Top eight seeds

Ted Hankey was the 2000 Embassy world champion

1 - John Walton
Nickname: John Boy
Country: England
Born: 10 November, 1961
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
1999: Lost in round one to Roland Scholten.
2001: Winner

2 - Martin Adams
Nickname: Wolfie
Country: England
Born: 4 June, 1956
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
1994: Lost in quarter-finals to Sweden's Magnus Caris.

Adams: rivals Bobby George's accessories

1995: Lost in semi-finals to Raymond Barneveld.
1996: Lost to eventual winner Steve Beaton in quarter-finals.
1997: Lost in first round to American Roger Carter.
1998: Lost in round one to Robbie Widdows.
1999: Lost in epic battle with Chris Mason in quarter-finals.
2000: Lost to Steve Coote in first round.
2001: Lost to Ronnie Baxter in second round.

3 - Marko Pusa
Nickname: Flying Finn
Country: Finland
Born: 15 April, 1977
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
2001: Lost to eventual winner John Walton in quarter-finals having ousted England's Colin Monk and Kevin Painter.

4 - Mervyn King Nickname: Merv the Swerv
Country: England
Born: 15 March, 1966
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
1997: Beaten by eventual winner Les Wallace in semi-finals.
1998: Lost to Ted Hankey in second round.
1999: Lost to Andy Fordham in first round.
2000: Lost to Dutchman Co Stompe in quarter-finals.
2001: Lost to eventual winner John Walton in second round.

5 - Raymond Barneveld
Nickname: Barney
Country: Netherlands
Born: 20 April, 1967
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
1991: Lost in first round to Australian Keith Sullivan.
1993: Lost to John Lowe in second round.

Barneveld was the runner-up in 1995

1995: Lost in final against Welshman Richie Burnett.
1996: Beaten by Matt Clark in second round.
1997: Beaten by eventual winner, Scotsman Les Wallace in second round.
1998: Beat Richie Burnett to clinch title.
1999: Became first overseas player to retain the title with victory over Ronnie Baxter.
2000: Lost to Chris Mason in round one.
2001: Beaten by Ted Hankey in quarter-finals.

6 - Bob Taylor
Nickname: The Bear
Country: Scotland
Born: 15 January, 1960
Profession: Buildings exhibition specialist
Embassy record
1994: Lost to Martin Adams in second round. Lost in first round to Paul Williams.
1996: Fell at first hurdle to Ian Brand.
1997: Lost to eventual winner and fellow Scot Les Wallace in first round.
1998: Lost in first round to American Roger Carter.
2000: Lost in first round to Ted Hankey.
2001: Lost in round one to England's Wayne Jones.

7 - Ted Hankey
Nickname: The Count
Country: England
Born: 20 February, 1968
Profession: Professional darts player
Embassy record
1998: Lost out to Colin Monk in quarter-finals.
1999: Beaten by Chris Mason in second round. 2000: Became Millennium champion.
2001: Came close to retaining title but could not match winner John Walton in the final.

8 - Wayne Mardle
Nickname: Mouth of the South
Country: England
Born: 10 May, 1973
Profession: Senior administration assistant
Embassy record
2000: Lost opening match of the championship to Matt Clark.
2001: Beaten by John Walton in quarter-finals.