1978 BDO World Darts Championship
Embassy World Darts Championship Tournament information Dates 6–10 February 1978 Venue Heart of the Midlands Club Location Nottingham Country England Organisation(s) BDO Format Legs Final – best of 21 Prize fund £10,500 Winners share £3,000 High checkout 161 Stefan Lord 161 Leighton Rees Champion(s) Leighton Rees 1979» The 1978 Embassy World Darts Championship was the first World Darts Championships. [1] The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation who had already set up the WDF World Cup and Winmau World Masters in its five years since formation. This was the only year that the tournament was played in a matchplay format of legs, rather than sets which came into operation from 1979 onwards. BBC Television covered the event and began a long broadcasting partnership with the BDO. Sid Waddell was the lead commentator on the tournament which he would cover for the BBC until 1994. The championships became possible when Mike Watterson, a snooker promoter, came up wi