2008 European Championship (darts)

The 2008 European Championship was the inaugural edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament—which thereafter was promoted as the annual European darts championship, matching top European players qualifying to play against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. Played from October 30 to November 2 at the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt, Germany, the inaugural tournament featured a field of 32 players and £200,000 in prize money, with a £50,000 winner's purse going to Phil Taylor of England.^[1]

Format

First round — best of nine legs (by two legs)
Second round — best of seventeen legs (ditto)
Quarter-finals — best of seventeen legs (ditto)
Semi-finals — best of twenty-one legs (ditto)
Final — best of twenty-one legs (ditto)

Each game had to be won by two clear legs, except that a game went to a sudden death leg if a further six legs did not separate the players; for example, a first round match played out to 7-7 is then decided with one sudden death leg.

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.

Dinslaken qualifying tournament

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

Preliminary round

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]

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 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

External links

• Collated results of the 2008 European Championship