I'm a darts Hall of Famer and the first non-Brit to win the PDC World Championship

The Sun
 
I'm a darts Hall of Famer and the first non-Brit to win the PDC World Championship

JOHN PART created history when he won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2003.

He ended Phil Taylor's run of eight consecutive world title victories and became the first non-Brit to become world champion.

Part, 57, beat Taylor 7-6 in the final at the Circus Tavern and earned £237,000 in prize money.

If not for that win, Taylor would have won 12 world championship titles in a row.

Five years later Prat again claimed glory, winning the first World Darts Championship held at Ally Pally.

The Canadian also won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1994 and remains the only non-European to taste victory.

Despite that, he was left out of the gallery of champions, with giant murals of Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld instead featuring on the walls of Ally Pally in 2012.

Part, who is nicknamed Darth Maple, fumed at the time, branding his omission an "insult".

He said: “What does it mean to win this title if they are not going to respect your achievement afterwards?

“It sounds pretty vain now, but when you are in the middle of the match and you are looking around, there has always been every champion on the wall here previously.

“When you were the first guy to have won it in this venue and you are not there, it is pretty conspicuous. I had to fight hard not think about it and get on with my business.

“It is not nice and, I deserve better. Who wouldn’t take it personally? How many double champions are there here?

“There are three two-time PDC champions in this world, and I am one of them. I should be up there with those other guys.

“I don’t care whose mistake it is - it’s an insult. And if it is a mistake, maybe I have to take it on the chin. But when it comes to this tournament, no one is as good as Phil, Adrian and me because we have won it at least twice.”

Part last competed in the World Darts Championship in 2015 and now features at the tournament in a punditry capacity working for Sky Sports.

But he does still play on the World Seniors Tour when he walks out to Star Wars' The Imperial March - Darth Vader's theme.