1981 BDO World Darts Championship

The 1981 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fourth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. The field was expanded from 24 to 32 players, the format which would remain for many years. For the third successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.

1981 Embassy World Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates	10–17 January 1981
Venue	Jollees Cabaret Club
Location	Stoke-on-Trent
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BDO
Format	Sets Final – best of 9
Prize fund	£23,300
Winner's share	£5,500
High checkout	170 Tony Brown
Champion(s)
Eric Bristow
«1980 1982»

Eric Bristow was back to defend his title and would face John Lowe the champion of two years previously in the final. The final was the best of nine sets, but there was a break scheduled after three sets where the third-fourth place play-off match would be held.

Lowe ran away with the first two sets without dropping a leg and took the first leg in the third set before Bristow finally got onto the scoreboard. The "Crafty Cockney" held on to take that third set to go into the break just one set behind. As in the previous year's final, Bristow edged ahead to lead 4–3 in sets and Lowe (as Bobby George did in 1980) had darts to take the match into a final set. However Lowe missed three attempts at double ten and Bristow took out double four to win the title for the second year running.

Seeds

1. Eric Bristow
2. Tony Brown
3. John Lowe
4. Bobby George
5. Cliff Lazarenko
6. Ceri Morgan
7. Jocky Wilson
8. Nicky Virachkul
9. Rab Smith
10. Stefan Lord
11. Leighton Rees
12. Len Heard
13. Bill Lennard
14. Allan Hogg
15. Luc Marreel
16. Dave Whitcombe

Prize money

The prize fund was £22,800.

Champion: £5,500

Runner-Up: £2,500

3rd Place: £600

Semi-Finalists (2): £1,200

Quarter-Finalists (4): £750

Last 16 (8): £500

Last 32 (16): £300

There was also a 9-Dart Checkout prize of £52,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £500.

Results

Preliminary round

A best of three sets preliminary round match took place between Steve Brennan and Wayne Lock, as they were tied on the rankings.

Player	Score	Player
Wayne Lock	2–1	Steve Brennan
Gordon Allpress	2–0	Barry Atkinson

Last 32

	First round (best of 3 sets) 10–11 January					Second round (best of 3 sets) 12–13 January					Quarter-finals (best of 7 sets) 14–15 January					Semi-finals (best of 7 sets) 16 January					Final (best of 9 sets) 17 January
	1	Eric Bristow 94.89	2
		Terry O'Dea 82.29	0
						1	Eric Bristow 84.96	2
						16	Dave Whitcombe 79.23	0
	16	Dave Whitcombe 88.02	2
		Charlie Ellix 72.09	0
											1	Eric Bristow 90.33	4
											8	Nicky Virachkul 79.14	0
	8	Nicky Virachkul 83.34	2
		Tony Sontag 84.93	1
						8	Nicky Virachkul 79.59	2
						9	Rab Smith 81.48	0
	9	Rab Smith 86.91	2
	Q	Wayne Lock 78.75	1
																1	Eric Bristow 89.43	4
																5	Cliff Lazarenko 83.46	1
	5	Cliff Lazarenko 78.42	2
		Alan Hudson 57.18	0
						5	Cliff Lazarenko 95.16	2
							Jerry Umberger 77.82	0
	12	Len Heard 65.64	0
		Jerry Umberger 80.52	2
											5	Cliff Lazarenko 86.70	4
											4	Bobby George 81.93	0
	4	Bobby George 86.49	2
		Alistair Forrester 75.27	0
						4	Bobby George 80.76	2
							Tony Clark 75.12	0
	13	Bill Lennard 79.92	1
		Tony Clark 81.57	2
																					1	Eric Bristow 85.95	5
																					3	John Lowe 81.36	3
	2	Tony Brown 82.47	2
		Paul Gosling 79.44	1
						2	Tony Brown 79.05	2
						15	Luc Marreel 76.68	0
	15	Luc Marreel 74.58	2
		Jan Larsen 65.52	1
											2	Tony Brown 78.09	4
											7	Jocky Wilson 73.26	2
	7	Jocky Wilson 84.54	2
		Gordon Allpress 76.83	1
						7	Jocky Wilson 79.89	2
							Kevin White 81.06	1
	10	Stefan Lord 69.51	1
		Kevin White 67.56	2
																2	Tony Brown 88.50	1
																3	John Lowe 90.39	4
	6	Ceri Morgan 86.79	2
		Doug McCarthy 86.01	1
						6	Ceri Morgan 79.41	2
						11	Leighton Rees 76.86	1
	11	Leighton Rees 85.35	2
		Tim Brown 83.13	0
											6	Ceri Morgan 80.97	3
											3	John Lowe 82.80	4
	3	John Lowe 93.72	2
		Angus Ross 79.11	0
						3	John Lowe 77.49	2
						14	Allan Hogg 71.61	1
	14	Allan Hogg 70.59	2
		Les Capewell 72.75	0

Third place match (best of 3 sets) Cliff Lazarenko (5) 75.06 2– 1 Tony Brown (2) 75.42