David Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments, he was twice a winner of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985) and lost to Eric Bristow in two World Championship finals in 1984 and 1986.

Early life Whitcombe was born on 27 June 1954 in Chatham, Kent. After leaving school at age 15, he worked as an apprentice electrician at Chatham Dockyard, often playing darts during lunchtime. He joined a local team, and in his first season, won the league singles tournament. At age 20, he was selected to play for Kent, and in 1975, he quit his job to concentrate on entering darts tournaments.

Darts career He made his debut in the 1978 BDO World Darts Championship. He won the News of the World Darts Championship in 1989, the British Matchplay, the Swedish Open three times, the Finland Open, the Marlboro Masters and Dunlop Masters tournaments. He was also a prolific county and holiday camp open winner.

He played for and captained Kent in the inter counties league, winning the BDO (Darts World Magazine Sponsored) Tons Trophy and individual averages. In one season, he managed to win all nine man of the match awards (five consecutively), beating nine England International players in the process, earning him an England call-up in 1981.

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 six times and lost every time, including a quarter-final in 1991 where Whitcombe lost 3–4, having been three sets and two legs up at one stage. In other Major championships like the British Matchplay and the World Masters, Whitcombe defeated Bristow in both the semi and finals. Whitcombe defeated Phil Taylor in the first round of the 1988 British Professional, which was Taylor's first televised appearance, but lost in two finals, both to Jocky Wilson.

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 after the big slump of televised darts in 1989 and the early 1990s. Eventually this organisation linked up with the newly formed World Darts Council in 1992, and darts was soon split into two organisations.

Whitcombe never actually joined the PDC darts circuit at its outset – choosing instead to virtually retire from the sport in 1992. He made a comeback in 2004 – rejoining the PDPA and the PDC circuit. In his comeback later, he qualified for the 2006 PDC World Championship, losing to Roland Scholten in the first round.

In May 2008, Whitcombe took 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 after the first 4 weeks and was the standout player of the league at that time. Whitcombe's form slumped in the following league weeks, but he still looked on course to reach the semi-finals as he was in second place after week five and in third place after week six. On the final league night on week seven, due to his own loss to Deller and the match between Evison and Lazarenko ending in a draw, Whitcombe dropped to fifth and failed to reach the semi-final stage.

World Championship results BDO 1980: Second Round (lost to Bobby George 0–2) (sets) 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)

Career finals BDO Whitcombe appeared in BDO major finals 9 times with a record of 3 wins and 6 runners-up. Legend World Championship (0–2) World Masters (2–0) British Professional (0–2) British Matchplay (1–2)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score(l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.Winner 1. 1982 Winmau World Masters (1) Jocky Wilson 2–1 (s)Runner-up 1. 1982 British Matchplay Eric Bristow 0–2 (s)Runner-up 2. 1983 British Professional Championship Jocky Wilson 2–7 (s)Runner-up 3. 1984 World Darts Championship Eric Bristow 1–7 (s)Winner 2. 1985 Winmau World Masters (2) Ray Farrell 3–0 (s)Runner-up 4. 1986 World Darts Championship Eric Bristow 0–6 (s)Runner-up 5. 1986 British Matchplay Eric Bristow 1–3 (s)Runner-up 6. 1986 British Professional Championship Jocky Wilson 6–7 (s)Winner 3. 1987 British Matchplay Eric Bristow 3–0 (s)

Independent major finals: 2 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1980 News of the World Championship Stefan Lord 0–2 (l)Winner 1. 1989 News of the World Championship Dennis Priestley 2–1 (l) Note

Performance timeline Tournament 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993–2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 DNPL16L16L16QFRUSFRUL32L32QFL32QFL32DNP Winmau World MastersL16QFSFWL64L32WQFL32L32QFL16QFDNPL136L72 British MatchplayDid not playRUQFQFQFRUWQFQFDid not playNot held British ProfessionalNot heldSFQFRUQFSFRUL16SFNot held Butlins Grand MastersDNPSFL16QFSFQFQFL16Not held MFI World MatchplayNot heldSFL16L16L16L16Not held PDC World ChampionshipNot yet foundedL64DNP ???RU???L16???W???Not held

+ WDF majors performances Tournament Event Euro Cup 1982 World Cup 1983 Euro Cup 1984 World Cup 1985 Euro Cup 1986 WDF World Cup & WDF Europe Cup Singles rowspan=4 Pairs Team Overall

References

External links Dave Whitcombe Interview After Epic Match With Jocky Wilson 1984 World Darts Championship