John Part (born 29 June 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Darth Maple", he is a three-time World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, and the PDC World Championship in 2003 and 2008. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Part is statistically North America's greatest darts player to date. He was the first non-British player to win the World Championship, and the only non-European to date to win the PDC World Darts Championship.
Part's first Championship was the second time a non-seeded player won the BDO World Darts Championship, and one of the few times where a player only lost one set in the entire tournament. His nine-year gap between his first and second World Championships is tied with Ted Hankey for the longest gap between World Championships, and his third victory in 2008 saw him become the first player in history to win a world title in three venues, and the first to win at the Alexandra Palace. His 2008 win saw him join Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow, Raymond van Barneveld and John Lowe as the only players with three or more World Championships, and become only the second player (after Taylor) to win multiple PDC titles.
In 2017, he was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame.
Career 1987–1994: Beginnings and BDO World Championship Born in Toronto, Ontario, Part was given a dartboard by his parents as a Christmas present in 1987. Though television coverage of darts in Canada is rare and live coverage is almost non-existent, Part was still able to view the World Professional Darts Championship and the World Masters, where he would learn his game from some of the most famous champions in the sport, particularly Bob Anderson. Part began playing pub games in 1989, and he won his first significant title at the Syracuse Open in 1991 and became a professional in the same year. Soon, he was representing Canada in the WDF World Cup. Part has stated that he was 'produced as a darts player by the North American game', and that his experiences playing against some of the greatest North American players of the time gave him the capability of winning world championships.
By 1993, Part was Canada's highest ranked player and was competing in prestigious events sanctioned by the British Darts Organisation. A significant win soon came in the 1993 WDF World Cup, where he and Carl Mercer won the Pairs Championship for Canada. Nevertheless, when he qualified for the 1994 BDO World Championship, he was still a relative unknown. This was the first BDO World Championship since the acrimonious split in darts, and, as a result, the field included many newcomers and debutants, including Part himself. In the first round Part defeated second seed Ronnie Baxter in straight sets, and thereafter swept through to the final beating Paul Lim, Steve McCollum and Ronnie Sharp dropping only one set en route. He faced the charismatic veteran Bobby George in the final and won 6–0 in sets. Little over six years after receiving his first dartboard, Part had won a World Championship; he was the first non-British player to do so, and he is one of the few players to win the tournament on their debut. Part's achievement of dropping only one set in winning a World Championship is only matched by Eric Bristow from the 1984 BDO World Darts Championship, and later by Phil Taylor in the 2001 PDC World Darts Championship.
1995–2000: Lean years and move to the PDC Part did not consolidate his early success during most of the 1990s. Despite more wins on the North American circuit, including the Canadian Open and Canadian National Championships in 1995, Part struggled to make an impact in the major tournaments in the United Kingdom after his 1994 BDO World Championship success at Lakeside. In the 1995 BDO World Championship, Part only won one match in defending his title; losing in the second round to Paul Williams. Part and Williams had another match in the first round of the 1996 BDO World Championship, this time with Part winning, but Part did not make it to the quarter-finals of the BDO World Championship again after 1994, nor did he reach the quarter-finals of the World Masters during his entire BDO career. Despite his initial whirlwind success, Part was struggling to reach the heady heights of his breakthrough win. In June 1997, Part left the British Darts Organisation and joined the rival Professional Darts Corporation, and has competed in PDC sanctioned events ever since then. In the 1997 World Matchplay, Part lost to Drew O'Neill 4–6.
Joining the PDC, however, did not initially provide the improvement Part hoped for. His performances in the major events continued to be indifferent, including early exits in the 1998 and 1999 PDC World Championships. The new millennium, however, brought small success for Part. Despite a quiet 2000 PDC World Championship, where he was eliminated in the round of sixteen, he had a smaller victory in the Eastbourne Open in 2000. Part then achieved his highest placing in a major PDC event by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2000 PDC World Grand Prix. These slightly improved results were only a harbinger, however, for what was to be the most storied and successful phase of Part's career.
