The 2008 World Professional Darts Champions
Mark Webster, from Wales, was crowned the new Mens 2008 Lakeside World Professional Darts Champion
after beating, the Australian, Simon Whitlock 7 sets to 5 in an exciting final.
Mark got off to a flying start winning the first 3 sets, but Simon fought back to 3-2.
Each time Mark won a set Simon would come back and win the next one until the scores were 6-5.
Mark then went on to win the next set to win the match.
The sell out crowd, many in fancy dress, created a great atmosphere to make this one of the most enjoyable Lakeside finals ever.
Mark collected a record winners cheque of £85,000 with Simon, as the runner-up receiving £30,000.
The Women's final was played on Friday night with Anastasia Dobromysova from Russia playing 7-times Lakeside Ladies Champion Trina Gulliver from England.
Anastasia was on top form and with an impressive display of darts beat Trina 2-0, to become the 2008 Ladies Lakeside Champion.
Betfred
Betfred are the official online bookmakers for the 2008 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship.
Lakeside World Darts have teamed up with leading online bookmakers, Betfred, to give you great odds and the chance to win £££'s.
Open an online account with Betfred and claim a free bet of up to £100. (Terms and conditions apply).
A book has now been opened for the 2008 championship, you can place a bet or have a regular flutter on lots of other sporting events
by opening an online account with Betfred, just click on the Betfred banner.
Multi-million TV Audiences for 2008 Championship
The largest global audience for darts watched Mark Webster become the third Welshman to be crowned BDO World Professional Darts Champion
- but the first ever from North Wales - and Anastasia Dobromyslova crowned the first ever Russian BDO World Professional Women's Darts Champion.
BBC viewing figures for the Lakeside Men's final peaked at 4.1 million, which represented a 15% share of the overall audience.
Throughout Lakeside week there was an average BBC audience of 1.5 million, with peaks of 1.7 million for the live Ted Hankey/Steve West match,
and 2.1 million for the epic battled between defending 2007 Champion Martin Adams and 2007 World Masters Champion Robert Thornton of Scotland.
The two live Semi-Finals enjoyed audiences of 2.6 million and 2.1 million respectively and every single dart thrown was seen by digital viewers to BBCi.
In addition, the global audience was enhanced by comprehensive coverage from SBS-6 in Holland, by Eurosport (available in 104 million outlets worldwide)
and to some seventy countries via BBC Worldwide. Collectively, this produced the largest TV audience for darts anywhere in the world.
Mark Webster lives in Denbigh and plays his County darts for Clywd, as does Anastasia,
the Russian darts sensation who ended the magnificent seven year unbeaten reign of England's Trina Gulliver.
It means that for the first time ever, the two reigning BDO World Professional Champions will be playing in the same County side.
"I can't tell you how delighted I am to win this great title", says Mark. "It means so much to me to be 2008 BDO World Professional Darts Champion.
How special is that?
"Bringing it home to Wales also fills me with pride - but even more so to be the first ever World Champion from North Wales,
and the first left-hander to win the title since Les Wallace in 1997.
"I am also over the moon for Anastasia, because our next County home game for Clywd will be an all-Welsh match against Gwynedd on February 2nd,
and we will be lining up as the reigning 2008 BDO World Champions.
"It has never happened before and I reckon we will probably feel as much pressure (well almost) as we did on that famous Lakeside stage!"
Mark is the only player from North Wales to win the most famous title in world darts. The first ever BDO World Professional Darts Champion was the
late Leighton Rees in 1978, and 17 years later Richie Burnett took the title back to Wales in 1995. Both were from the Welsh Valleys.
Mark Webster is 24 and Anastasia Dobromyslova is just 23. They are the 2008 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Champions,
and proudly represent the British Darts Organisation system which continues to look after the future of darts.
For the past 35 years, the BDO has provided the sport of darts for players of all abilities - men, women and youth - and as 2008 World Professional Champions,
Mark Webster and Anastasia Dobromyslova are at the very forefront of an exciting and youthful era for BDO darts.
Lakeside World Darts Shop
The Lakeside World Darts shop is undergoing a complete redesign in preperation for the 2008 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship.
A complete new 2007/08 range of darts equipment, clothing and memorabilia will be available at highly competitive prices.
Televised all over the world with throw-by-throw coverage by the BBC. This makes it not only one of Britains top sporting events but also one of the best covered on TV.