2008 European Championship (darts)

European Championship
Tournament information
Dates 30 October 2 November 2008
Venue Südbahnhof
Location Frankfurt
Country Germany
Organisation(s) PDC
Format Legs
Final – best of 21
Prize fund £200,000
Winners share £50,000
High checkout 160 England Denis Ovens
160 Scotland Robert Thornton
Champion(s)
England Phil Taylor
2009»

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.

PDC Top 16
  1. England Phil Taylor (Champion)
  2. Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (Quarter-finals)
  3. England James Wade (Second round)
  4. Canada John Part (First round)
  5. England Terry Jenkins (First round)
  6. England Colin Lloyd (First round)
  7. England Andy Hamilton (First round)
  8. England Wayne Mardle (Second round)
  9. England Adrian Lewis (Runner-Up)
  10. England Alan Tabern (Quarter-finals)
  11. England Dennis Priestley (Second round)
  12. Netherlands Roland Scholten (First round)
  13. England Mervyn King (Second round)
  14. England Colin Osborne (First round)
  15. England Ronnie Baxter (Quarter-finals)
  16. England Peter Manley (Semi-finals)
Players Championship qualifiers
  1. England Denis Ovens (Second round)
  2. Scotland Robert Thornton (Semi-finals)
  3. England Mark Walsh (Quarter-finals)
  4. England Chris Mason (First round)
  5. England Kevin Painter (First round)
  6. Netherlands Vincent van der Voort (First round)
  7. England Alex Roy (First round)
  8. England Wayne Jones (First round)
European qualifiers
  1. Spain Carlos Rodríguez (Second round)
  2. Austria Mensur Suljović (Second round)
  3. Netherlands Jelle Klaasen (Second round)
  4. Netherlands Jan van der Rassel (First round)
German Darts Corporation qualifiers
  1. Germany Andree Welge (First round)
  2. Austria Hannes Schnier (First round)
Dinslaken event qualifiers

Draw and results

1st Round, 30-October 31
best of 9 legs
2nd Round, November 1
best of 17 legs
Quarter Finals, November 2
best of 17 legs
Semi Finals, November 2
best of 21 legs
Final, November 2
best of 21 legs
               
1 England Phil Taylor 106.10 5
Republic of Ireland Jacko Barry 79.50 1
1 England Phil Taylor 113.92 9
England Mervyn King 101.30 3
  England Mervyn King 102.72 6
England Wayne Jones 95.13 4
1 England Phil Taylor 103.26 9
England Mark Walsh 98.84 5
8 England Wayne Mardle 89.50 5
Germany Andree Welge 71.30 0
8 England Wayne Mardle 92.74 6
England Mark Walsh 96.76 9
  England Colin Osborne 95.46 4
England Mark Walsh 104.10 6
1 England Phil Taylor 113.33 11
Scotland Robert Thornton 102.50 7
5 England Terry Jenkins 95.74 5
Spain Carlos Rodriguez 93.92 7
  Spain Carlos Rodriguez 86.03 5
England Ronnie Baxter 87.45 9
  England Ronnie Baxter 85.80 6
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 95.10 4
  England Ronnie Baxter 91.00 5
Scotland Robert Thornton 92.25 9
4 Canada John Part 90.06 3
Scotland Robert Thornton 96.00 5
  Scotland Robert Thornton 91.76 9
Austria Mensur Suljović 89.46 7
  Netherlands Roland Scholten 51.60 1
Austria Mensur Suljović 81.10 5
1 England Phil Taylor 104.35 11
England Adrian Lewis 96.56 5
2 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 88.38 5
England Andy Jenkins 78.98 2
2 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 107.02 9
England Dennis Priestley 102.35 4
  England Dennis Priestley 93.42 5
Netherlands Jan van der Rassel 79.12 3
2 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 102.48 2
England Adrian Lewis 108.62 9
7 England Andy Hamilton 94.80 1
England Denis Ovens 95.96 5
  England Denis Ovens 87.98 5
England Adrian Lewis 89.53 9
  England Adrian Lewis 93.27 5
Austria Hannes Schnier 80.08 2
  England Adrian Lewis 92.06 11
England Peter Manley 90.45 7
6 England Colin Lloyd 84.79 2
Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 96.75 5
  Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 97.86 6
England Alan Tabern 93.55 9
  England Alan Tabern 94.18 5
England Chris Mason 90.45 1
  England Alan Tabern 85.92 4
England Peter Manley 85.90 9
3 England James Wade 94.19 5
England Alex Roy 85.83 1
3 England James Wade 88.52 9
England Peter Manley 88.94 11
  England Peter Manley 94.19 5
England Kevin 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

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