2001–2003: PDC World Championship and World Number One The 2001 PDC World Darts Championship was a turning point in Part's career, even though he would lose in the final. Part comfortably advanced through the tournament until the semi-final, where he defeated Essex veteran Rod Harrington 6–5 to reach his first major PDC final. There he met Phil Taylor, who had won the last six world championships and was considered as darts' greatest ever player. It was Part's first meeting with Taylor in an official PDC match. Taylor, who had been in stunning form throughout the tournament, averaged 107.46 and had a 72% checkout rate in the final, now considered one of darts' most dominant showings; Part only won three legs in the entire match as Taylor stormed to a 7–0 win. Taylor's performance, described as 'ludicrous' by The Guardian, while simply regarded by darts commentator Sid Waddell as a 'vicious example of near perfection' and an 'annihilation', could have seriously affected Part's confidence. But it would only provide the Canadian with further motivation to challenge the best. Over the next two years, Part won a string of minor titles, rose to number two in the world rankings and developed a rivalry with Taylor that would define this stage of his career.
In the quarter-finals of the 2001 World Matchplay, Taylor beat Part 16–4. In the quarter-finals of the 2002 PDC World Championship, Part was again beaten by Taylor in a world championship, this time 6–0; Taylor went on to win his eighth consecutive world championship and his tenth world championship in all. However, Part gave Taylor a serious test in the 2002 World Matchplay final. In a first to 18 legs contest, Part led 16–15. But Taylor stunned the Canadian by winning three legs in a row to emerge an 18–16 winner in what is now regarded as a classic final. Part's wait for a first PDC major went on while Taylor's dominance continued. In October 2002, Part again reached a major final at the 2002 World Grand Prix, but the result was similar. This time Taylor comfortably defeated Part 7–3 in sets, although Part recovered from a slow start and a 1–5 deficit to give Taylor a challenge in the last 4 sets. Taylor and Part were now considered the two best players in the world, but there were serious doubts over whether Part could beat 'The Power' having already suffered five televised defeats, including two whitewashes in the World Championship and the close loss in the 2002 World Matchplay. Going into the 2003 PDC World Championship, Taylor was the heavy favourite. However, Taylor showed more vulnerabilities during the tournament than at the previous few world championships, with both Wayne Mardle and Dennis Smith winning 3 sets off of Taylor. Taylor also comfortably won an anticlimactic grudge match in the semi-final against Alan Warriner by 6–1. Part, as the number two seed, reached the final as well, with a 5–3 win over Jamie Harvey in the second round, with Part hitting a vital 161 checkout when it was 3–3 in sets and 2–2 in legs with Harvey waiting on 40. Part then crushed Chris Mason 5–0 in the quarter-finals, though Part's semi-final was considerably more difficult. In a testing game, Part defeated Essex-born Kevin Painter 6–4 in a match similar to his 2001 semi-final with Rod Harrington.
Prior to the final, the odds seemed against Part. He had lost 13 straight world championship sets to Taylor in the two years prior; and had lost all five of his televised matches against Taylor. Part had just come through a tiring semi-final against Painter, while Taylor had cruised through against Warriner. Finally, Taylor had won eight consecutive world championships and was on a 44-match winning streak in the tournament. Against the odds, Part announced his intentions immediately in the final; he checked out 121 on the bullseye in the first leg. Thereafter he stunned Taylor by racing into set leads of 3–0 and 4–1, but this only stirred Taylor into taking the next four sets and leading 5–4. Part took the next two sets to lead 6–5 and was one set away from the world title. Taylor then took the next set to take the match into a deciding set. In the deciding set, Part broke Taylor's throw and held his nerve to win the title with his first match dart. He had become world champion for the second time and ended Taylor's eight-tournament winning streak, inflicting Taylor's first defeat at the PDC World Championship since 1994.
The final is now regularly referred to as one of the greatest ever games of darts. Part has stated this win was the most special of all of his victories. Similar to his BDO World Championship achievement, Part was the first non-British player to win the PDC World Championship. He is also one of only four men to have won both versions of the darts world championship. With his victory, Part also ascended to world number one in the PDC world rankings.
2003–2005: Triumphs and regrets The three years following Part's second world championship victory were marked by two distinct and contrasting outcomes. First, Part secured a number of televised victories over his rival Taylor. However, he did not consolidate these victories in the major events, and did not win any major title from February 2003 through 2005. There were minor successes; Part won the first event he entered – the UK Open Southwest Regional Final – after his world championship victory, beating Taylor along the way, and later in 2003 added the Windy City Open and two Vauxhall Opens to his silverware collection. But the major titles were not forthcoming. Part recorded another victory over Taylor in the 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic semi-final, but lost in the final 16–12 in legs as Peter Manley took the crown. There were exits in the last sixteen of the 2003 UK Open and the 2003 World Matchplay, though Part made a second consecutive appearance in the World Grand Prix final. However, Taylor again comfortably defeated Part in this event, winning the final 7–2. At this point, Taylor had also retaken the world number one ranking from Part.