1984 BDO World Darts Championship

[The Cat]

1984 saw a rampant Eric Bristow demolish the field on his route to the final without losing a single set on the way. He was unstoppable this year - whitewashing long-time rival John Lowe 6-0 in the semi-final recording a plus 95 average in doing so.
He met Dave Whitcome, seeded 3, in the final who had won a very tight semi against Jocky Wilson 6-5 but smashed him out of sight in the final, losing his only set of the tournament in a 7-1 victory to claim his 3rd World title with an average of over 97.

Results:

First Round
Rick Ney 2 V 1 Luc Marreel
Eric Bristow 2 V 0 Finn Jensen
Peter Locke 2 V 0 Russell Stewart
Malcolm Davis 2 V 1 Bobby George
John Joe O Shea 2 V 0 Alex MacKinnon
John Lowe 2 V 0 Tony Brown
Kexi Heinaharjo 2 V 1 Danny Inglis
Ceri Morgan 2 V 1 Cliff Lazarenko
Alan Glazier 2 V 1 Rab Scott
Jocky Wilson 2 V 0 Terry O Dea
Mike Gregory 2 V 0 Paul Lim
Stefan Lord 2 V 0 Bob Anderson
Gerry Haywood 2 V 0 Owen Thomas
Nicky Virachkul 2 V 1 Keith Deller
Steve Brennan 2 V 1 Kevin White
Dave Whitcombe 2 V 0 Bob Sinnaeve

2nd Round
Eric Bristow 4 V 0 Rick Ney
Peter Locke 4 V 3 Malcolm Davis
John Lowe 4 V 0 John Joe O Shea
Ceri Morgan 4 V 1 Kexi Heinaharjo
Jocky Wilson 4 V 0 Alan Glazier
Mike Gregory 4 V 1 Stefan Lord
Nicky Virachkul 4 V 0 Gerry Haywood
Dave Whitcombe 4 V 1 Steve Brennan

Quarter Final
Eric Bristow 5 V 0 Peter Locke
John Lowe 5 V 0 Ceri Morgan
Jocky Wilson 5 V 0 Mike Gregory
Dave Whitcombe 5 V 0 Nicky Virachkul

Semi Final
Eric Bristow 6 V 0 John Lowe
Dave Whitcombe 6 V 5 Jocky Wilson

Final
Eric Bristow 7 V 1 Dave Whitcombe

Prize fund £38,500
Winners share £9,000

[The Cat]

Vids to come.

[Hungry Coyote]

I believe that this was the WC that saw John Lowe, in his quarter final game with Ceri Morgan, throw for the Bull on two occasions when something like 250 ahead each time. This caused quite a stir amongst us players at the time as it just wasn't the done thing in those days. John Lowe lost a lot of respect from the Welsh boys, and a few others, that night. Good to have four Welshmen in the WC too.

[Bruce Terrett]

I believe that this was the WC that saw John Lowe, in his quarter final game with Ceri Morgan, throw for the Bull on two occasions when something like 250 ahead each time. This caused quite a stir amongst us players at the time as it just wasn't the done thing in those days. John Lowe lost a lot of respect from the Welsh boys, and a few others, that night. Good to have four Welshmen in the WC too.

Didn't he do the same thing against John Joe O'Shea in the previous round? It may have been leaving Bull finishes rather than the usual set-up for a double?

[Hungry Coyote]

He may well have done that to O'Shea. But believe me, he wasn't leaving bull finishes as an option. He was doing it to make his opponents look like mugs.

[Lee Taylor]

typical Lowe.

[Bruce Terrett]

Extract from 'The Crafty Cockney' by Deryck Brown
In this championship the British public saw a new face of John Lowe. In the second round he faced John Joe O'Shea, an Irishman, and he was feeling so good that he was tempted to stay on the hockey as long as possible. He had his eye on either a nine-dart check-out (worth £32,000) or the highest finish (worth £800). Lowe kept working his way to the bullseye and he hit each of the first four finishes he tried on it. He toyed with the idea of giving O'Shea a set to keep the match going but sensibly 'chickened out', to use his own expression. Next Lowe faced Ceri Morgan. He steamed comfortably ahead of this shy, unassuming man and then tried for some unconventional outshots. Once Lowe threw for, and hit, double 13 with his second dart; on another occasion, wanting 57, he went seven, bullseye. Lowe won 5-0. Some of the other players, including Bristow, did not like it.
'I thought he was taking the piss', said Morgan. Lowe was unrepentant. 'I've come to play exhibition darts', he said. 'It's the game I play 300 days a year. I can't always get double two and double four. I can get the bull. I respect Ceri, but he's got to accept that your opponent will rub your nose in it if he can at this stage in a world championship. If I'm in front against Eric, I'll do it.' Lowe was not in front against Bristow. He was not well, he had taken so many pills that he would have rattled had Bristow physically shaken him. It was probably the only time Lowe has played a really poor game in public. Bristow was at his unsympathetic best. 'I was going very well', he said. 'I reckon John gave up.'

