2008 in darts

This is a list of some of the major events and competitions in the sport of darts in 2008.

See also: 2008 in sports, 2007 in darts, 2009 in darts.

News

January

February

  • 10 – Colin Lloyd takes his first PDC Pro Tour title since November 2006 by claiming the UK Open South-West Regional Final in Taunton. He beat Andy Hamilton in the final.
  • 10 – Scotland's Winmau World Master Robert Thornton added the Dutch Open (WDF) title to his collection beating Dutchman Alain van Bouwel 3–0 in the Men's Final. Reigning Women's World Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova added more silverware to her collection when she won the Women's title beating Netherlands Carla Molema by 5 legs to 2.
  • 17 – Yorkshire's Garry Thompson became the 14th different winner in the 14-year history of the Scottish Open. He beat Winmau World Master Robert Thornton and England captain Martin Adams on his way the final where he beat Shaun Greatbatch by 5 legs to 1. Anastasia Dobromyslova added the Scottish Open Singles title when she defeated Francis Hoenselaar by 4 legs to 2 in the women's final.
  • 19 – Anastasia Dobromyslova becomes world number 1 in the WDF rankings overtaking Karin Krappen. Trina Gulliver remains third.
  • 21 – A court case in the Netherlands ends with the judge unable to find enough evidence regarding an existing contract between the PDC and the organisers of the two Dutch tournaments, the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy. Without PDC players and a television agreement, the IDL is postponed indefinitely and the WDT's future remains doubtful.
  • 24 – Wales win the WDF Nations Cup at the Rhydycar Leisure Centre in Merthyr Tydfil. The five man team of Robert Hughes, Gareth Holt, Wayne Warren, Martin Phillips and Mark Webster beat England 13–8 in the final.

March

  • 1 – Phil Taylor picks up the Southern Players Championship title at the Brentwood Centre in Essex. He beat Chris Mason, Wayne Mardle, Adrian Lewis and James Wade to take his first PDC Pro Tour title of the year. Despite his "lack of form",it was his fifth title in his last six tournaments – with only the World Championship missing from the collection.
  • 1 – Steve West wins the Finnish Open with a 5–4 final victory over Robert Wagner. Sari Nikula beat Tarja Salminen in an all-Finland final for the women's title.
  • 2 – Colin Lloyd takes his second PDC Pro Tour title of the year by beating Phil Taylor in the Southern Regional Final of the UK Open in Brentwood, Essex. Four Dutch players reach the last eight of the event.
  • 15 – St Helens player Alan Tabern won the North West Players Championship in Wigan beating Chris Mason in the final.
  • 16 – Phil Taylor wins the North West Regional Final of the UK Open in Wigan in a deciding leg shootout against Adrian Lewis.
  • 22 – The PDC Pro Tour moves to Germany for the weekend where Phil Taylor claims another Players Championship title. He beats rival Raymond van Barneveld in the final. Colin Lloyd takes the PDC tour's rollover prize of £12,400 for hitting a nine dart finish against Colin Monk.
  • 23 – Phil Taylor completes a perfect weekend in Germany by winning a third successive Pro Tour title. He hit a nine dart finish in the last 16 against Ronnie Baxter and beats Wayne Jones in the final. Dave Askew also hit a nine-darter in his third round defeat to James Wade.
  • 25 – Bob Anderson is confirmed as the eighth and final player in the Legends Tour due to start in May.
  • 27 – Adrian Lewis misses his Premier League match against Phil Taylor in Birmingham due to illness. Terry Jenkins is asked to play twice in the night, with Lewis's match rescheduled the following week.
  • 29 – Phil Taylor's successful month continues in Telford with his fourth successive Pro Tour Title – the Midland Players Championship defeating Colin Lloyd in the final.
  • 30 – Phil Taylor wins his fifth successive title, all in the month of March winning the Midland Regional Final of the UK Open – the last of the eight regionals. He beat Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final and Brendan Dolan in the Telford final.

