2008 UK Open Darts
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC
darts
tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at Bolton Wanderers
' Reebok Stadium
between June 5 and June 8, 2008.
James Wade
won the tournament; his first UK Open title, and his third major championship inside 12 months. He defeated American Gary Mawson
in the final by 11 legs to 7.
of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round. This provides no protection for the top players, who are usually seeded to avoid each other in early rounds. Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor, the top two in the PDC rankings
respectively, met at the quarter-final stage for the third successive year, with the Dutchman coming out on top each occasion, this time 10-9. In addition, Adrian Lewis and Wayne Mardle - two players who played in the 2008 Premier League - played as early as the third Round, the last 64 stage.
Van Barneveld, who had won the tournament for the previous two years went out in the semi-finals to Gary Mawson
, which was the Dutchman's first loss at the Reebok Stadium in the event. It also meant that Phil Taylor now overtook him to regain the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit/world rankings, as van Barneveld had failed to defend the £30,000 from the UK Open two years ago.
Earlier in the tournament, Phil Taylor threw his fourth nine dart leg
in six years in the UK Open, during a 9-1 victory over Jamie Harvey in the fourth Round. In his Fifth Round match against Wesley Newton, Taylor achieved the highest televised 3 dart average (to date) of 114.53 surpassing Darryl Fitton
's record (114.15) in the International Darts League
2004 against Davy Richardson
.
The semi-final line-up contained only one player from the United Kingdom for the first time it the tournament's six year history. That one player - James Wade
, however went on to claim to the title.
Gary Mawson
was the first American player to reach the UK Open final, and the first American since Larry Butler
in 1994 to reach a major PDC final.
Main StageM van Gerwen 7-9 R Thornton
V van der Voort 9-4 C Lloyd
J Ferrell 3-9 P Taylor A Lewis 9-8 W Mardle J Part 9-2 C Monk
Board TwoM King 8-9 W Newton T Ayres 0-9 R van Barneveld
K Painter 3-9 C Osborne J Wade 9-3 J Pipe A Smith 1-9 T Jenkins
Board ThreeK Shepherd 8-9 W Jones P Cooper 7-9 A Tabern J Klaasen 9-6 D Askew M Turner 6-9 J Harvey
Board FourM Dudbridge 9-8 A Warriner-Little B Bates 9-4 J Clark P Manley 9-3 D Honey S Evans 8-9 S Whatley
Board FiveN Birch 9-8 D Priestley M Walsh 9-4 R Scholten A Casey 2-9 J Barry
Board SixS Brown 9-5 K McDine M Clark 2-9 A Hamilton S Smith 9-7 A Jenkins
Board SevenS Waites 9-4 W Atwood
G Mawson 9-7 A Roy D Platt 4-9 M Lawrence R Baxter 9-1 S Rooney
Board EightJ MaGowan 5-9 B Dolan
S Maish 9-6 D Ovens C Mason 9-5 J Cullen C Thompson 9-4 A Gray
Main Stage J Harvey 1-9 P Taylor *Phil Taylor hit nine-darter
* R Baxter 9-6 S Waites J Barry 7-9 R van Barneveld P Manley 7-9 M Dudbridge C Osborne 8-9 V van der Voort
Board Two T Jenkins 6-9 J Part
J Wade 9-5 S Brown A Hamilton 9-6 C Mason J Klaasen 9-3 N Birch
Board Three A Tabern 9-6 R Thornton W Newton 9-7 M Walsh M Lawrence 4-9 G Mawson 
Board Four W Jones 9-2 B Bates A Lewis 8-9 B Dolan S Maish 5-9 C Thompson S Smith 6-9 S Whatley
* Phil Taylor hits highest televised 3 dart average to date (114.53)
Random draws were made after each round up to the quarter final stage. Draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively.
The final UK Open Order of Merit qualifiers (146) were also joined by 32 Holsten qualifiers from pub tournaments throughout the UK. The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
' Reebok Stadium
Reebok Stadium
The Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
between June 5 and June 8, 2008.
