1995 World Championship

The 1995 Proton Cars World Darts Championships was the second year that the Professional Darts Corporation (then known as the World Darts Council, WDC) held their own World Championships following an acrimonious split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992/93. Proton Cars took over the sponsorship from Skol, who had sponsored the inaugural event in 1994.

Dennis Smith and Shayne Burgess made their debuts at the PDC tournament in 1995. The American contingent was reduced from 8 players to 7 and English player Kevin Burrows was the other player to miss out.

The tournament saw Jocky Wilson’s last ever appearance in a World Championship - he had been unfortunate to be drawn in a tough group against John Lowe and Dennis Priestley in the group stages, losing both games. Wilson effectively retired from the sport after the 1995 World Matchplay in Blackpool later that year. Priestley, who was defending champion was also eliminated from this group - former champion Lowe beat him 3-0 and would go on to reach the semi-finals.

Phil Taylor emerged as champion, overcoming John Lowe 5-4 in an epic semi-final before beating Rod Harrington in the final to claim his first PDC title, his third World Championship in all.

1st Round - Group Stages

Group 1
Jerry Umberger - Bob Anderson 1 - 3
Richie Gardner - Jerry Umberger 3 - 1
Bob Anderson - Richie Gardner 3 - 1

Group 2
Phil Taylor - Gerald Verrier 3 - 2
Gerald Verrier - Sean Downs 0 - 3
Phil Taylor - Sean Downs 3 - 1

Group 3
Dennis Priestley - John Lowe 0 - 3
Jocky Wilson - Dennis Priestley 2 - 3
Jocky Wilson - John Lowe 0 - 3

Group 4
Dennis Smith - Alan Warriner 3 - 1
Tom Kirby - Alan Warriner 2 - 3
Dennis Smith - Tom Kirby 3 - 1

Group 5
Keith Deller - Kevin Spiolek 1 - 3
Keith Deller - Larry Butler 2 - 3
Larry Butler - Kevin Spiolek 0 - 3

Group 6
Peter Evison - Graeme Stoddart 3 - 2
Graeme Stoddart - Cliff Lazarenko 2 - 3
Peter Evison - Cliff Lazarenko 3 - 0

Group 7
Jamie Harvey - Steve Brown 3 - 1
Steve Brown - Jim Watkins 3 - 0
Jamie Harvey - Jim Watkins 3 - 2

Group 8
Rod Harrington - Eric Bristow 3 - 0
Eric Bristow - Shayne Burgess 3 - 0
Rod Harrington - Shayne Burgess 3 - 2

Quarter Finals

Bob Anderson - Phil Taylor 1-4
John Lowe - Dennis Smith 4-0
Kevin Spiolek - Peter Evison 1-4
Jamie Harvey - Rod Harrington 2-4

Semi Finals

Phil Taylor - John Lowe 5-4
Peter Evison - Rod Harrington 1-5

Final

Phil Taylor - Rod Harrington 6-2
-wikipedia