April

May

June

  • 5 – Women's' World Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova loses narrowly in the deciding leg of her first round match at the UK Open to World Masters Champion Robert Thornton.
  • 7 – Phil Taylor hits his fourth UK Open nine dart finish in Bolton during a 9–1 win over Jamie Harvey.
  • 7 – The Swiss Open title is taken by Dutchman Joey ten Berge who beat England's Dave Prins 3–2 in the final. The women's event is won by Carla Molema who beat Irina Armstrong in the Women's Final by 2 sets to 1.
  • 8 – James Wade adds his third PDC major title by winning the UK Open in Bolton. He beat Gary Mawson in the final. Raymond van Barneveld beat Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals for the third successive year. The Dutchman then lost to Mawson in the semi.
  • 11 – Co Stompé becomes the latest BDO player to switch to the PDC.[6]
  • 14 – Phil Taylor claims his eighth PDC Pro Tour title at the Players Championship in Bristol beating Alan Tabern in the final.
  • 14 – It is confirmed that Shaun Greatbatch is diagnosed with cancer and is in hospital undergoing tests. No further details were confirmed.
  • 15 – Dennis Priestley wins his first Pro Tour title since February 2007 at the second Players Championship in Bristol. He beat Kevin Painter 3–2 in the final.
  • 15 – Davy Richardson won the Setanta Sports televised BDO British International defeating Scotland's Ross Montgomery by 4 sets to 1. Francis Hoenselaar took the women's title 3–2 over Patsy Fletcher.
  • 20 – Week two of the BetFred League of Legends in Blackburn saw Dave Whitcombe make it two wins from two with a 7 legs to 4 victory over Bobby George who has now lost both his matches. Cliff Lazarenko got his first win of the league, beating Eric Bristow 7–3. Following his draw with Bob Anderson, Peter Evison earned his first league win with a 7–5 win over Keith Deller. On the final match of the evening, Anderson brushed aside John Lowe 7–2. Lowe has also lost both his matches.
  • 23 – John Raby passes away after a long battle against motor neurone disease and cancer. His promotions company, JR Darts helped with organisation of tournaments in the PDC from its infancy. Barry Hearn said without Raby, "we might not have had a PDC." He had been inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2007.[7]
  • 27 – The League of Legends entertain the Hilton Hotel in Birmingham for week 3 of competition. Dave Whitcombe continued his winning ways, claiming a third straight win with 7–3 win over Eric Bristow. Bobby George won his first game of the league, beating Peter Evison 7–3. There were also wins for Bob Anderson and Keith Deller who respectively beat Cliff Lazarenko and John Lowe, who is the only one of the eight still without a win having lost his first three games.
  • 29 – Phil Taylor wins his ninth PDC Pro Tour title of the year by winning the Players Championship in Las Vegas beating Ronnie Baxter in the final. Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock first round exit to Germany's Michael Rosenauer, who went on the reach the semi finals along with Mark Walsh. Mark Frost reached the quarter finals and in doing so he secures his place in the World Matchplay.

July

August

  • 10 – Robert Thornton clinches his first PDC Pro Tour title in Shoalhaven, Australia
  • 17 – Dennis Priestley claims his second PDC Pro Tour title of 2008 with a Players Championship victory over Lionel Sams in Kitchener, Canada
  • 24 – Alan Tabern wins his second PDC Pro Tour title of the year at the Peachtree Open in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 30 – Phil Taylor extends his winning run to 31 matches by taking the first of the weekend's Players Championships in the Netherlands. He beats James Wade in the final.
  • 31 – Phil Taylor completes the weekend title double in the Netherlands beating Terry Jenkins in the final. It is his sixth tournament win in a row and extends his winning run to 38 matches. His record in knockout matches in 2008 stands at 128 wins, 5 defeats with 17 titles in 18 finals.
  • 31 – Mark Webster wins the WDF Europe Cup with 4–0 win over Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney while the England pairing of Martin Adams and John Walton won the Pairs. They defeated Marko Kantele and Jarkko Komula 4–2. The men's team title went to Denmark for the first time.
  • 31 – Krysztof Ratajski of Poland created a sensation by the Denmark Open Singles. He defeated Dutchman Fabian Roosenbrand in the final. The Women's title went to Julie Gore (Wales) who defeated Russia's Irina Armstrong 4–1.

