2004 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2004 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the first World Darts Championship held after Imperial Tobacco were forced to withdraw their sponsorship. UK government legislation had banned tobacco companies from attaching their brands to sporting events from 2003.
| Lakeside World Darts Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 3–11 January 2004 | ||
| Venue | Lakeside Country Club | ||
| Location | Frimley Green, Surrey | ||
| Country | England, United Kingdom | ||
| Organisation(s) | BDO | ||
| Format | Sets Finals: best of 11 (men's) best of 3 (women's) | ||
| Prize fund | £201,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £50,000 | ||
| High checkout | 161 Ritchie Davies | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Andy Fordham | |||
| |||
The tournament had been previously known as the Embassy World Championship for 26 years since its inception in 1978. Bob Potter, owner of the Lakeside Country Club which hosts the event, stepped in to become the new title sponsor of the event. The prize fund for 2004 matched the previous year, with the exception of the non-qualifiers payments which were removed.
The championship was staged between 3–11 January. Andy Fordham became a new name on the trophy after defeating defending champion, Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final and Mervyn King in the final. Fordham hit the highest 3-dart average in the final (97.18) since the PDC/BDO split in 1993 - although Phil Taylor and Eric Bristow had each surpassed that figure twice in their previous BDO title wins.