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 The
Announcement
World's
leading darts manufacturer sponsors first ever world-wide
darts championship
A record number of nations will be competing for record
prize money in the first ever Unicorn World Darts Championship,
which is open to teams of two players. More than £10,000
in cash and prizes are on offer, with £2,000 going
to the winners of the final. The runner-up team will
receive £500 and each defeated team in the semi-finals
will collect £200. The winners will also hold
the magnificent Unicorn Trophy for one year. This is
a solid silver globe, surmounted by three solid gold
darts, which is valued at £3,000.
No less than 15 countries will be
taking part: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England,
Gibraltar, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, Scotland, South
Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and Wales. It will
be the first time that Australian, Canadian, Danish,
Maltese, Lebanese, South African or Swiss players have
visited Britain for an international darts competition.
The world final will take place next
Easter Sunday (30th March, 1975) at the West Centre
Hotel in London. The national finals for England, Scotland,
Ireland and Wales will be staged the previous day (Easter
Saturday) together with an invitation international
match which will provide a preliminary warm-up for all
visiting teams. The 'Unicorn Easter Weekend' will therefore
provide darts enthusiasts with an unprecedented feat
of top-class matches.
Match play will be under the exclusive
supervision of the British Darts Organisation, which
came into being just over two years ago. Under its general
secretary, Oliver Croft, the B.D.O. has become recognised
as the major influence in the promotion of 'top' darts
and the Unicorn World Darts Championship will enhance
this well-earned reputation.
Prizes (with a total value of more
than £2,400) will be divided among the winners
and runners-up of the 40 regional finals in Britain
and Ireland. Unicorn will also be providing free travel
to London and accommodation for the Unicorn Easter Weekend
for no less than eight people from each region. Both
members of the winning team will receive a de-luxe weekend
for two, so will the Unicorn stockist from whom they
buy their darts and the publican or club official for
whom they normally play. The entertainments will include
an all-star cabaret on the Saturday night, with dancing
to Acker Bilk (who also happens to be a fanatical darts
player).
Entries are now open and entry forms
will be available at clubs, pubs and sports shops throughout
the country within the next few days. By the closing
date (20th December, 1974) it is expected that the names
of more than 20,000 British and Irish darts players
will have been fed into the Unicorn Computer. The venue
of regional finals will be decided with the aid of the
computer, which will provide information on the number
of entries from each area.
It is estimated that 6½ million
people in Britain play darts regularly, making this
the largest participant sport in the country. Its popularity
is expending rapidly overseas and the total entry for
the Unicorn World Dart's Championship is expected to
involve 100,000 players (50,000 teams). Sixty percent
of the darts manufactured by Unicorn Products are already
sold overseas and Managing Director, Stanley Lowy, hopes
that the new Championship will stimulate the export
drive still further.
Unicorn, who make fifty percent of
the darts sold in Britain, produce over 2,000 items
for the game, including a staggering variety of 120
different types of dart barrels. A single year's production
of darts from their South London factory would stretch
all the way from John O'Groats to Land's End.
October 1974
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