The 2003 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 4 to 12 January 2003 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It was the 26th staging of the competition since the 1978 edition and the 18th time it took place at the Lakeside Country Club. The competition was the first of 14 British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments in 2003 and featured a women's world championship for the third time. It was broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom and was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy.
Two-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld defeated Ritchie Davies six sets to three (6–3) in the final. He joined Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the third player to win three or more BDO world titles in their career. Van Barneveld defeated Matt Clark, John Burton, Erik Clarys and Mervyn King en route to the final. Clarys achieved a 170 checkout, the highest of the tournament, in the final set of his quarter-final round match against Van Barneveld. The women's championship was won by Trina Gulliver for the third consecutive year, defeating Dawn Standley, Mieke de Boer and Anne Kirk en route to victory.
As Canadian John Part won the rival PDC World Darts Championship the same year, this was the first time that both versions of the world title were held by a player from outside the British Isles.
Background
Men's tournament
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was formed in 1973 by the managing director Olly Croft; the BDO World Darts Championship was first held in 1978. It was one of two world championships in the game of darts: the other being the PDC World Darts Championship. The 2003 tournament was held between 4 and 12 January, in Frimley Green, Surrey, and was the first of 14 BDO-sanctioned events that year. It was the 26th edition of the tournament and featured a 32-player main draw played at the Lakeside Country Club.
A total of 27 players automatically qualified for the main draw with the top 8 seeded according to their final position in the BDO rankings. The tournament's defending champion and world number one Tony David was seeded first and Raymond van Barneveld was seeded second. The remaining five places were decided by an international play-off round held at Bridlington Spa, Bridlington, on 31 October 2002. John Burton, Dennis Harbour. Martin Phillips, Brian Sorensen and Robert Wagner were the five players who progressed from qualifying to the main draw. The maximum number of sets in a match increased from five in the first and second rounds to nine in the quarter- and semi-finals, leading up to the final which was played as best-of-11 frames. Sponsored by the cigarette brand Embassy, it had a total prize fund of £205,000, and was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC.
In the lead up to the 2002 BDO world championship, David was seen by The Times correspondent Mel Webb as the favourite to retain his title due to his performances during the 2002 season. Conversely, The Racing Post Steve Davies reported bookmakers considered Van Barneveld the most likely player to win the tournament, which would be his third BDO world championship victory. Embassy Darts guest writer Marcus Stead opined the progress of John Walton, the 2001 champion, would be observed carefully.
Women's tournament
The BDO women's world championship was the third edition of the tournament, and took place from 4 to 11 January, at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey. A total of four players automatically qualified for the main draw and were seeded according to their final position in the BDO rankings. Francis Hoenselaar was seeded first and the competition's defending champion Trina Gulliver was the second seed. Mieke de Boer was seeded third and the final seed was Anne Kirk. Karin Krappen was the only automatic non-seeded participant. The remaining three places were decided by an international play-off round held at Bridlington Spa, Bridlington on 31 October 2002. Linda Rogers-Pickett, Dawn Standley and Gaynor Williams were the trio who advanced from qualifying to the main draw. All matches were played to the best-of-three sets.
Men's tournament
First round
The draw for the first round of the championship was conducted by Peter Ebdon, the 2002 world snooker champion, and the two-time women's world darts champion Trina Gulliver at Bridlington Spa on 3 November 2002. It was televised live on the BBC sport programme Sunday Grandstand. The first round of the competition, in which 32 players participated, took place from 4 to 6 January and was held as best-of-five sets.