2008 European Championship (darts)

The 2008 European Championship was the inaugural edition of the PDC tournament, the European Championship, which allowed the top European players to compete against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The tournament took place from Thursday October 30 to Sunday November 2, featuring a field of 32 players and £200,000 in prize money, with £50,000 going to the winner Phil Taylor. It was held in the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt, Germany.[1]

Contents

Format

First round - best of nine legs
Second round - best of seventeen legs
Quarter-finals - best of seventeen legs
Semi-finals - best of twenty-one legs
Final - best of twenty-one legs

Each game had to be won by two clear legs. A game went to a sudden death leg if a further six legs couldn't separate the players (e.g. a first round match going to 7-7).

Prize money

A total of £200,000 was on offer to the players, divided based on the following performances:

Champion - £50,000
Runner-up - £25,000
Semi-finalists - £12,500
Quarter-finalists - £8,500
Second round losers - £4,000
First round losers - £2,000

Nine-dart jackpot - Unknown
Highest checkout - £2,000

Qualification

The top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit after the 2008 Sky Poker World Grand Prix automatically qualified for the event. Then the top 8 non-qualified players from the 2008 Players Championship Order of Merit after the October German Darts Trophy in Dinslaken, Germany joined them to make a field of 24.

The main European contingent then came from the following: the leading 4 non-qualified players from the 2008 Continental Europe Order of Merit following the October German Darts Trophy in Dinslaken, the top two non-qualified players from the German Darts Corporation rankings on October 25, and the last two places from a qualifier event held in Dinslaken on October 26 - an event which was open to any player with a full PDPA membership.

PDC Top 16
  1. Phil Taylor
  2. Raymond van Barneveld
  3. James Wade
  4. John Part
  5. Terry Jenkins
  6. Colin Lloyd
  7. Andy Hamilton
  8. Wayne Mardle
  9. Adrian Lewis
  10. Alan Tabern
  11. Dennis Priestley
  12. Roland Scholten
  13. Mervyn King
  14. Colin Osborne
  15. Ronnie Baxter
  16. Peter Manley
Players Championship qualifiers
  1. Denis Ovens
  2. Robert Thornton
  3. Mark Walsh
  4. Chris Mason
  5. Kevin Painter
  6. Vincent van der Voort
  7. Alex Roy
  8. Wayne Jones
European qualifiers
  1. Carlos Rodriguez
  2. Mensur Suljovic
  3. Jelle Klaasen
  4. Jan van der Rassel
German Darts Corporation qualifiers
  1. Andree Welge
  2. Hannes Schnier

Dinslaken event qualifiers

Dinslaken qualifying tournament

Played Sunday October 26, draw and results as follows:[2]

Preliminary round

Jon Archer 5-1 Marco Bekier
Co Stompé Bye (Michael Hahn)
Rolf Kaiser 5-4 Karsten Kornath
Chris Kotal 5-2 Michael Wolf
Miloslav Navratil 5-3 John Jenkinson
Bernd Roith 5-2 Maik Langendorf
Peter Aleman Bye (Mario Hermann)
Tomas Seyler Bye (Mart Boelaars)
Stephen Wusch 5-2 Guido Kammerer
Sladan Nedic 5-1 Martin Behl
Ben Burton 5-0 Ulrich Sieland
Heiko Gallinat 5-2 Mattheus Ziolkowski
Andrew Davies 5-1 John Lokken
Peter Wright 5-1 Carlo Sessini
Marek Brommelhaus 5-2 George Major
Kai Blohm Bye (Rene Kuiken)
Huseyin Zengin 5-1 Patrick Exner

First round onwards

First round   Second round   Quarter-finals   Semi-finals   Qualified players
1   M. Dudbridge 5  
  Jon Archer 0     1   M. Dudbridge 2  
16   Co Stompé 5   16   Co Stompé 5  
  Rolf Kaiser 1       16   Co Stompé 5  
8   Wes Newton 5       9   M.v.Gerwen 4  
  Chris Kotal 1     8   Wes Newton 4
9   M.v.Gerwen 5   9   M.v.Gerwen 5  
  M. Navratil 1       16   Co Stompé 1  
5   Adrian Gray 3       12   Jacko Barry 5  
  Bernd Roith 5       Bernd Roith 3  
12   Jacko Barry 5   12   Jacko Barry 5  
  Peter Aleman 4       12   Jacko Barry 5
4   Andy Smith 5         S. Wusch 0  
  Tomas Seyler 0     4   Andy Smith 2
13   Jamie Caven 2     S. Wusch 5  
  S. Wusch 5       12   Jacko Barry
2   Andy Jenkins 5       2   Andy Jenkins
  Sladan Nedic 2     2   Andy Jenkins 5  
15   M. Rosenauer 1     Ben Burton 1  
  Ben Burton 5       2   Andy Jenkins 5  
7   S. Beaton 5       7   S. Beaton 4  
  H. Gallinat 2     7   S. Beaton 5
10   Matt Clark 5   10   Matt Clark 4  
  A. Davies 1       2   Andy Jenkins 5
6   M. McGowan 1       3   Barrie Bates 2  
  P. Wright 5       P. Wright 4  
11   Colin Monk 5   11   Colin Monk 5  
  M. Brommelhaus 1       3   Barrie Bates 5
3   Barrie Bates 5       11   Colin Monk 3  
  Kai Blohm 1     3   Barrie Bates 5
14   L. Kwadijk 5   14   L. Kwadijk 0  
  H. Zengin 0  

