Dave Whitcombe and Lazarenko ending in a draw, Whitcombe slumped to fifth and failed to reach the semi final stage. Whitcombe failed to qualify for the 2010 Lakeside World Darts Championship and the 2009 Winmau World Masters. Dave Whitcombe Dave Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954 in Kent) is an English retired professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals. He had a long professional career between 1980 and 1992. Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985) and lost to Eric Bristow in the World Championship finals of 1984 and 1986.
News of the World Darts Championship the championship from 1972 to 1985, and again in 1987 and 1988. The 1986 event wasn't broadcast due to a technicians' strike. As quickly as darts tournaments began to appear on television throughout the 1970s and into the early and mid 1980s, the bubble burst and all darts competitions except the World Championship disappeared from TV screens in 1989. This big sudden slump in televised darts coverage meant that it came as no surprise that the News of the World Championship also ended after the 1990 event, with the last two events having been untelevised. As it happened, 1990 was