Ceri Morgan 76.38	2
		Alan Grant 77.19	2				Alan Grant 71.25	0
																	Cliff Lazarenko 84.27	1
															5	Bobby George 79.89	4
		Len Heard 76.17	0			5	Bobby George 91.20	2
		Dave Whitcombe 81.99	2				Dave Whitcombe 84.15	0
											5	Bobby George 75.39	3
											4	Leighton Rees 73.59	1
		Rab Smith 85.02	1	4	Leighton Rees 78.78	2
		Tony Sontag 84.151	2				Tony Sontag 81.93	0
																					5	Bobby George 86.49	3
																					2	Eric Bristow 88.11	5
		Alan Glazier 69.33	0			2	Eric Bristow 79.89	2
		Tony Clark 78.45	2				Tony Clark 79.23	0
											2	Eric Bristow 81.90	3
											7	Jocky Wilson 78.90	0
		Conrad Daniels 77.01	0	7	Jocky Wilson 82.11	2
		Doug McCarthy 74.25	2				Doug McCarthy 79.14	0
																2	Eric Bristow 86.22	4
															3	Tony Brown 86.28	3
		Stefan Lord 78.39	1			6	Nicky Virachkul 76.56	0
		Bill Lennard 75.57	2				Bill Lennard 82.80	2
												Bill Lennard 79.80	0
											3	Tony Brown 84.30	3
		Eric MacLean 81.72	1	3	Tony Brown 82.50	2
		Terry O'Dea 82.29	2				Terry O'Dea 76.77	0