BACK IN THE DAY WITH: John Part - the Canadian who dethroned the ‘unbeatable’ Phil Taylor after 44 World Championship victories and eight world titles

In this feature, we regularly travel back in time with a particular darts player. Today, we do so with John Part. The Canadian, born on June 29, 1966, in Toronto, went on to become a three-time world champion and made history as the first non-British player to win a world title. With his victories at the BDO World Championship in 1994 and the PDC World Championship in 2003 and 2008, Part belongs to an exclusive group of players who have won three or more world titles.

The now-retired professional, who earned the nickname 'Darth Maple', also played an important role in the development of darts in North America. His achievements earned him a place in the PDC Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition, after his playing career, Part built a second career as a commentator and darts analyst.

However, his story began with a simple Christmas present.

In 1987, Part's parents gave him a dartboard for Christmas. Although darts was barely shown on television in Canada at the time, the young Canadian became acquainted with the biggest players of the era through footage of the BDO World Championship and the Winmau World Masters.

Bob Anderson made a particular impression on Part. He drew a great deal of inspiration from the world champions he saw on television and subsequently developed his own game within the North American darts scene.

In 1989, Part began playing matches in pubs. Two years later came his first major victory at the Syracuse Open, and in the same year he turned professional. He quickly developed into one of Canada's better players and represented his country at international WDF tournaments.

In 1993, an important success followed. Alongside Carl Mercer, Part won the pairs title at the WDF World Cup. It showed that he could also compete at international level.

A year later, he would turn the darts world upside down for good.

When Part qualified for the 1994 BDO World Championship, he was still relatively unknown outside North America. Furthermore, the tournament was the first BDO World Championship following the infamous power struggle within the darts world, meaning several new faces appeared at the event.

Part began the tournament with a huge upset. In the first round, he defeated second seed Ronnie Baxter in straight sets. Victories over Paul Lim, Steve McCollum and Ronnie Sharp followed. On his way to the final, Part lost just one set.

Bobby George, one of the most popular and experienced players of his generation, awaited him in the final. Even George could not stop the Canadian, however. Part won the final 6-0 in sets and became world champion on his debut. In doing so, he became the first non-British player to win the world championship.

His performance was also statistically remarkable. Part lost just one set throughout the entire tournament. Only Eric Bristow had previously achieved the same feat, during the 1984 BDO World Championship. Phil Taylor and Part himself would later join that exclusive group.

At that point, it appeared that the beginning of a long period of dominance had arrived. Reality, however, proved different.

After his world title, Part initially struggled to consolidate his success. He continued to win on the North American circuit, claiming both the Canadian Open and Canadian National Championships in 1995.

In Great Britain, however, he had much more difficulty building on his world title. At the 1995 BDO World Championship, he won just one match before Paul Williams eliminated him in the second round.

A year later, he managed to defeat Williams, but once again he failed to progress far enough to challenge for another world title or reach the quarter-finals.

In June 1997, Part decided to leave the BDO and switch to the PDC. His PDC debut initially failed to produce a major breakthrough either. At the 1997 World Matchplay, he lost to Drew O'Neill, while he also suffered early exits at the following PDC World Championships.

Around the turn of the century, the first signs of a resurgence appeared. In 2000, Part won the Eastbourne Open and reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix.

That was only the beginning.

The 2001 PDC World Championship proved to be a major turning point. Part reached the semi-finals, where he defeated Rod Harrington 6-5. For the first time, he had reached a PDC World Championship final.

Phil Taylor awaited him. 'The Power' was the dominant player in the sport at the time and had won the previous six World Championships. Taylor once again showed why in the final. He averaged 107.46 and won the match 7-0. Part was completely outclassed, but the defeat appeared to motivate him.

The two developed into rivals over the following years. At the 2001 World Matchplay, Taylor defeated Part again, while a year later he recorded a 6-0 victory over him in the World Championship quarter-finals.

Yet Part was getting closer. In the 2002 World Matchplay final, he even had an excellent opportunity to defeat Taylor. Part led 16-15 in a match that would eventually go to 34 legs. Taylor won the final three legs, however, and claimed the title 18-16.

The 2002 World Grand Prix final also went Taylor's way. Part had now suffered several defeats against the world's best player, but he continued to believe that he could beat Taylor.

The answer came at the 2003 PDC World Championship. Taylor was once again the overwhelming favourite. He had won eight consecutive World Championships and was unbeaten in 44 World Championship matches. Furthermore, Part had lost all five of his previous televised matches against Taylor.

Yet Part reached the final once again. The Canadian made an excellent start, hitting a 121 finish via the bullseye in the opening leg. He then moved into a 3-0 lead and later extended it to 4-1.

Taylor recovered and turned the match around to lead 5-4. Part remained calm, however, and took the next two sets. Taylor then levelled the match again, making a deciding set necessary.