[Hungry Coyote]

Extract from 'The Crafty Cockney' by Deryck Brown
In this championship the British public saw a new face of John Lowe. In the second round he faced John Joe O'Shea, an Irishman, and he was feeling so good that he was tempted to stay on the hockey as long as possible. He had his eye on either a nine-dart check-out (worth £32,000) or the highest finish (worth £800). Lowe kept working his way to the bullseye and he hit each of the first four finishes he tried on it. He toyed with the idea of giving O'Shea a set to keep the match going but sensibly 'chickened out', to use his own expression. Next Lowe faced Ceri Morgan. He steamed comfortably ahead of this shy, unassuming man and then tried for some unconventional outshots. Once Lowe threw for, and hit, double 13 with his second dart; on another occasion, wanting 57, he went seven, bullseye. Lowe won 5-0. Some of the other players, including Bristow, did not like it.
'I thought he was taking the piss', said Morgan. Lowe was unrepentant. 'I've come to play exhibition darts', he said. 'It's the game I play 300 days a year. I can't always get double two and double four. I can get the bull. I respect Ceri, but he's got to accept that your opponent will rub your nose in it if he can at this stage in a world championship. If I'm in front against Eric, I'll do it.' Lowe was not in front against Bristow. He was not well, he had taken so many pills that he would have rattled had Bristow physically shaken him. It was probably the only time Lowe has played a really poor game in public. Bristow was at his unsympathetic best. 'I was going very well', he said. 'I reckon John gave up.'

Great post Bruce. I've never read this before. Just shows a glimpse of the person Lowe really was. He had this amazing public persona but this proves that there was a nasty side to him. Bristow was the arrogant one but he had more respect for his fellow pros than to embarrass them in what was then the biggest tournament of them all.

[Bruce Terrett]

Extract from 'The Crafty Cockney' by Deryck Brown
In this championship the British public saw a new face of John Lowe. In the second round he faced John Joe O'Shea, an Irishman, and he was feeling so good that he was tempted to stay on the hockey as long as possible. He had his eye on either a nine-dart check-out (worth £32,000) or the highest finish (worth £800). Lowe kept working his way to the bullseye and he hit each of the first four finishes he tried on it. He toyed with the idea of giving O'Shea a set to keep the match going but sensibly 'chickened out', to use his own expression. Next Lowe faced Ceri Morgan. He steamed comfortably ahead of this shy, unassuming man and then tried for some unconventional outshots. Once Lowe threw for, and hit, double 13 with his second dart; on another occasion, wanting 57, he went seven, bullseye. Lowe won 5-0. Some of the other players, including Bristow, did not like it.
'I thought he was taking the piss', said Morgan. Lowe was unrepentant. 'I've come to play exhibition darts', he said. 'It's the game I play 300 days a year. I can't always get double two and double four. I can get the bull. I respect Ceri, but he's got to accept that your opponent will rub your nose in it if he can at this stage in a world championship. If I'm in front against Eric, I'll do it.' Lowe was not in front against Bristow. He was not well, he had taken so many pills that he would have rattled had Bristow physically shaken him. It was probably the only time Lowe has played a really poor game in public. Bristow was at his unsympathetic best. 'I was going very well', he said. 'I reckon John gave up.'

Great post Bruce. I've never read this before. Just shows a glimpse of the person Lowe really was. He had this amazing public persona but this proves that there was a nasty side to him. Bristow was the arrogant one but he had more respect for his fellow pros than to embarrass them in what was then the biggest tournament of them all.

Bearing in mind that it was written when Eric was at the peak of his powers, I would recommend you get hold of a copy. It's available on eBay amonst other places.