David Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments, he was twice a winner of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985) and lost to Eric Bristow in two World Championship finals in 1984 and 1986.

Dave Whitcombe
Whitcombe in 1985
Personal information
Full nameDavid Whitcombe
Born (1954-06-27) 27 June 1954 (age 70)
Chatham, Kent, England
Home townSittingbourne, Kent, England
Darts information
Darts22 Gram Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Can You Feel the Force?" by The Real Thing
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1978–1992
PDC2004–2007
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'shipRunner-up: 1984, 1986
World MastersWinner (2) 1982, 1985
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2006
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
Finnish Open
Swedish Open
British Matchplay
News of the World Ch'ship
1985
1985, 1987, 1990
1987

1989
Updated on 7 December 2007.

Early life

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Dave was born on 27 June 1954 in Chatham, Kent.[1] After leaving school at age 15, he worked as an apprentice electrician at Chatham Dockyard, often playing darts during lunchtime.[1] He joined a local team, and in his first season, won the league singles tournament.[2] At age 20, he was selected to play for Kent,[1] and in 1975, he quit his job to concentrate on entering darts tournaments.[1]

Darts career

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He made his debut in the 1978 BDO World Darts Championship.[3] He won the News of the World Darts Championship in 1989,[3] the British Matchplay, the Swedish Open 3 times, the Finland Open, the Marlboro Masters and Dunlop Masters tournaments.[3] He was also a prolific county and holiday camp open winner.[3]

He played for and captained Kent in the inter counties league, winning the BDO (Darts World Magazine Sponsored) Tons Trophy and individual averages.[3] In one season, he managed to win all 9 man of the match awards (5 consecutively),[1] beating 9 England International players in the process, earning him an England call-up in 1981.[1]

His overall World Championship record also included three quarter-final appearances in 1983, 1989, 1991, and the semi-finals in 1985.[3] Bristow must be considered as Whitcombe's nemesis at the World Championship.[3] In his 13 appearances at the championships, Whitcombe met Bristow six times and lost every time, including a quarter final in 1991 where Whitcombe lost 3–4 despite having been three sets and two legs up at one stage.[3] However, in other Major championships like the British Matchplay and the World Masters, Whitcombe defeated Bristow in both the semi and finals.[3] Whitcombe also defeated Phil Taylor in the first round of the 1988 British Professional, which was Taylor's first televised appearance, but lost in 2 finals, both to Jocky Wilson.[3]

Whitcombe helped form the players' association WPDPA (World Professional Dart Players' Association) with John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Tony Brown.[2] The association was set up with the intention of promoting more televised tournaments after the big slump of televised darts in 1989 and the early 1990s. Eventually this organisation linked up with the newly formed World Darts Council in 1992, and darts was soon split into two organisations.[2]

Whitcombe never actually joined the PDC darts circuit at its outset – choosing instead to virtually retire from the sport in 1992.[2] He made a comeback in 2004 – rejoining the PDPA and the PDC circuit.[2] In his comeback later, he managed to qualify for the 2006 PDC World Championship, losing to Roland Scholten in the first round.[4]

In May 2008, Whitcombe once again graced the big stage in a televised tournament, taking part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports, playing along with Bristow, Lowe, Lazarenko, Bobby George, Peter Evison, Keith Deller, and the eventual winner Bob Anderson. Whitcombe led the league after the first 4 weeks and was the standout player of the league at that time.[2] Whitcombe's form slumped in the following league weeks, but he still looked on course to cruise into the semi-finals as he was in second place after week 5 and in third place after week 6. However, on the final league night on week 7, due to his own loss to Deller and the match between Evison and Lazarenko ending in a draw, Whitcombe slumped to fifth and failed to reach the semi-final stage.[2]

World Championship results

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  • 1980: Second Round (lost to Bobby George 0–2)
  • 1981: Second Round (lost to Eric Bristow 0–2)
  • 1982: Second Round (lost to Steve Brennan 0–2)
  • 1983: Quarter-final (lost to Eric Bristow 3–4)
  • 1984: Final (lost to Eric Bristow 1–7)
  • 1985: Semi-final (lost to Eric Bristow 2–5)
  • 1986: Final (lost to Eric Bristow 0–6)
  • 1987: First Round (lost to Bob Sinnaeve 2–3)
  • 1988: First round (lost to Peter Evison 1–3)
  • 1989: Quarter-final (lost to Bob Anderson 3–4)
  • 1990: First Round (lost to Chris Whiting 2–3)
  • 1991: Quarter-finals (lost to Eric Bristow 3–4)
  • 1992: First Round (lost to Per Skau 1–3)

Career finals

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Independent major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1980 News of the World Championship   Stefan Lord 0–2 (l)
Winner 1. 1989 News of the World Championship   Dennis Priestley 2–1 (l)

Performance timeline

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Tournament 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993–2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
BDO World Championship DNP L16 L16 L16 QF RU SF RU L32 L32 QF L32 QF L32 DNP
Winmau World Masters L16 QF SF W ? L32 W QF L32 L32 QF L16 QF DNP L136 L72
British Professional Not held SF QF RU QF SF RU L16 SF Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held SF L16 L16 L16 L16 Not held
PDC World Championship Not yet founded L64 DNP
News of the World ??? RU ??? W ??? Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals RU lost in the final W won the tournament

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Dr Patrick Chaplin; Dr. Darts. "Dave Whitcombe". patrickchaplin.com. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Andy Fairclough. "An Interview With Dave Whitcombe". pdpa.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Forgotten Darters: Two-time World Master Whitcombe who lost two World Championship finals to Bristow". dartsnews.com. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Dave Whitcombe - Titles, trophies and places of honor". the-sports.org. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
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