2007 BDO World Darts Championship

The 2007 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the 30th Championship and was held between 6 January–14, 2007 at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey.

The organisers, the British Darts Organisation announced they had given the tournament a new stage set and player walk-on area.^[1] They also removed the markers (the two officials who manually calculate player scores) from the stage. They were replaced from this tournament with on-stage plasma television screens. The only official on-stage was the referee/caller.

Last year's beaten finalist, Raymond van Barneveld announced shortly after that defeat that he would be switching to the Professional Darts Corporation and played in their World Championship instead, winning an epic final for his fifth world title overall. This was the first time that a finalist from one event has played in the other World Championship the following year, in direct contravention of the 1997 Tomlin Order.

Jelle Klaasen was defeated in the first round on the defence of his title. His world ranking was 19 at the time of the draw - so he missed out on being seeded and lost in straight sets to number 16 seed and fellow countryman Co Stompé in the first round.

Martin Adams was the number one seed and won his first world title, despite being subjected to the greatest comeback in darts history by opponent Phill Nixon in the final. Adams had led 6-0 in the best-of-13 sets match, but Nixon levelled at 6-6 before Adams finally won the deciding set.

Trina Gulliver maintained her unbeaten record in the women's event winning her seventh successive final. Francis Hoenselaar was beaten in the final for the fourth year in a row and fifth time overall. This year, however she came within a leg of ending Gulliver's run when she took the final to a sudden-death tie-break leg.

Pre-Tournament Odds

The odds before the tournament began^[2] (supplied by official on-site bookmakers, Coral)

Michael van Gerwen 9-4
Martin Adams 4-1
Gary Anderson 8-1
Jelle Klaasen 10-1
Mervyn King 16-1
Mark Webster 20-1
Simon Whitlock 25-1
Ted Hankey 25-1

Vincent van der Voort 28-1
Shaun Greatbatch 33-1
Co Stompe 33-1
Darryl Fitton 33-1
Martin Atkins 40-1
Andy Fordham 40-1
Niels de Ruiter 40-1
Mike Veitch 40-1

Tony Eccles 50-1
John Walton 50-1
Tony O'Shea 50-1
Paul Hanvidge 50-1
Martin Phillips 66-1
Goran Klemme 66-1
Gary Robson 66-1
Brian Woods 80-1

Paul Hogan 80-1
Mario Robbe 80-1
Brian Sorensen 100-1
Gary Fenn 100-1
Paul Gibbs 100-1
Davy Richardson 100-1
Phill Nixon 150-1
Albertino Essers 150-1

Seeds

Men

Women

Prize money

The prize money was £224,000 for the men's event and £11,000 for the women's event.

Men's Champion: £70,000

Runner-Up: £30,000

Semi-Finalists (2): £11,000

Quarter-Finalists (4): £6,000

Last 16 (8): £4,250

Last 32 (16): £2,750

Women's Champion: £6,000

Runner-Up: £2,000

Semi-Finalists (2): £1,000

Quarter-Finalists (4): £500

There was also a shared 9 Dart Checkout prize of £52,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £2,000 per event.

Television Coverage

The tournament was covered by the BBC in the UK and SBS 6 in the Netherlands. Eurosport also broadcast the event on a pan-European basis, but the contract excluded them from showing the tournament to UK viewers.

The viewing figures for the final in the UK were 3.3 million (0.32 million down on 2006).^[3] The Dutch audience for the final was 1,201,000.^[4]

Draw and results

Men's

Match distances in sets are quoted in brackets at the top of each round. All sets best of five legs, unless there is a final set tie-break

First Round (best of 5 sets)			Second round (best of 7)			Quarter-Finals (best of 9)			Semi-Finals (best of 11)			Final (best of 13)


