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Available for over a year<\/p>\n
In the 1970s and 80s the sport of darts was booming in the UK. It was on TV almost every week and the sport\u2019s stars were household names. <\/p>\n
But by 1989 the sport was in decline, and the world championship was the only event that was still televised. <\/p>\n
The sport\u2019s top players blamed the British Darts Organisation for failing to keep the game on TV and broke away to form their own competitions in 1993. <\/p>\n
This rival tour became the Players Darts Council in 1997, which is now responsible for the sport\u2019s biggest tournaments. <\/p>\n
John Lowe MBE is a three-time world darts champion and was one of the rebel players. He\u2019s been speaking to Tim O\u2019Callaghan. <\/p>\n
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You\u2019ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.<\/p>\n
Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women\u2019s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football\u2019s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who\u2019ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.<\/p>\n
(Photo: John Lowe at the 1993 Darts World Championship. Credit:Mark Leech\/Offside via Getty Images)<\/p>\n