September

  • 4 – Norman Wright, husband of Cumbria Secretary and BDO stalwart Alma Wright dies.
  • 6 – In a staggering upset Felix McBrearty, ranked 352 in the PDC, wins the PDC Pro Tour Players Championship at the Ireland Open Classic. He beat Kevin McDine, Colin Osborne, Michael van Gerwen, Andy Hamilton, Colin Lloyd and Chris Mason to clinch the title.
  • 14 – Colin Lloyd claims his third PDC Pro Tour title of 2008 by winning the Windy City Open in Chicago. He beat Wayne Mardle in the final.
  • 15 – Ellie Hindle, who worked closely with the BDO for many years at Pontin's, Brean Sands dies from cancer.
  • 20 – In an all Scottish final, John Henderson beats Gary Anderson 4–2 in the final of the British Open in Bridlington. Despite the defeat Anderson won the inaugural BDO British Grand Prix and £12,000 top prize. Ross Montgomery was second and Davy Richardson third. In the Women's singles, Trina Gulliver beat Francis Hoenselaar 3–1 in the women's final.
  • 27 – Mareno Michels (Netherlands) won the men's singles at the French Open beating Robert Hughest (Wales) 5–4 i the final. Irina Armstrong (Russia) won the Women's Singles defeating Karin Krappen of the Netherlands 4–0 in the final. Daniel van Mourik (Netherlands) won the Youth Singles.
  • 29 – Shaun Greatbatch confirms his withdrawal from the World Masters and Zuiderduin Masters due to entering hospital at the beginning of November for continued treatment, but he remains optimistic about his chances of taking part at the Lakeside in January.

October

  • 12 – Phil Taylor regains the World Grand Prix title in Dublin, beating Raymond van Barneveld in the final.
  • 12 – Tony O'Shea and Anastasia Dobromyslova took the titles at the Welsh Masters. Bernie Smith (NZ) and Corrine Hammond (Aus) won the Singles titles in the 2008 New Zealand Masters.
  • 12 – Gene Raymond, a former Surrey and England player dies. Raymond moved to Spain in later years.
  • 17 – Lisa Ashton will replace Anastasia Dobromyslova at the Zuiderduin Masters. Anastasia is still plagued with visa problems and will not be permitted to play in the event by the Dutch authorities.
  • 17 – Wes Newton secures a place in the Grand Slam of Darts winning the wildcard qualifier. Colin McGarry, Alan Tabern and Jamie Caven take second, third and fourth.
  • 18 – Alex Roy wins the Scottish Players Championship
  • 19 – James Wade win the second of the weekend's Players Championships
  • 25 – Colin Osborne wins the Kirchheim Players Championship.
  • 26 – Russell Stewart wins the Oceanic Masters.

November

  • 1 – Michael van Gerwen wins the Gleneagle Irish Masters
  • 2 – Phil Taylor wins the inaugural European Championship beating Adrian Lewis 11–5 in the final in Frankfurt, Germany.
  • 2 – Terry Jenkins wins the John McEvoy Gold Darts Classic Pro Tour event in Killarney beating namesake Andy Jenkins in the final.
  • 8 – Mervyn King wins the first of the weekend's Players Championships in Holland.
  • 9 – James Wade wins the second Player's Championship in Holland
  • 14 – The Pro-Celebrity curtain raiser to the Grand Slam of Darts is won by former Olympic javelin star Steve Backley who partnered James Wade to the title at the Wolverhampton Civic.
  • 16 – Stephen Bunting wins the Northern Ireland Open beating Darryl Fitton in the final. Francis Hoenselaar beat Trina Gulliver to take the women's title.
  • 23 – Scott Waites beat Scott Mitchell to win the Swedish Open. Carina Ekberg beat Kristin Bomander in an all-Swedish affair in the women's final
  • 23 – Phil Taylor retains his Grand Slam Of Darts title.

