The 2008 Winmau World Masters (in association with JJB Sports) will once again be the richest  two-day tournament on terrestrial TV when it is broadcast live by BBC TV Sport over the weekend of Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th.

The BBC scheduled dates for the two most prestigious televised Championships in World Darts: the 35th BDO WINMAU WORLD MASTERS (played annually since 1974) and the 32nd BDO LAKESIDE WORLD PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS (played annually since 1978) are as follows:

This is a press release for the First play off tournament, the Champions League of Darts held at Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee on 13 September.  Hotel Zuiderduin, DDT Events and the Dutch Darts Bond (NDB) create with this event a chance for Dutch darts players to compete on world events like the Zuiderduin Masters and Winmau World Masters.

On behalf of the British Darts Organisation it is my sad duty to report the passing away of ELLIE HINDLE, a wonderful lady who the BDO worked closely with for many years at Pontin’s, Brean Sands.

Her happy, smiling face and wonderfully positive personality initially gave her the strength to fight cancer, but in the end that dreadful illness beat her.

Her funeral will take place at Weston-super-Mare Crematorium on Friday, September 19th at 11AM.  There will be a Humanist Service and mourners have been asked not to wear black, but to attend in brightly coloured clothes to commemorate the passing of a lovely lady.

Flowers and cards can be sent to Burnham Funeral Services, 97, Oxford Street, Burnam-on-Sea, Somerset (01278-795009) or via the florist being used by Ellie’s family: Rosemarie’s Florist on 01278-784446.

The Spa, Bridlington will welcome its biggest ever entry of darts players for the 2008 BDO British Open Men’s and Women’s Singles on Saturday, September 20th.

There will be a grand total of 626 men in the opening line-up, which is up 150 players and represents a massive 25% year on year increase. Entries for the Women’s Singles takes the grand total to 800 players – which means that there will be 798 competitive darts matches in one day of world-class darts at The Spa!

Booking forms are now available for the 2008 Northern Ireland Open to be held in Newry Co. Down on the 7-9th November next.
The Tournament is both WDF and IDPA ranked and now carries BDO Category B
Points allocation. Those wishing to travel to the tournament please contact the office.
Singles are played on Saturday, Pairs on Sunday and there is a Mixed Pairs Tournament on the Friday evening.

The 2008 BDO BRITISH OPEN MEN’S SINGLES will provide a truly exciting climax to the first ever BDO International Grand Prix Series when it is played at The Spa, Bridlington on Saturday, September 20th.

John Smith’s, an official sponsor of the BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships, is launching a groundbreaking amateur darts tournament that will give club and pub players the chance to take centre stage at the 2009 World Championships and play to win a £15,000 prize for charity, £1,000-worth of games equipment for their ‘local’, plus a week in Spain for two people at the BDO Torremolinos Open next March.

In this, the 35th Anniversary Year (1973 to 2008) of the British Darts Organisation, I am proud to say that the BDO has never lost sight of its original mission statement to provide darts for all those competing or involved in this great sport of ours - irrespective of age, gender, colour, creed or ability.

The cut-off date in the BDO Invitation Tables for the 2009 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships will be the day after the New Zealand Masters – October 13th, 2008.

This means that BDO and WDF players have the opportunity to earn valuable ranking points in the following events:

The 2009 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships will be played at Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green from Saturday, January 3rd to Sunday, January 11th 2009 and televised by BBC Sport.

The first tournament to be included in the BDO Invitation Tables for the 2010 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships will be the Klondike Open to be played in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on October 10 to the 12, 2008.

198 votes were cast for our first mini poll based on the question “Should all matches be started with a bull-up”

The final results were:-

TOTAL VOTES  198            VOTING YES 158 (80%)   VOTING NO 40 (20%)