Dave Whitcombe

Dave Whitcombe
Personal information
Born	27 June 1954 (1954-06-27) (age 57) Chatham, Kent, England
Home town	England
Darts information
Darts	-
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Welcome to the Jungle by Guns 'n' Roses
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1979 to 1992
PDC	2004 to 2007
Current world ranking	N/A
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship	Runner-up 1984, 1986
World Masters	Winner 1982, 1985
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 64 2006
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
News of the World Ch'ship Swedish Open Finnish Open	1989 1985, 1987, 1990 1985
Updated on 7 December 2007.

Dave Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals. He had a long professional career between 1980 and 1992.

Biography

Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985) and lost to Eric Bristow in the World Championship finals of 1984 and 1986. He also won the News of the World Darts Championship in 1989, the British Matchplay, the Swedish Open 3 times, the Finland Open, the Marlboro Masters and Dunlop Masters tournaments. He was also a prolific county and holiday camp open winner.

His overall World Championship record also included three quarter-final appearances in 1983, 1989, 1991 and the semi-finals in 1985. Bristow must be considered as Whitcombe's nemesis at the World Championship. In his 13 appearances at the championships, Whitcombe met Bristow 6 times and lost every time.

Whitcombe helped form the players' association WPDPA (World Professional Dart Players` Association) with John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Tony Brown. The association was set up with the intention of promoting more televised tournaments. Eventually this led to the formation of the World Darts Council and would split the game into two organisations.

Whitcombe never actually joined the PDC darts circuit at its outset - choosing instead to virtually retire from the sport. He made a comeback in 2004 - rejoining the PDPA and the PDC circuit. He managed to qualify for the 2006 PDC World Championship, losing to Roland Scholten in the first round. After that he failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championship and only competed at one PDC Pro Tour event during 2007 - the UK Open Southern Regional in March.

In May 2008 Whitcombe once again graced the big stage in a televised tournament, taking part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports, playing along with Bristow, Lowe, Lazarenko, Bobby George, Peter Evison, Keith Deller, and the eventual winner Bob Anderson. Whitcombe led the league to a number of weeks but ultimately failed to reach the semi-finals.

Whitcombe failed to qualify for the 2010 Lakeside World Darts Championship and the 2009 Winmau World Masters.

World Championship Results

BDO

• 1980: Second Round (lost to Bobby George 0-2)
• 1981: Second Round (lost to Eric Bristow 0-2)
• 1982: Second Round (lost to Steve Brennan 0-2)
• 1983: Quarter Final (lost to Eric Bristow 3-4)
• 1984: Final (lost to Eric Bristow 1-7)
• 1985: Semi Final (lost to Eric Bristow 2-5)
• 1986: Final (lost to Eric Bristow 0-6)
• 1987: First Round (lost to Bob Sinnaeve 2-3)
• 1988: First round (lost to Peter Evison 1-3)
• 1989: Quarter Final (lost to Bob Anderson 3-4)
• 1990: First Round (lost to Chris Whiting 2-3)
• 1991: Quarter Finals (lost to Eric Bristow 3-4)
• 1992: First Round (lost to Per Skau 1-3)

PDC

• 2006: First Round (lost to Roland Scholten 1-3)

External links

• Superstars of Darts Interview with Whitcombe
• Whitcombe Profile darts database

Persondata
Name	Whitcombe, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 June 1954
Place of birth	England
Date of death
Place of death