December

  • 1 – Tom Kirby passes away of pancreatic cancer aged 61.
  • 17 – PDC Official Eddie Cox, brother of Tournament Director Tommy Cox, died suddenly – aged 51.[8]
  • 18 – A new TV deal is announced confirming that the PDC World Darts Championship will remain on Sky Television until 2013 which will be the 20th PDC World Championship.

PDC

PDC Pro Tour events

For expanded results see 2008 PDC Pro Tour

Players Championships

(All matches – Best of 5 sets, Best of 3 legs per set)
  • Gibraltar, January 19: John Part 3-1 Chris Mason
  • Gibraltar, January 20: James Wade 3–1 Denis Ovens
  • South, March 1: Phil Taylor 3–0 James Wade
  • North-West, March 15: Alan Tabern 3–0 Chris Mason
  • Germany, March 22: Phil Taylor 3–1 Raymond van Barneveld
  • Germany, March 23: Phil Taylor 3–1 Wayne Jones
  • Midlands, March 29: Phil Taylor 3–0 Colin Lloyd
  • Antwerp Darts Trophy, April 12: Phil Taylor 3–0 Andy Smith
  • Scotland, April 19: Mervyn King 3–0 Mark Dudbridge
  • Open Holland Masters, April 26: Raymond van Barneveld 3–0 Colin Osborne
  • Thialf Darts Trophy, Heerenveen, June 1: cancelled [9]
  • Bristol, June 14: Phil Taylor 3–0 Alan Tabern
  • Bristol, June 15: Dennis Priestley 3–2 Kevin Painter
  • Las Vegas, June 29: Phil Taylor 3–1 Ronnie Baxter
  • Bobby Bourn Memorial Trophy, Blackpool, July 19: Phil Taylor 3–0 Ronnie Baxter
  • Australia Open, Shoalhaven, August 10: Robert Thornton 3–1 Paul Nicholson
  • Kitchener Open, Canada, August 17: Dennis Priestley 3–1 Lionel Sams
  • Peachtree Open, Atlanta, August 24: Alan Tabern 3–1 Andy Hamilton
  • Veldhoven, Netherlands, August 30: Phil Taylor 3–1 James Wade
  • Veldhoven, Netherlands, August 31: Phil Taylor 3–0 Terry Jenkins
  • Ireland Open Classic, September 7: Felix McBrearty 3–1 Chris Mason
  • Windy City Open, September 14: Colin Lloyd 3–2 Wayne Mardle
  • Newport, Wales, September 20: Ronnie Baxter 3–0 Jamie Caven
  • Newport, Wales, September 21: Alan Tabern 3–2 Colin Osborne
  • Dublin, October 4: Phil Taylor 3–2 James Wade
  • Dublin, October 5: Dennis Priestley 3–1 Raymond van Barneveld
  • Scotland, October 18: Alex Roy 3–2 Denis Ovens
  • Scotland, October 19: James Wade 3–1 Mark Walsh
  • Dinslaken, Germany, October 25: Colin Osborne 3–2 Carlos Rodriguez
  • Killarney Pro Tour, November 2: Terry Jenkins 3–0 Andy Jenkins
  • Holland, November 8: Mervyn King 3–2 Raymond van Barneveld
  • Holland, November 9: James Wade 3–2 Mark Walsh

UK Open Regional Finals

All finals best of 15 legs

  • January 13 (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

BDO

Lakeside World Darts Championship

Score
Quarter finals
Mark Webster 5–1 Darryl Fitton
Martin Adams 5–4 Robert Thornton
Brian Woods 5–3 Scott Waites
Simon Whitlock 5–0 Ted Hankey
Semi finals
Mark Webster 6–4 Martin Adams
Simon Whitlock 6–3 Brian Woods
Final
Mark Webster 7–5 Simon Whitlock

Winmau World Masters

Score
Quarter finals
Robert Wagner 3–0 Joey ten Berge
Scott Waites 3–1 Steve West
Tony O'Shea 3–1 Ross Montgomery
Martin Adams 3–0 Steve Farmer
Semi finals
Scott Waites 6–4 Robert Wagner
Martin Adams 6–2 Tony O'Shea
Final
Martin Adams 7–6 Scott Waites

WDF Category 1 Events

WDF ranking points awarded: Winner 150, Runner-up 100, Semi-Finalists 80, Quarter-Finalists 48, 9th to 16th place 24, 17th to 32nd place 12.

