2001 PDC World Darts Championship Rod Harrington also went through, the home man winning 3–0 against Graeme Stoddart. Jamie Harvey continued his run at the Circus, defeating former champion John Lowe by 3–0. After a day off for New Year's Eve, The World Darts Championships started 2001 at the quarter-final stage. Matches now had been extended to the best of 7 sets (first to 4) for the quarter-finals and this is where the potential champions begin to show their proper darts. Phil Taylor continued his march to his 9th crown with a 4–0 whitewash of 1983 world champion Keith Deller, who played well short of
PDC World Darts Championship Sid Waddell, who died in 2012. The PDC championship began in 1994 as the WDC World Darts Championship as one of the consequences of the split in darts, which saw the World Darts Council break away from the BDO. As a result of the settlement between the BDO and the WDC in 1997, the WDC became the PDC, and players are now free to choose which world championship to enter (but not both in the same year), as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria. The current PDC champion is Rob Cross. With 14 wins from 25 appearances, Phil Taylor