Chris Johns (darts player)
| Chris Johns | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born |
29 December 1962 Aberdare, Wales |
| Home town | Wales |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 1986 |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 1986-1993 |
| PDC | 1993 (Founding Member) |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Last 16: 1988, 1992 |
| World Masters | Semi-Final: 1986 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| British Gold Cup | 1989 |
Chris Johns (born 29 December 1962) is a former Welsh darts player. He played county darts for Glamorgan and played in the BDO World Darts Championship on five occasions, but will be best remembered as a controversial figure in an acrimonious split in the game between 1992 and 1994.
Career
Johns made his debut at the 1988 Embassy World Championship - reaching the second round. He made just four further appearances (with only one more match win) at the championships, losing in the first round in 1989, 1991 and 1993 and the second round in 1992. His only two wins at Lakeside were against Mike Gregory in 1988 and Steve Beaton in 1992.
He had only moderate success in British Darts Organisation (BDO) Open tournaments. As early as 1986, he reached the semi-finals of the Winmau World Masters - beating Eric Bristow in the last 16 before falling to Bob Anderson in the last four. He later reached the semi finals of the Swiss Open in 1991 and the Denmark Open in 1991.
He was one of the 16 players who decided to leave the BDO and form another organisation (the World Darts Council WDC, which later became the Professional Darts Corporation PDC). The BDO banned the rebel players from all tournaments and this also meant their exhibition work was going to be restricted. This possibly contributed to Johns having a change of heart. More famously, Mike Gregory also became reluctant to stick with the other players. They both decided to stay with the BDO but their decision left them ostracised by the players of the WDC (who felt let down) and to some degree by the BDO (who were upset that they'd left in the first place).
After the split, Johns never even managed to qualify to play in the BDO World Championship again and never featured in the later rounds of any BDO Open events again.
World Championship Performances
BDO
- 1988: 2nd Round (lost to Rick Ney 2-3)
- 1989: 1st Round (lost to Paul Lim 0-3)
- 1991: 1st Round (lost to Tony Payne 1-3)
- 1992: 2nd Round (lost to Mike Gregory 0-3)
- 1993: 1st Round (lost to John Lowe 1-3)