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.
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.
Prize money
The prize money was £199,000 for the men's event and £10,000 for the women's event.
Men's Champion: £50,000
Runner-Up: £25,000
Semi-Finalists (2): £11,000
Quarter-Finalists (4): £6,000
Last 16 (8): £4,250
Last 32 (16): £2,750
There was also a shared 9 Dart Checkout prize of £51,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £2,000 per event.
Seeds
Men
Raymond van Barneveld
Ted Hankey
Mervyn King
Tony David
Tony West
Martin Adams
Gary Anderson
John Walton
The Results
Men
Seeds
Women
Trina Gulliver
Francis Hoenselaar
Claire Bywaters
Karin Krappen
Prize money
The prize money was £10,000 for the women's event.