Leighton Rees
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Leighton Rees
Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship and was a former World No. 1 player. He was one of the sport's most successful players throughout the 1970s, and retired from the game in 1991. Early life Rees was born in hospital in Mountain Ash and grew up in the village of Ynysybwl, Glamorgan, where he spent most of his life. He attended the local Mill Street School in Pontypridd where one of his teachers famously declared on his report card that he would be "good only for reading the sports pages of the South Wales Echo". After leaving school he found work in the store room of a motor spares company, a job he did for over twenty years until he became a professional darts player in 1976. It was during his time working as a store man that Leighton found the sport of darts, becoming a regular for his loca ...
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Ynysybwl
Ynysybwl ( cy, Ynys-y-bŵl ) is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly north-north-west of Cardiff, north of Pontypridd and south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community of Ynysybwl and Coed-y-Cwm. Cwm Clydach is flanked by the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys. The market town of Pontypridd lies to the south at the meeting point of the three valleys; and to the north lies the large Llanwynno forestry. Before the local government reforms of 1996 Ynysybwl was in the Cynon Valley district of Morgannwg Ganol, and the area is historically a part of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). Name There is uncertainty over the meaning of the name of the village. ''Ynys'' means 'island' or 'river meadow' in Welsh and probably refers to such a meadow on the banks of the Clydach stream. The 'bŵl' element is more difficult. Some theories include 'bowl/ball' ee 'bŵl' GPCpossibly a reference to the shape of the river-meadow or to a han ...
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Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (''mawr'' large) and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley (''bach'' small) – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised sixteen Community (Wales), communities. Since 1996 these sixteen communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Rhondda (Senedd constituency), Senedd constituency and Rhondda (UK Parliament constituency), Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its histo ...
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John Lowe (darts Player)
John Lowe (born 21 July 1945) is an English former professional darts player. Along with Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson, he was known for dominating darts during the 1980s. Lowe was world champion on three occasions, in 1979, 1987 and 1993. He was also a two-time winner of the Winmau World Masters and a two-time World Cup singles champion. In total, Lowe won 15 BDO and WDF majors. He held the World No. 1 ranking on four occasions. In October 1984, he became the first player to hit a televised nine-dart finish. Lowe is one of only six players to have won the World Championship three or more times, and was the first person to win it in three separate decades; along with Phil Taylor, he remains one of only two players to achieve this. Amidst growing dissatisfaction with the British Darts Organisation, Lowe was also one of 16 players who in 1993 broke away to form their own governing body, the World Darts Council (now known as the Professional Darts Corporation). Caree ...
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Nicky Virachkul
Nicholas "Nick" Virachkul (June 3, 1948 – April 17, 1999) was an American professional darts player who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Personal life Nicky Virachkul was born in Thailand, studied in the United States and became a naturalized citizen. Darts career Virachkul represented the United States internationally in dart tournaments. He competed at the first Embassy World Darts Championship in 1978, losing narrowly by 7–8 in the semi-final to eventual champion, Leighton Rees. He won third place in a play-off by defeating Stefan Lord. Virachakul reached the quarter-finals on three other occasions: in 1981 (losing to Eric Bristow), 1982 (losing to Bobby George) and 1984 (losing to Dave Whitcombe). Despite his respectable record, it was nevertheless a surprise when he defeated the defending World Champion, Keith Deller, in the first round of the 1984 World Championship. Deller had his revenge in the first round the following year. The 1985 championship was Virachkul' ...
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Barry Atkinson
Barry Atkinson (14 December 1937 – 13 December 2021) was an English-born Australian professional darts player. Nicknamed Bazza, he competed in events of the 1970s and 1980s. Darts career Atkinson played in the 1977 Winmau World Masters where he lost in the last 16 stage to Paul Reynolds who went on to reach the final and lose to Eric Bristow. He played in the inaugural BDO World Darts Championship in 1978, but lost in the first round 6–0 in legs to eventual champion Leighton Rees from Wales. He returned the next year, but again lost in the first round to Ceri Morgan from Wales in 1979. Atkinson left the BDO in December 1988. He later released the book ''Getting to the Point'', which would help the average darts player to improve their game through techniques, tactics and training. World Championship results BDO * 1978: Last 16: (lost to Leighton Rees 0–6) (legs) * 1979: Last 24: (lost to Ceri Morgan Ceri Rhys Morgan (22 December 1947 – 29 February 2020 ) was a ...