1	Martin Adams (100.68)	3

	Tony O'Shea (94.32)	0
			1	Martin Adams (93.18)	4

			16	Co Stompé (89.37)	1
16	Co Stompé (91.68)	3

	Jelle Klaasen (86.49)	0
						1	Martin Adams (89.73)	5

						8	Ted Hankey (89.34)	3
8	Ted Hankey (90.90)	3

	Mario Robbe (83.25)	0
			8	Ted Hankey (88.35)	4

				Davy Richardson (86.82)	3
9	Vincent van der Voort (87.24)	1

	Davy Richardson (90.03)	3
									1	Martin Adams (91.62)	6

									5	Mervyn King (88.77)	5
5	Mervyn King (96.06)	3

	Paul Gibbs (92.40)	0
			5	Mervyn King (90.63)	4

			12	Mike Veitch (90.69)	2
12	Mike Veitch (87.36)	3

	Göran Klemme (84.99)	0
						5	Mervyn King (88.26)	5

						4	Tony Eccles (90.78)	4
4	Tony Eccles (85.83)	3

	Mark Webster (84.51)	0
			4	Tony Eccles (85.38)	4

			13	Shaun Greatbatch (79.71)	0
13	Shaun Greatbatch (81.06)	3

	Paul Hogan (83.40)	1
												1	Martin Adams (90.30)	7

													Phill Nixon (87.09)	6
2	Gary Anderson (89.10)	2

	Albertino Essers (87.90)	3
				Albertino Essers (80.43)	1

			15	Paul Hanvidge (85.20)	4
15	Paul Hanvidge (85.65)	3

	Martin Phillips (86.97)	2
						15	Paul Hanvidge (83.40)	4

							Phill Nixon (83.40)	5
7	Darryl Fitton (86.40)	1

	Phill Nixon (92.43)	3
				Phill Nixon (81.12)	4

			10	Martin Atkins (80.73)	1
10	Martin Atkins (86.85)	3

	Gary Fenn (80.52)	0
										Phill Nixon (86.10)	6

									11	Niels de Ruiter (84.19)	4
6	Simon Whitlock (xx.xx)	bye

	Andy Fordham (xx.xx)	-
			6	Simon Whitlock (88.74)	3

			11	Niels de Ruiter (87.54)	4
11	Niels de Ruiter (87.15)	3

	Brian Woods (91.83)	0
						11	Niels de Ruiter (87.72)	5

							Gary Robson (85.59)	4
3	Michael van Gerwen (89.49)	2

	Gary Robson (90.15)	3
				Gary Robson (90.96)	4

			14	John Walton (94.11)	3
14	John Walton (93.30)	3

	Brian Sørensen (85.02)	2

Q - qualifier

Andy Fordham withdrew from his first round match due to ill health

Women

Quarter Finals Losers £500			Semi Finals Losers £1,000			Final Winner £6,000 Runner-up £2,000


4	Anastasia Dobromyslova 81.30	2

	Carina Ekberg 70.56	0
			4	Anastasia Dobromyslova 75.34	0

			1	Trina Gulliver 78.60	2
1	Trina Gulliver 81.57	2

	Carla Molema 77.49	0
						1	Trina Gulliver 80.61	2

						2	Francis Hoenselaar 79.23	1
3	Karen Krappen 65.43	1

	Apylee Jones 73.65	2
				Apylee Jones 64.23	1

			2	Francis Hoenselaar 63.42	2
2	Francis Hoenselaar 67.47	2

	Carol Forwood 66.03	1

Tournament Review

Day One Saturday 6 January
Jelle Klaasen's defence of his world championship ended in the first round with a defeat by fellow Dutchman, Co Stompé. Klaasen, who had a difficult year since his victory over Raymond van Barneveld in last year's final was ranked lower than his opponent and lost in straight sets. It was the sixth time that a champion failed to win his opening match on the defence of the title. Stompé's victory was his first at Lakeside since 2002 - having lost in the first round at the last five attempts.

Davy Richardson finally managed to win a match at Lakeside, some fourteen years after his first attempt. He had lost in the first round in 1993 (to Steve Beaton), 1999 (to Co Stompé), 2001 (to Jez Porter), 2002 (to Wayne Mardle) and 2005 (to Martin Adams) but his bad run ended with a victory over number nine seed Vincent van der Voort.

No problems for top seed Martin Adams and other seeded players Mervyn King, Ted Hankey and Mike Veitch who all earned places in the second round with straight sets victories.

Day Two Sunday 7 January
The second day produced a series of shocks as the bookmaker's pre-tournament favourite for the title, Michael van Gerwen lost to Gary Robson. The 17 year-old World Masters champion was 9/4 favourite for the title, but found himself trailing through most of the match. Gerwen shown some signs of the form that took him number three in the world, but his night could be summed up by his start to match. He took the first leg against the darts, then hit three single ones to start the next leg. The inconsistently plagued him throughout the match as did his sponsors logo on his shirt which he had to keep pushing back into place. Robson, winner of the 2005 World Darts Trophy missed darts in the final set to clinch the match but finally hit a double four in the eighth leg to seal the win.

Earlier in the day the shocks started with Gary Anderson and Darryl Fitton making early exits. Albertino Essers, a Dutchman who had suffered from dartitis in recent years, ended second seed Anderson's hopes with a 3-2 win.

Fitton, who made his trademark entrance dancing to Madness hit One Step Beyond..., took the first set against qualifier Phill Nixon but then lost nine consecutive legs to go down 3-1. Nixon, making his debut in the tournament at the age of 50, hit checkouts of 121 and 110 as he refused to allow the seventh seed any way back into the match.