Draw and results

Draw and schedule of play as follows:[3]

Round One Thursday 30th from 18:45 8×; Friday 31st from 18:45 8×
Round Two Saturday 1st from 13:10 3×; from 18:50 5×
Quarters Sunday 2nd from 14:10 4×

Semis Sunday 2nd from 19:15 2×
Final: Sunday 2nd from 22:15
All times CET (UTC+1)
1st Round[1], 30-October 31,
b.o.9, losers £2,000		   2nd Round, November 1,
b.o.17, losers £4,000		   Quarter Finals, November 2,
b.o.17, losers £8,500		   Semi Finals, November 2,
b.o.21, losers £12,500		   Final, November 2, b.o.21
£50,000 / £25,000
1   Phil Taylor 106.10 5  
  Jacko Barry 79.50 1     1   Phil Taylor 113.92 9  
  M. King 102.72 6     M. King 101.30 3  
  Wayne Jones 95.13 4       1   Phil Taylor 103.26 9  
8   W. Mardle 89.50 5         M. Walsh 98.84 5  
  A. Welge 71.30 0     8   W. Mardle 92.74 6
  C. Osborne 95.46 4     M. Walsh 96.76 9  
  M. Walsh 104.10 6       1   Phil Taylor 113.33 11  
5   T. Jenkins 95.74 5         R. Thornton 102.50 7  
  Rodriguez 93.92 7       C. Rodriguez 86.03 5  
  R. Baxter 85.80 6     R. Baxter 87.45 9  
  V.v.d. Voort 95.10 4         R. Baxter 91.00 5
4   John Part 90.06 3         R. Thornton 92.25 9  
  R. Thornton 96.00 5       R. Thornton 91.76 9
  R. Scholten 51.60 1     M. Suljovic 89.46 7  
  M. Suljovic 81.10 5       1   Phil Taylor 104.35 11
2   v.Barneveld 88.38 5         A. Lewis 96.56 5
  Andy Jenkins 78.98 2     2   v.Barneveld 107.02 9  
  D. Priestley 93.42 5     D. Priestley 102.35 4  
  J.v.d. Rassel 79.12 3       2   v.Barneveld 102.48 2  
7   A. Hamilton 94.80 1         A. Lewis 108.62 9  
  D. Ovens 95.96 5       D. Ovens 87.98 5
  A. Lewis 93.27 5     A. Lewis 89.53 9  
  H. Schnier 80.08 2         A. Lewis 92.06 11
6   Colin Lloyd 84.79 2         P. Manley 90.45 7  
  J. Klaasen 96.75 5       J. Klaasen 97.86 6  
  A. Tabern 94.18 5     A. Tabern 93.55 9  
  Chris Mason 90.45 1         A. Tabern 85.92 4
3   J. Wade 94.19 5         P. Manley 85.90 9  
  Alex Roy 85.83 1     3   J. Wade 88.52 9
  P. Manley 94.19 5     P. Manley 88.94 11  
  K. Painter 92.08 2  

Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

All games had to be won by 2 clear legs, if after six more legs the players still couldn't be separated, a sudden death leg would take place to decide the winner. i.e. if Round One matches went 7-7, there would have been a decider.

Television coverage and Sponsorship

The PDC announced on the 12 August 2008 that ITV4 would broadcast the entire event live.[1] This was the second PDC darts tournament that ITV4 has broadcast, after the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts - after its rating success ITV chose to broadcast this event as well as the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts.

The tournament was sponsored by PartyPoker.net, who also sponsor the US Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic and the German Darts Championship.

References

  1. ^ a b c PDC website report - European Championship Details Confirmed from the Professional Darts Corporation obtained 12-08-2008
  2. ^ PDC website report - Jenkins and Barry Qualify For European Championship from the Professional Darts Corporation, obtained 26-10-2008
  3. ^ PDC website report - European Championship Draw and Schedule of Play from the Professional Darts Corporation obtained 26-10-2008

External links

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