1996 World Championship

The 1996 Vernons World Darts Championships was the third year that the Professional Darts Corporation (then known as the World Darts Council) held their own World Championships following an acrimonious split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992/93. The tournament had its third sponsor in as many years, with Vernons taking over from Proton Cars.

Although he hadn’t officially announced his retirement, Jocky Wilson had played his last competitive televised match at the World Matchplay in Blackpool in the summer of 1995 so missed out on the World Championship for the first time since the 1979 Embassy Championship. Nigel Justice and Steve Raw were the two English players making their WDC World Championship debuts.

Phil Taylor gained revenge for his 1994 final defeat against Dennis Priestley to retain his title - his fourth overall World Championship victory.

1st Round - Group Stages

Group 1
Gerald Verrier (USA) - Bob Anderson (Eng) 1 - 3
Gerald Verrier (USA) - Jamie Harvey (Sco) 2 - 3
Bob Anderson (Eng) - Jamie Harvey (Sco) 2 - 3

Group 2
Larry Butler (USA) - Nigel Justice (Eng) 3 - 2
Rod Harrington (Eng) - Nigel Justice (Eng) 3 - 0
Larry Butler (USA) - Rod Harrington (Eng) 3 - 2

Group 3
Eric Bristow (Eng) - Dennis Priestley (Eng) 0 - 3
Eric Bristow (Eng) - Richie Gardner (Eng) 3 - 2
Richie Gardner (Eng) - Dennis Priestley (Eng) 0 - 3

Group 4
Alan Warriner (Eng) - Graeme Stoddart (Eng) 3 - 2
Graeme Stoddart (Eng) - Steve Brown (USA) 2 - 3
Alan Warriner (Eng) - Steve Brown (USA) 3 - 0

Group 5
Peter Evison (Eng) - Gary Mawson (Can) 3 - 0
Steve Raw (Eng) - Gary Mawson (Can) 3 - 0
Peter Evison (Eng) - Steve Raw (Eng) 3 - 2

Group 6
John Lowe (Eng) - Dennis Smith (Eng) 3 - 0
Dennis Smith (Eng) - Tom Kirby (USA) 1 - 3
John Lowe (Eng) - Tom Kirby (USA) 3 - 2

Group 7
Sean Downs (USA) - Kevin Spiolek (Eng) 3 - 0
Keith Deller (Eng) - Kevin Spiolek (Eng) 3 - 2
Sean Downs (USA) - Keith Deller (Eng) 1 - 3

Group 8
Phil Taylor (Eng) - Shayne Burgess (Eng) 3 - 0
Shayne Burgess (Eng) - Cliff Lazarenko (Eng) 3 - 1
Phil Taylor (Eng) - Cliff Lazarenko (Eng) 3 - 0

Quarter Finals

Jamie Harvey - Larry Butler 4-0
Dennis Priestley - Alan Warriner 4-1
Peter Evison - John Lowe 2-4
Keith Deller - Phil Taylor 0-4

Semi Finals

Jamie Harvey - Dennis Priestley 1-5
John Lowe - Phil Taylor 1-5

Final

Dennis Priestley - Phil Taylor 4-6
-wikipedia