Tony Eccles, seeded four but a 50/1 outsider for the title beat promising Welshman Mark Webster in straight sets. Webster failed to show the form that took him to a Europe Cup singles title and like van Gerwen earlier in the evening, his Lakeside debut ended in defeat.

Day Three Monday 8 January
Day three's play was overshadowed by the withdrawal from the tournament by 2004 champion Andy Fordham.^[5] The 44-year-old Dartford publican suffered breathing difficulties as a result of a chest infection. He was carried out of the venue on a stretcher to an ambulance and taken to hospital where he stayed overnight. Fordham's scheduled opponent, Simon Whitlock from Australia received a walkover into the second round. Fordham's has suffered continual health problems - in November 2004, he pulled out from his 'Battle of the Champions' clash with PDC champion Phill Taylor whilst 2-5 behind. It was the first time a player had withdrawn from a match since the 1979 Championship when Alan Evans pulled out of the third-place play-off, also due to ill-health.

When play started, the three seeded players in action all progressed to the last 16, but John Walton and Paul Hanvidge had struggles on their hands both going through 3-2. Walton, the 2001 champion was taken to deep in the final set by Brian Sørensen, finally progressing by 5 legs to 3. Hanvidge dedicated his victory to his mother, who died on Christmas Day. He was quite emotional in his post-match interview after a 3-2 victory over his good friend, Martin Phillips.

Day Four Tuesday 9 January
The second round of the tournament got underway with the first four matches from the top half of the draw. The top half of the draw had seen few shocks in terms of the seedings with only number nine player, Vincent van der Voort being dispatched in the first round. The trend continued in the second round as Martin Adams (1), Tony Eccles (4), Mervyn King (5) and Ted Hankey (8) all made it to the quarter finals. Hankey was the player who had most difficulty in progressing having to come from 0-2 and 2-3 behind against Davy Richardson. Hankey started the final set with a maximum 170 checkout and went on to beat the qualifier who had been battling the pain of broken ribs in the tournament.

Mike Veitch complained he'd been put off by his opponent Mervyn King shouting whilst he collecting his darts from the board during his 2-4 defeat.^[6] King secured a quarter final meeting with Tony Eccles

Day Five Wednesday 10 January
Unseeded Gary Robson came from 1-3 behind to defeat 2001 champion John Walton and reach the last eight at the Lakeside World Championship and it guaranteed a first-time finalist from the bottom half of the draw. The 39-year-old Robson, who beat wonderkid Michael van Gerwen in round one, now plays Dutchman Niels de Ruiter, who beat number six seed Simon Whitlock 4-3.

Phill Nixon, a first time qualifier at the age of 50 added to his victory over seventh seed Martin Atkins with a 4-1 win against tenth seed Martin Atkins. He now faces number 15 seed Paul Hanvidge, who reached the last eight for the second year running by beating Albertino Essers 4-1.

Day Six Thursday 11 January
The first two quarter-finals were settled and top seed Martin Adams saw off former champion Ted Hankey 5-3. Adams took the first two sets, before "The Count" fought back to level. Adams kept in front, with the darts and took the match with a crucial break in the eighth set with a 13-dart leg hitting double five after previously missing five darts to clinch it.

Mervyn King progressed to the semi-finals, by beating number four seed Tony Eccles 5-4. King came from 0-3 behind and hit ten 180s in the match to edge it 5-4. The drama continued in King's post-match interview when he responded to speculation in that morning's newspapers about a possible switch to the PDC.^[7] "I nearly packed my darts away and went home," he said. "You nearly didn't have a quarter-final. It was that close."

Day Seven Friday 12 January
The semi-final line-up was completed with the conclusion of the quarter finals. Both games went to the final set with Niels de Ruiter maintaining the Dutch interest in the event, defeating Gary Robson. Robson took the first two sets, then de Ruiter hit two 13, one 14 and one 15 dart leg in his comeback to level.

The deciding leg of the fifth set was amongst the highest standard leg in the history of the Lakeside event. Robson opened with 140, then de Ruiter hit his 5th 180 of the match. Robson's 140 was followed with another 180 leaving a nine-dart opportunity. Robson's ton left 121 and when de Ruiter missed the nine-darter and left himself on 36 for a ten-dart finish, Robson checked out the 121 to go 3-2 up in sets. He took the next set as well but de Ruiter battled back again to level. Robson hit a bullseye and a double 16 to save the match twice in the final set but de Ruiter's sixth dart for the match (at double 18) secured the win.

Phill Nixon, the 150-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, progressed to the semi-final with a narrow 5-4 win over Scotland's Paul Hanvidge. Nixon looked to be coasting to the last four when he led 4-1 but then missed six darts for the match and allowed Hanvidge the chance to get back into it. Nixon hit a 105 finish in the fourth leg of the final set to finally close out the match.

