1997 WDC World Darts Championship most successful players of all-time. The prize fund was £98,000. Peter Evison (4) 4 – 2 Eric Bristow This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship. Four countries were represented in the World Championship, one less than in the previous championship. 1997 WDC World Darts Championship The 1996/1997 Red Band World Darts Championship was held between 29 December 1996 and 5 January 1997 at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. It was the fourth World Championship organised by the World Darts Council, which had acrimoniously split from the British Darts Organisation in 1992–93. As a
1985 BDO World Darts Championship two years previously, set a new record for becoming the first player to average over 100 with his three darts during a match at the World Championship. His average of 100.30 was not enough to win his quarter-final against John Lowe, who averaged 97.83. Bristow almost matched this record in his semi-final victory over Dave Whitcombe. Bristow fell just short of a hundred, with an average of 99.66. In the final against Lowe, Bristow exactly equalled the then record for the highest average in a World Championship final, of 97.50, from the previous year's final of Bristow vs. Whitcombe. Total