  • Dutch Open at NH Hotel/Congress centre, Veldhoven, February 7–10
Quarter-Finals (Losers €500, Best of 9 legs) Robert Thornton (84.99) 4–1 Joey Ten Berge (88.14), Robert Wagner (100.20) 4–0 Patrick Bulen (78.63), Alain Van Bouwel (79.53) 4–1 Edwin Max (74.82), Willem Kralt (71.19) 4–3 Phill Nixon (75.84)
Semi-Finals (Losers €1,250, Best of 5 sets, 5 legs per set) Robert Thornton (102.51) 2–0 Robert Wagner (97.59), Alain Van Bouwel (80.79) 2–0 Willem Kralt (76.80).
Final (Winner €4,500 Runner-up €2,250, Best of 7 sets, 5 legs per set) Robert Thornton (92.52) 3–0 Alain Van Bouwel (84.24)
  • Scottish Open at Normandy Cosmopolitan Hotel, Renfrew, February 16–17
Quarter-Finals (Losers £100, Best of 5 legs) Garry Thompson 3–1 Robert Thornton, Martin Adams 3–1 Willy Van De Wiel, Shaun Greatbatch 3–2 Daryl Gurney, Scott Waites 3–2 Steve O Donnell.
Semi-Finals (Losers £300, Best of 7 legs) Garry Thompson 4–2 Martin Adams, Shaun Greatbatch 4–3 Scott Waites.
Final (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £800) Garry Thompson 5–1 Shaun Greatbatch
  • German Open in Bochum, April 20
Quarter-Finals (Losers €240) Mike Veitch 2–1 Mark Salmon, Gary Anderson 2–0 Robert Wagner, Robert Thornton 2–1 Brian Derbyshire, Mark Webster 2–1 Scott Waites.
Semi-Finals (Losers €480) Gary Anderson 2–0 Mike Veitch, Robert Thornton 2–0 Mark Webster
Final (Winner €2,400 Runner-up €1,200) Gary Anderson 3–0 Robert Thornton
Quarter-Finals (Losers £150) Alan Norris 2–1 Ian Jones, Gary Anderson 2–1 Robert Thornton, Robert Hughes 2–0 Alan Walker, Mark Webster 2–0 Tony Clark.
Semi-Finals (Losers £500) Gary Anderson 3–1 Alan Norris, Mark Webster 3–2 Robert Hughes
Final (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £1,000) Gary Anderson 4–0 Mark Webster

WDF Category 2 Events

  • German Gold Cup, 27 January (Winner €840, Runner-up €420) Steve West 3–2 Andree Welge
  • Las Vegas Open, 27 January (Winner $800, Runner-up $400) Darin Young beat Jerry Hilbourn
  • Dortmund Open, 17 February (Winner €1,000, Runner-up €450) Ronny Huybrechts 3–1 Jerry Hendricks
  • Isle of Man Open, 9 March (Winner £5,000, Runner-up £1,000) Dave Chisnall 3–1 Robert Hughes
  • England Open, 12 April (Winner £2,000, Runner-up £1,000) Ross Montgomery 3–2 Gary Anderson
  • BDO International Open, 15 June (Winner £2,000, Runner-up £600) Davy Richardson 4–1 Ross Montgomery
  • Canadian Open, 15 June (Winner CAN$1,000, Runner-up CAN$500) Jerry Hull beat Danny MacInnis
  • Australian Grand Masters, 6 July (Winner A$2,900, Runner-up A$1,400) Tony David 5–3 Rob Modra
  • Pacific Masters, 26 July (Winner A$1,100, Runner-up A$600) Simon Whitlock 6–2 Anthony Fleet
  • New Zealand Open, 6 August (Winner NZ$1,500, Runner-up NZ$700) Derrick Samson 5–2 Wayne Carey
  • Belgian Open, 10 August (Winner €2,000, Runner-up €1,000) Scott Waites 4–2 Johnny Petermans
  • Malaysian Open, (Winner RM2,000, Runner-up RM1,000) 24 August Tengku Hadzali Shah beat Lourence Ilagan
  • WDF Europe Cup, 27–30 August, Mark Webster 4–0 Daryl Gurney
  • British Open, 20 September, (Winner £3,000 Runner-up £1,000) John Henderson 4–2 Gary Anderson
  • Northern Ireland Open, 9 November, (Winner £1,600 Runner-up £750) Stephen Bunting 2–0 Darryl Fitton