The Women's final followed and despite dropping her first set at Lakeside since the quarter-finals in 2003, Trina Gulliver went on to clinch her seventh successive title and maintain her unbeaten run in the event. Francis Hoenselaar pushed her all the way, and the match went to a sudden-death fifth leg in the final set. Gulliver won the throw for the bull to start the final leg and a 100, 140, 140 start left her in a commanding position to seal the match. She clinched the title with a double 18, her fourth dart for the match.

Day Eight Saturday 13 January
Both semi-finals were played in their traditional Saturday afternoon timeslot and the first match was between number one seed Martin Adams and number five seed Mervyn King. Adams looked to be coasting towards the final when he took a 5-2 set lead, but then King began to fightback with one 12-darter and three 13-darters. When King took six consecutive legs to level the match it looked like Adams had blown his chance to reach the final, just as he'd blown a lead in the final of the World Masters in October. This time he held his nerve by taking all three legs in the deciding set to reach his second world final.

The second semi-final saw Dutchman Niels de Ruiter against the surprise package of the tournament Phill Nixon. Nixon won the first three sets before de Ruiter took the fourth. But Nixon continued his great run and went 5-1 up. De Ruiter then produced a fightback to take the 7th, 8th and 9th sets to trail 4-5. Nixon regained his composure in the 10th set and hit his 14th and 15th 180s during the set to close out the match and reach the final.

Day Nine Sunday 14 January
It was a memorable final with two 50 year-old players battling it out for their first world title. Adams was the strong favourite, having been the number one seed. Nixon was the 150-1 outsider at the start of the event but had beaten a seeded player in each round on the way to the final.

Adams looked like he was going to walk away with an easy victory when he went into the break having taken the first six sets and needing just one to win. Adams then threw for the match at 2-1 in the seventh set. Nixon had other ideas and started to claw his way back into it. Adams missed four darts that could have won him the match and started to look more worried until eventually Nixon drew level.

Nixon threw first in the deciding set and began with a 180, but Adams took the leg out in 12 darts after Nixon narrowly missed a 122 checkout. Adams then held his own throw to once again go within a leg of the title. Nixon once again narrowly missed a chance to hold his throw, this time with double-18 for a 110 checkout, and Adams finished 54 on double 20 to win his first World Championship at the fourteenth time of asking.

Qualifiers

On 2 October, the BDO announced that the 2007 Championships would contain 16 seeded players for the first time since 1981. Two days later they announced that the top 26 players from the Invitational table would also qualify automatically. Defending champion Jelle Klaasen had slipped to 19 in the rankings at the time the seedings were announced, and has therefore missed out on being seeded. He was drawn against Co Stompé in the first round.

The qualifying event ^[8] was held at Bridlington on Thursday 12 October, the day before the Winmau World Masters event. From a field of 239 players playing the best of 3 sets, four players emerged as qualifiers for the 2007 World Finals. Former champion, Tony David was defeated by Kierion Carter of Wales in the first qualifying round. Despite a run of four victories Bobby George (WDF Ranking 165) fell two rounds short of qualification for the finals.

The eventual qualifiers from the event were:

Davy Richardson (England) WDF Ranking: unranked
Brian Woods (England) WDF Ranking: 86
Paul Gibbs (England) WDF Ranking: 60
Phill Nixon (England) WDF Ranking: 272

The final place at Lakeside was reserved for the winner of the World Masters - but as Michael van Gerwen had already booked a place it was taken by Gary Fenn, who had won a standy-by play-off a few days earlier. Ironically, if Fenn was to progress to the second round he could come up against Phill Nixon - the man who had already "knocked him out" of the qualifying event for the World Championship on 12 October.

The draw for the event was made at Leisure World, Bridlington on 13 October 2006 at 10am by the owners of the Lakeside - Bob Potter and Barbara Leitch.

World Darts Championship

World Professional Darts Championship

1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

BDO World Championship

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

PDC World Championship

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

World Darts Champions

BDO/WDF

Men	Martin Adams Bob Anderson Raymond van Barneveld Steve Beaton Eric Bristow Stephen Bunting Richie Burnett Tony David Keith Deller Andy Fordham Ted Hankey Christian Kist Jelle Klaasen John Lowe Scott Mitchell John Part Dennis Priestley Leighton Rees Phil Taylor Les Wallace John Walton Scott Waites Mark Webster Jocky Wilson

Women	Lisa Ashton Anastasia Dobromyslova Trina Gulliver Francis Hoenselaar

PDC

Men	Gary Anderson Raymond van Barneveld Michael van Gerwen Adrian Lewis John Part Dennis Priestley Phil Taylor

Women	Stacy Bromberg

Reigning Champions in bold

References

External links

WDF World Championship site - will include all statistics and tournament programme