James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
won the tournament; his first UK Open title, and his third major championship inside 12 months. He defeated American Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson is a Canadian-born American darts player, who currently resides in North Royalton, Ohio, United States. He moved from Niagara Falls to Ohio to further increase his chances of success on the growing American darts circuit. He uses the nickname The Mauler for his matches...
in the final by 11 legs to 7.
Tournament review
The tournament has the nickname, the "FA CupFA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round. This provides no protection for the top players, who are usually seeded to avoid each other in early rounds. Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor, the top two in the PDC rankings
Darts world rankings
Darts world rankings are a system which should determine a list of the best dart players in the world based on their performances in tournaments...
respectively, met at the quarter-final stage for the third successive year, with the Dutchman coming out on top each occasion, this time 10-9. In addition, Adrian Lewis and Wayne Mardle - two players who played in the 2008 Premier League - played as early as the third Round, the last 64 stage.
Van Barneveld, who had won the tournament for the previous two years went out in the semi-finals to Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson is a Canadian-born American darts player, who currently resides in North Royalton, Ohio, United States. He moved from Niagara Falls to Ohio to further increase his chances of success on the growing American darts circuit. He uses the nickname The Mauler for his matches...
, which was the Dutchman's first loss at the Reebok Stadium in the event. It also meant that Phil Taylor now overtook him to regain the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit/world rankings, as van Barneveld had failed to defend the £30,000 from the UK Open two years ago.
Earlier in the tournament, Phil Taylor threw his fourth nine dart leg
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
in six years in the UK Open, during a 9-1 victory over Jamie Harvey in the fourth Round. In his Fifth Round match against Wesley Newton, Taylor achieved the highest televised 3 dart average (to date) of 114.53 surpassing Darryl Fitton
Darryl Fitton
Darryl Fitton is an English professional darts player currently playing in BDO events. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses. It is one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience...
's record (114.15) in the International Darts League
International Darts League
The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held...
2004 against Davy Richardson
Davy Richardson
Davy Richardson is an English darts player currently playing in British Darts Organisation events. He is nicknamed The Face....
.
The semi-final line-up contained only one player from the United Kingdom for the first time it the tournament's six year history. That one player - James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
, however went on to claim to the title.
Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson is a Canadian-born American darts player, who currently resides in North Royalton, Ohio, United States. He moved from Niagara Falls to Ohio to further increase his chances of success on the growing American darts circuit. He uses the nickname The Mauler for his matches...
was the first American player to reach the UK Open final, and the first American since Larry Butler
Larry Butler (darts player)