BDO International Grand Prix

New event consisting of five events televised by Setanta Sports in the United Kingdom. Tournament winners receive 15 Grand Prix points, runners-up 9, semi-finalists 6 and quarter-finalists 3.

  • 18 May Welsh Open – winner Gary Anderson
  • 15 June BDO International Open – winner Davy Richardson
  • 12 July BDO Gold Cup – winner Scott Waites
  • 26 July BDO British Classic – winner Ross Montgomery
  • 21 September British Open – winner John Henderson

At the conclusion of the BDO International Grand Prix Series, the accumulated points won by players in each of the five tournaments from the highest to eighth position earned the following prizes:

1. Gary Anderson 42 points: £12000
2. Ross Montgomery 24 points: £6000
3. Davy Richardson 18 points: £4000
4. Scott Waites 15 points: £2750
4. John Henderson 15 points: £2750
6. Gary Robson 12 points: £2000
7. Mark Webster £1500

8th place (£1,000) was shared between the following players:

Chris Jones
Stuart Bousfield
Mareno Michels
Edwin Max
Robbie Green
Mark Barilli
Alan Norris
Robert Hughes

Darts calendar

Date Organisation UK Broadcaster Event Winner/Notes
December 17, 2007 to January 1 PDC Sky Ladbrokes.com World Championship, Alexandra Palace, London John Part
January 5 to January 13 BDO BBC Lakeside World Championship, Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green Mark Webster
January 31 PDC Sky Premier League opening week concludes May 26 – see below
May 16 to May 18 PDC Nuts TV US Open, Connecticut Phil Taylor
May 16 to May 18 BDO / WDF Setanta Welsh Open, Prestatyn Gary Anderson
May 26 PDC Sky Premier League Final, Cardiff International Arena Phil Taylor
May 30 unaffiliated Setanta BetFred League of Legends opening week concludes August 22 – see below
June 5 to June 8 PDC Sky UK Open, Reebok Stadium, Bolton James Wade
June 15 BDO Setanta BDO International Open Davy Richardson
June 30 to July 6 PDC Sky Las Vegas Desert Classic, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas Phil Taylor
July 12 BDO Setanta BDO Gold Cup, Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green Scott Waites
July 20 to July 26 PDC Sky World Matchplay, Winter Gardens, Blackpool Phil Taylor
July 26 BDO Setanta BDO British Classic, Kettering Ross Montgomery
August 22 unaffiliated Setanta BetFred League of Legends finals, Circus Tavern, Purfleet Bob Anderson
September 19 to September 21 BDO Setanta BDO British Open, Bridlington John Henderson
October 6 to October 12 PDC Sky World Grand Prix, Dublin Phil Taylor
November 15 to November 23 BDO / PDC ITV4 Grand Slam of Darts, Wolverhampton Civic Phil Taylor
December 4 BDO none 2009 BDO World Championship qualifiers, Bridlington
December 5 to December 7 BDO BBC Winmau World Masters, Bridlington Martin Adams

References

  1. "PDC awards 2008". Archived from the original on 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  2. "Van Gerwen accepts Grand Slam invite". Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  3. https://www.pdc.tv/news/barney-wins-amsterdam-casino-open-holland-masters
  4. IDL & WDT defunct Google translation
  5. Thornton joins PDC planetdarts.tv
  6. Co Stompe joins PDC circuit Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
  7. PDC Statement – John Raby Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
  8. Eddie Cox 1957–2008 Archived 2008-12-21 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts
  9. Thialf Darts Trophy cancelled Archived 2012-09-08 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
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