News of the World Darts Championship also the first year that separate competitions were held for men and women. The lack of televised darts coverage left some players frustrated by the lack of opportunity to make a living from darts, and in January 1992 they formed their own organisation to start up their own tournaments "(see main article: Professional Darts Corporation, and Split in darts)". The News of the World Championship made a one-year reappearance in the 1996/97 season, when Sky Sports and the News of the World resurrected the competition. In his autobiography, Phil Taylor says that his mentor, Eric Bristow always mocked him for
2018 PDC World Darts Championship record of 28 appearances he jointly held with John Lowe. Jamie Lewis became the first player to reach the semi-finals after entering the championship through a preliminary round event, first introduced at the 2004 Championship. Lewis eventually fell to Taylor in the semi-final, by a score of 6–1. The 2018 PDC World Darts Championship is the 25th World Darts Championship to be organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; and the tenth to be held at Alexandra Palace, London. It was held between 14 December 2017 and 1 January 2018, the culmination of the 2017 Professional Darts Corporation season. 72 players