John Part was born on 29 June 1966 and is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator.
56 Facts About John Part
2.
John Part has the distinction of being the first non-UK player to win the World Championship, and the only non-European to date to win the PDC World Darts Championship.
3.
Little over six years after receiving his first dartboard, John 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.
4.
John Part did not consolidate his early success during most of the 1990s.
5.
In June 1997, John Part left the British Darts Organisation and joined the rival Professional Darts Corporation, and has competed in PDC sanctioned events ever since then.
6.
John Part then achieved his highest placing in a major PDC event by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2000 PDC World Grand Prix.
7.
However, John Part gave Taylor a serious test in the 2002 World Matchplay final.
8.
John Part's wait for a first PDC major went on while Taylor's dominance continued.
9.
In October 2002, John Part again reached a major final at the 2002 World Grand Prix, but the result was similar.
10.
Taylor and John Part were now considered the two best players in the world, but there were serious doubts over whether John 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.
11.
John Part 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.
12.
John Part had just come through a tiring semi-final against Painter, while Taylor had cruised through against Warriner.
13.
John Part 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.
14.
John Part has stated this win was the most special of all of his victories.
15.
Similar to his BDO World Championship achievement, John Part was the first non-British player to win the PDC World Championship.
16.
John Part is one of only four men to have won both versions of the darts world championship.
17.
In 2004, John Part had much success in North America, where he again won the Canadian Open and Canadian National Championships, as well as winning the Golden Harvest North American Cup.
18.
However, John Part improved his game from the eleventh leg onwards, but losing the first 10 legs had left John Part with far too much to do.
19.
Nevertheless, John Part proved to be Taylor's only consistent challenger during this time.
20.
John Part avenged this defeat in July in the quarter-final in the 2005 World Matchplay.
21.
John Part's shaken status was not helped by a defeat in the third round of the 2006 PDC World Championship to Wayne Mardle.
22.
However, their match at the 2006 World Matchplay was anticlimactic throughout as Taylor played below average and John Part played poorly throughout.
23.
John Part reached three semi-finals of televised majors: US Open; the World Grand Prix, and the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
24.
The matchup recalled his 1994 final, though John Part had moved from novice to established veteran and Shepherd, this time, was the young debutant.
25.
John Part thus joined Taylor, van Barneveld, Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the fifth player to have won more than two world championships.
26.
The results hardly improved, as John Part's year was marked by early defeats in most televised tournaments despite his high seeding, most pointedly in the first round of the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic, a tournament that John Part had thrived in for many years.
27.
John Part dropped down the rankings and did not appear in the 2010 Premier League.
28.
In June 2010, John Part came through a large field of players to win the PDC North American Darts Championship in Las Vegas.
29.
John Part did not make the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts after Adrian Lewis surprisingly defeated Phil Taylor in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Grand Prix.
30.
John Part stated "he had nothing to lose" and that illness had stopped him reaching where he wanted to be at the World Championships.
31.
John Part subsequently lost the match but hit a milestone in his darting career with his first ever televised perfect game.
32.
John Part dropped just three sets on his way to the last 8 by defeating John Henderson, Richie Burnett and Kevin Painter.
33.
John Part then competed in the World Championships against James Wade.
34.
John Part won the first PDC North American pro tour event in July 2012, beating top American player Darin Young 6 legs to 1 in the final in Chicago.
35.
John Part nevertheless had one of the quietest seasons of his career, as he didn't qualify in any of the majors tournaments.
36.
John Part again represented Canada in the 2013 PDC World Cup of Darts, this time with Jeff Smith.
37.
However, bigger success came soon, as John Part won the first European Tour event of 2013, the UK Masters.
38.
At the European Darts Trophy in Sindelfingen John Part reached the quarter-finals after defeating Vincent van der Voort, Robert Thornton and Ronnie Baxter.
39.
John Part's next televised championship was the Players Championship Finals.
40.
John Part earned enough money to be in the top 32 on the PDC Tour and played his first round match against Andy Hamilton.
41.
John Part entered the 2014 World Championship as the 25th seed and played Mareno Michels in the first round, he won the first two sets of the match and then started to struggle with scoring and finishing.
42.
John Part's opponent won the two next sets to force Part playing a deciding set.
43.
John Part did not qualify for any televised ranking tournament.
44.
John Part almost went out of the Top 32 in the Order of Merit, having lost 10 places in more than a year, slipping from 21st to 31st.
45.
John Part was still in the top 32 after the tournament, but after the 2015 UK Open, he left the top 32.
46.
In January 2017, John Part was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame.
47.
John Part won through on the third day; beating Kirk Shepherd at the final stage in a rematch of the 2008 World Championship final.
48.
John Part's best showing of the year was at the World Cup of Darts, where he lost in the second round to the Austrian team with his partner, John Norman Jr.
49.
John Part beat two amateur qualifiers in the first two rounds of the tournament, and followed those wins up with wins over David Evans, Ron Meulenkamp and Mervyn King to reach his first televised quarter final since the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts, and his first quarter-final in any PDC event since the 2014 Austrian Darts Open.
50.
John Part lost at the quarter-final stage to Robert Owen.
51.
John Part is considered to be one of the game's best "counters" or "spotters".
52.
John Part continued to commentate on the BDO World Championship even after he started playing in the rival PDC event shown on Sky Sports.
53.
John Part commentated on the BBC's coverage of the World Masters from 2001 to 2004, and again in 2006.
54.
John Part missed commentating on the 2005 World Masters because he was in Ireland preparing to play in the 2005 World Grand Prix, and missed commentating on the 2007 World Masters due to competing in the 2007 Grand Slam of Darts.
55.
In 2012, John Part returned to commentary as he was employed by ESPN for the 2012 European Championship.
56.
John Part started commentating for Sky Sports at the 2013 World Matchplay, and has since become a regular member of Sky's commentary team.