Larry Butler is an American darts player, who was the winner of the 1994 PDC World Matchplay Darts Championship. This success made him the first, and so far only American player to have won a major darts tournament in Europe....
in 1994 to reach a major PDC final.
Prize money
- Champion £35,000
- Runner-up £15,000
- Semi-finalists £10,000
- Quarter-finalists £5,000
- Last 16 £3,000
- Last 32 £2,000
- Last 64 £1,000
- Nine dart finishNine dart finishA nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
£25,000 won by Phil Taylor
Preliminary Round
Best of 11 legs- Johnny Haines 6 V 5 John Kuczynski
- Scott Waites 6 V 0 Scott Mitton
- Paul Whitworth 6 V 2 Mark Jodrill
- Nigel Birch 6 V 2 Paul Knighton
- Nicky Turner 6 V 3 Gordon Fitzpatrick
- Alan Casey 6 V 1 Alan Green
- Paul Cooper 6 V 2 Michael Barnard
- Chris Hornby 6 V 4 Steve Hillier
First Round
Best of 11 legs- Jamie Harvey 6 V 1 Richie Burnett
- Robert Thornton 6 V 5 Anastasia Dobromyslova
- Dennis Priestley 6 V 1 Danny King
- Dave Honey 6 V 1 Nicky Turner
- Michael Smith 6 V 3 Alan Caves
- Gary Mawson 6 V 5 Darren Johnson
- Dave Johnson 6 V 3 Stuart Pickles
- Ian Jopling 6 V 5 Ken Dobson
- Joe Palfreyman 6 V 1 Mel Davies
- Martin Burchell 6 V 3 Darren Sutton
- Dave Harris 6 V 3 Mick Savvery
- Alan Casey 6 V 4 Lee Palfreyman
- John Quantock 6 V 4 Gary Noonan
- Dan Timmins 6 V 0 Andrew Callary Snr
- Tony Ayres 6 V 3 David Howells
- Darren Webster 6 V 1 Chris Hornby
- Martyn Turner 6 V 5 Alan Reynolds
- Bob Crawley 6 V 1 Harry Anderson
- Adrian Welsh 6 V 5 David Woodwards
- Paul Whitworth 6 V 5 Dave Ladley
- Tony Mitchell 6 V 1 Geoff Harkup
- Eddie Lovely 6 V 4 Paul Cook
- Johnny Haines Bye Darren Williams
- Scott Waites 6 V 3 Aaron Turner
- Shane Passey 6 V 3 Joe Bata
- Sean Palfrey 6 V 5 Jamie Robinson
- Lee White 6 V 5 Ryan Francis
- Nigel Birch 6 V 1 Dale Pinch
- Joe Cullen 6 V 0 Mark Stapleton
- Sam Rooney 6 V 1 Richie Corner
- Justin Pipe 6 V 4 Geoff Wylie
- Paul Cooper 6 V 4 Paul McDine
Second Round
Best of 11 legs- Terry Jenkins 6 V 0 Joe Palfreyman
- Wayne Mardle 6 V 3 Gary Welding
- Kevin Painter 6 V 2 Tony Eccles
- Matt Clark 6 V 4 Steve Beaton
- Kirk Shepherd 6 V 4 Jan van der Rassel
- Robert Thornton 6 V 2 Bob Crawley
- Joe Cullen 6 V 3 Dennis Smith
- Paul Cooper 6 V 1 Carlos Rodriguez
- John Magowan Bye Jimmy Mann
- Sam Rooney 6 V 3 Eddie Lovely
- Dave Askew 6 V 4 Steve Hine
- Nigel Birch 6 V 5 Shane Passey
- Andy Jenkins 6 V 1 Michael Smith
- Gary Mawson 6 V 0 Mark Frost
- Dave Honey 6 V 2 Kevin Dowling
- Dennis Priestley 6 V 4 Mick McGowan
- Steve Evans 6 V 4 Owen Caffrey
- David Platt 6 V 4 Martin Burchell
- Tony Ayres 6 V 5 Paul Whitworth
- Jason Clark 6 V 0 Johnny Haines
- Steve Smith 6 V 4 Jamie Caven
- Martyn Turner 6 V 1 John Quantock
- Scott Waites 6 V 0 Lee White
- Steve Maish 6 V 1 Ian Jopling
- Alan Warriner-Little 6 V 2 Tony Mitchell
- Jacko Barry 6 V 5 Adrian Welsh
- Mark Lawrence 6 V 5 Darren Webster
- Justin Pipe 6 V 2 Lionel Sams
- John Ferrell 6 V 3 Dan Timmins
- Simon Whatley 6 V 2 Sean Palfrey
- Jamie Harvey 6 V 4 Dave Harris
- Alan Casey 6 V 2 Dave Johnson
Third Round
Best of 17 legsMain StageM van Gerwen 7-9 R Thornton
V van der Voort 9-4 C Lloyd J Ferrell 3-9 P Taylor A Lewis 9-8 W Mardle J Part 9-2 C Monk Board TwoM King 8-9 W Newton
T Ayres 0-9 R van Barneveld K Painter 3-9 C Osborne J Wade 9-3 J Pipe A Smith 1-9 T Jenkins Board ThreeK Shepherd 8-9 W Jones
P Cooper 7-9 A Tabern J Klaasen 9-6 D Askew M Turner 6-9 J Harvey Board FourM Dudbridge 9-8 A Warriner-Little
B Bates 9-4 J Clark P Manley 9-3 D Honey S Evans 8-9 S Whatley Board FiveN Birch 9-8 D Priestley
M Walsh 9-4 R Scholten A Casey 2-9 J Barry Board SixS Brown 9-5 K McDine
M Clark 2-9 A Hamilton S Smith 9-7 A Jenkins Board SevenS Waites 9-4 W Atwood