In the final set, Part broke Taylor's throw. He then kept his nerve on his own throw. With his first match dart, he finished the job. John Part was a world champion for the second time.

The victory was historic. He ended Taylor's run of eight consecutive world titles, became the first non-British winner of the PDC World Championship and also rose to world number one.

The final is still regarded as one of the greatest matches in darts history.

After his world title, Part again struggled to maintain his place at the very top for an extended period. He recorded several victories, including the UK Open Southwest Regional Final, the Windy City Open and two Vauxhall Opens, but major televised titles remained scarce.

In 2003, he reached the World Grand Prix final again, but Taylor was once more too strong.

Part also suffered disappointment in 2004. As defending world champion, he lost in the third round to debutant Mark Dudbridge. Later that year, however, he won the Canadian Open, Canadian National Championships and Golden Harvest North American Cup.

One of his best performances came at the 2004 World Matchplay. Part first defeated Colin Monk 10-0, then beat Bob Anderson after a thriller before overcoming Andy Jenkins in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, he faced Taylor once again, but after a disastrous start, Part lost 17-8.

In 2005, another year passed without a title, although the season produced several legendary matches. Part narrowly lost 11-10 to Taylor at the UK Open after previously leading 10-6.

At the World Matchplay, he gained revenge. Part defeated Taylor 16-11, ending his opponent's run of 27 consecutive victories in the tournament. Part then reached the final, but Colin Lloyd proved too strong.

In 2006, another resurgence followed. Part won the Las Vegas Desert Classic, his first major PDC title since 2003. In the final, he defeated Raymond van Barneveld 6-3.

Part also produced strong performances regularly in 2007. He reached the semi-finals of the US Open, World Grand Prix and Las Vegas Desert Classic.

At the 2008 World Championship, Part was the 11th seed but was not considered one of the leading favourites beforehand. Nevertheless, he battled his way convincingly into the final. He defeated, among others, Mensur Suljovic and James Wade before overcoming Kevin Painter in the semi-finals.

The 21-year-old qualifier Kirk Shepherd awaited him in the final. Part took a 4-0 lead and then denied his young opponent the chance to complete a comeback. He won 7-2 and became world champion for the third time.

In doing so, Part became the first player to win a world title at three different venues: Lakeside, the Circus Tavern and Alexandra Palace.

He also became only the fifth player to win at least three world titles, following Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow, Raymond van Barneveld and John Lowe.

Another difficult period followed his third world title. Part won the Gibraltar Players Championship in 2008, but his performances declined significantly afterwards.

At the 2009 World Championship, he suffered a shock 3-0 defeat to American Bill Davis. A year later, he was eliminated by Kirk Shepherd, the player he had defeated in the World Championship final just two years earlier.

There were still some important moments, however. In 2010, Part won the PDC North American Darts Championship. In 2011, he claimed Players Championship titles in Derby and Austria.

At the 2011 World Matchplay, Part also hit his first televised nine-darter against Mark Webster. He ultimately lost the match, but once again wrote his name into darts history.

In 2012, Part reached the World Championship quarter-finals again. He lost to James Wade after a deciding leg. Part later described it as “the biggest match I ever lost”.

In 2013, another notable resurgence followed with victory at the UK Masters. It proved to be his final PDC ranking title. After 22 consecutive World Championship appearances, Part ultimately failed to qualify for the 2016 World Championship.

In 2017, Part was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame. He was the fourteenth player to receive the honour and the first player from outside the United Kingdom to do so.

Part remained active on various circuits afterwards. He competed on the Championship Darts Circuit in North America, where he even recently reached another final. From 2022, he also appeared on the World Seniors Darts Tour. He did not enjoy a great deal of success there, however, reaching the second round of the World Championship on three occasions. He also made several attempts to regain a PDC Tour Card through Q-School, but was unsuccessful.

Alongside playing, Part developed into a respected commentator. As early as 1995, he was asked by the BBC to provide commentary at the BDO World Championship. He remained involved with the BBC until 2007 and later worked for ESPN. From 2013, he became a regular member of the Sky Sports commentary team. In doing so, Part's career entered a second chapter.

John Part is much more than just Canada's first world champion. He was a pioneer for North American darts and proved that a player from outside Europe and the United Kingdom could reach the absolute top of the sport.

His three world titles also came in different eras. In 1994, he stunned the BDO world; in 2003, he ended Phil Taylor's historic dominance; and in 2008, he once again made history by becoming the first player to win world titles at three different venues.

From the dartboard he received for Christmas in 1987 to his place in the PDC Hall of Fame, the career of 'Darth Maple' is one of exceptional highs, long periods of struggle and impressive comebacks. John Part undoubtedly belongs among the most important players the sport of darts has ever produced.