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Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries. The city is also the county town of Nottinghamshire and the settlement was granted its city charter in 1897, as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination; in 2018, the city received the second-highest number of overnight visitors in the Midlands and the highest number in the East Midlands. In 2020, Nottingham had an estimated population of 330,000. The wider conurbation, which includes many of the city's suburbs, has a population of 768,638. It is the largest urban area in the East Midlands and the second-largest in the Midlands. Its Functional Urban Area, the largest in the East Midlands, has a population of 919,484. The popula ...
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World Professional Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game. Each organisation, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) then arranged their own World Championships, the former in January the latter in December. As a result, there was no longer was an unified world champion in the sport for nearly three decades. The BDO version dated back to 1978, when it was held at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub, Nottingham. The following year it moved to the Jollees Cabaret Club, Stoke, where it stayed until 1985. From then until 2019 it was held at the Lakeside Leisure Complex at Frimley Green, Surrey. In 2020 the tournament was held at The O2 Arena in London. The BDO went into liquidation in 2020 and the World Darts Federation announced later tha ...
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WDF World Cup Darts
The WDF World Cup is a major darts tournament organized by the World Darts Federation and has been held biennially since 1977. The tournament has featured men's events since the beginning, while women's events were added in 1983 and youth events in 1999. The 2019 World Cup was held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The event used to be broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom, but coverage of the tournament ceased after the 1987 World Cup. __TOC__ Tournament structure Men's national teams participating in the WDF World Cup consist of four players per country, competing as singles, pairs and in a four-player team event. Starting in 2015, women's teams will also consist of four players each and compete in these three types of events, having previously comprised only two players for singles and pairs competitions. Youth teams have been expanded as well and will now include two male and two female players under the age of 18 who compete in their respective singles and pairs competitions as well ...
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Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million. The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort ('' castra'') of ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically part of Lancashire, areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century, including Wythenshawe in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchest ...
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Bill Lennard
Bill Lennard (21 June 1934 – 6 August 1996) was an English professional darts player from Manchester. Darts career Lennard played county darts for Lancashire and there are some minor county events that use his name in memorial tournaments. He enjoyed a successful year in 1976 by winning the prestigious News of the World Darts Championship (representing the Cotton Tree Inn, Manchester), the British Matchplay and the Swedish Open. The World Professional Darts Championship did not begin until two years later, Lennard made his debut at the championships in 1979 but lost his first round match to Tony Clark. His best run at the World Championships came in 1980 when he reached the quarter-finals, but was beaten by Tony Brown. Tony Clark again beat Lennard in the first round in 1981 and his last appearance in the World Championship came in 1982 when he was beaten by John Lowe. Lennard was part of the England team which won the WDF World Cup in 1979. World Championship results B ...
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Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowledged as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket's history, Trueman deployed a genuinely fast pace and was widely known as "Fiery Fred". He was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career. Together with Brian Statham, he opened the England bowling for many years and they formed one of the most famous bowling partnerships in Test cricket history. Trueman was an outstanding fielder, especially at leg slip, and a useful late order batsman who made three first-class centuries. He was awarded his Yorkshire county cap in 1951 and in 1952 was elected " Young Cricketer of the Year" by the Cricket Writers' Club. For his performances in the 1952 season, he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1953 edition of ''Wisden Cr ...
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Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest authority with city status in Wales, and seventh most populous overall. Newport became a unitary authority in 1996 and forms part of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area. Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839. Newport has been a port since medieval times when the first Newport Castle was built by the Normans. The town outgrew the earlier Roman town of Caerleon, immediately upstream and now part of the borough. Newport gained its first charter in 1314. It grew significantly in the 19th century when its port became the focus of coal exports from the eastern South Wales Valleys. Newport was the largest coal exporter in Wales until the rise of Cardiff in the mid-180 ...
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