G Mawson 9-7 A Roy D Platt 4-9 M Lawrence R Baxter 9-1 S Rooney Board EightJ MaGowan 5-9 B Dolan
S Maish 9-6 D Ovens C Mason 9-5 J Cullen C Thompson 9-4 A Gray Fourth Round
Best of 17 legs,Main Stage J Harvey 1-9 P Taylor
*Phil Taylor hit nine-darterNine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
* R Baxter 9-6 S Waites
J Barry 7-9 R van Barneveld P Manley 7-9 M Dudbridge C Osborne 8-9 V van der Voort Board Two T Jenkins 6-9 J Part
J Wade 9-5 S Brown A Hamilton 9-6 C Mason J Klaasen 9-3 N Birch Board Three A Tabern 9-6 R Thornton
W Newton 9-7 M Walsh M Lawrence 4-9 G Mawson Board Four W Jones 9-2 B Bates
A Lewis 8-9 B Dolan S Maish 5-9 C Thompson S Smith 6-9 S Whatley Final Stages
Random draws were made after each round up to the quarter final stage. Draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively.
Format
As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning were collated into the UK Order Of Merit. The top 128 players in the list, who played a minimum of three events (plus ties) won a place at the final stages.The final UK Open Order of Merit qualifiers (146) were also joined by 32 Holsten qualifiers from pub tournaments throughout the UK. The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round
Schedule
- Preliminary & First Round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): Holsten pub qualifiers and those lowest in the UK Open Order of Merit start the tournament here.
- Second Round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): The players just outside the top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join Preliminary and First Round winners.
- Third Round (Last 64) (Friday, best of 17 legs): Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 survivors from the first night's play.
- Fourth Round (Last 32) (Saturday afternoon, best of 17 legs)
- Fifth Round (Last 16) (Saturday evening, best of 17 legs)
- Quarter Finals (Sunday afternoon, best of 19 legs)
- Semi Finals (Sunday evening, best of 19 legs)
- Final (Sunday evening, best of 21 legs)
2007-2008 UK Open Regional Finals
There were eight regional final events staged between September 2007 and March 2008 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:- September 23, 2007 (Wales): James Wade 8-7 Raymond van Barneveld
- October 7 (Ireland): Raymond van Barneveld 8-2 Kevin McDine
- October 21 (Scotland): James Wade 8-2 Ronnie Baxter
- January 13, 2008 (North East): Colin Osborne 8-6 Denis Ovens
- February 10 South-West: Colin Lloyd 8-6 Andy Hamilton
- March 2, South: Colin Lloyd 8-6 Phil Taylor
- March 16, North-West: Phil Taylor 8-7 Adrian Lewis
- March 30, Midlands: Phil Taylor 8-0 Brendan Dolan
See also
- UK Open history of event and previous winners
- 2007 in darts2007 in darts-January:*1 - Raymond van Barneveld battles from 3 sets to 0 down to win his first PDC Title and fifth world title overall 7-6 in the sudden-death leg versus Phil Taylor who maintains his record of reaching every single PDC World Championship final to date....
and 2008 in darts2008 in darts-January:*1 - John Part wins his third world title beating 21 year-old qualifier Kirk Shepherd 7-2 in the final of the 2008 PDC World Championship.*5 - The 2008 BDO World Darts Championship gets underway at the Lakeside Country Club....
includes extended results of Pro Tour events - PDC Pro TourPDC Pro TourThe PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation . They comprise Professional Dart Players Association Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals.-Players Championships:...
history of PDC "floor events"
External links
- UK Open netzone (results & reports) planetdarts.tv