Alan Evans

David "Alan" Evans (14 June 1949 – 12 April 1999) was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Evans was one of the early faces of television darts and had some tournament success in the 1970s, including scoring the first televised 180 in the 1973 Indoor League semi final. By the time that darts had gained major popularity in the early 1980s, Evans's form had faded and he wasn't in the limelight as much as Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jocky Wilson, all of whom found fame and success from the game. Darts career Evans was one of the first players to appear on televised darts in reaching the final of the 1972 News of the World Championship, the first event to be shown in the UK, which was broadcast on ITV. In 1973 and 1974, Evans reached the final of the darts event on Yorkshire Television's The Indoor League on ITV. Evans won the 1975 British Open, which was the first televised darts event on the BBC, and later in the year won his biggest singles tournament in winning the 1975 World Masters. At the time, the World Masters and the News of the World were the most prestigious titles in darts before the World Championship began in 1978. When the Darts World Cup began in 1977, the Welsh team of Evans, Leighton Rees and David "Rocky" Jones won the Team Championship and Overall Championship.