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2007 World Matchplay
The 2007 Stan James World Matchplay was the 14th annual staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was held at its traditional home, the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, between 22–28 July 2007. James Wade won his first major title, defeating Terry Jenkins 18–7 in the final. Defending and eight times champion, Phil Taylor suffered a semi-final defeat to Jenkins, meaning that he had surrendered both the World Championship and World Matchplay titles for the first time since the PDC began in 1994. Raymond van Barneveld, who went into this event having won the first three Sky TV majors of the year ( World Championship, UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic) saw his hopes of the clean-sweep evaporate with a quarter-final defeat to Adrian Lewis. Barneveld was making his debut in the event having failed to qualify in 2006. Both Lewis and Jenkins suffered hangovers from their victories over the two favourites as they lost their next matche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Gardens, Blackpool
The Winter Gardens is a large entertainment complex in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which includes a theatre, ballroom and conference facilities. Opened in 1878, it is a Listed building, Grade II* listed building, operated by Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited on behalf of Blackpool Council, which purchased the property from Leisure Parcs Ltd as part of a £40 million deal in 2010. The Winter Gardens has hosted the annual conferences of British political parties and trade unions and its owners claim that every Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister since World War II has addressed an audience at the venue. It has also hosted the Blackpool Dance Festival since its inception in 1920, and the World Matchplay (darts), World Matchplay darts tournament since 1994. The annual dance competitions Miss Dance of Great Britain and Dance Master UK are hosted there annually. History The Winter Gardens Company bought the site in 1875 for £28,000. The Winter Gardens was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nine-dart Finish
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly and hit a double scoring area with their last dart. When the target is 501, the minimum number of darts needed to reach it is nine. For example, one way to achieve a nine-dart finish is to score 60 (triple 20) on each of the first seven throws, then a 57 (triple 19) on the eighth, and lastly a 24 (double 12) on the ninth. It is regarded as an extremely difficult feat to achieve even for the sport's top players, and is considered the highest single-game achievement in the sport, similar to a maximum 147 break in snooker or a 300-point game in bowling. The feat was first achieved on television by John Lowe in 1984, and has since been via this medium a total 64 times. Paul Lim was the first to hit a nine-darter in the World Championship, mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Walsh (darts Player)
Mark Walsh (born 2 February 1965) is a former English professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. He reached No. 6 in the PDC Order of Merit. Walsh reached his first major televised final in 2005, when he was beaten by Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor in the 2005 UK Open, UK Open. Early career Walsh made his televised debut at the 2002 World Matchplay Darts, 2002 World Matchplay but suffered a 10-0 whitewash at the hands of John Part. His World Championship debut came in 2004, but he lost 0-3 to Erik Clarys in his first match. He went out to Wayne Mardle 2-4 in 2005. He won his first match at the World Championship at his third attempt in 2006. He was seeded 12th for the event, and beat Warren Parry before losing 0-4 to Dennis Smith (darts player), Dennis Smith in the next round. Later career 2007-2010 He had slipped to 16th in the Darts world rankings, world rankings for the 2007 World Championship, when he was surprisin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Dudbridge
Mark "Flash" Dudbridge (born 11 January 1973) is an English professional darts player. He appeared in the 2005 Premier League Darts after reaching the final of the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship. He also is a former World Master and has reached the final of the World Matchplay. Career Dudbridge started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes. Dudbridge made a name for himself in the British Darts Organisation by winning the Winmau World Masters in 2002, defeating Tony West in the final – in his first televised tournament. He never competed in the BDO version of the World Championship and switched instead to compete in the Professional Darts Corporation. In 2003, he won a regional final of the UK Open and also the Ireland Open Classic and knocked out John Part, who was defending champion at the time, in his first appearance at the World Championship in 2004. His success continued in Blackpool at the World Matchplay in 2004 going on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Mason (darts Player)
Chris Mason (born 17 December 1969) is an English former professional darts player. He used the nickname Mace the Ace. BDO and first PDC spell Mason began his career in the British Darts Organisation, making his World Championship debut at the 1996 BDO World Championship. He lost 0–3 to Andy Fordham. After joining the World Darts Council in 1996, Mason competed in the 1996 World Matchplay, losing to Alan Warriner. In October 1996, Mason reached the final of the Sky Sports World Pairs partnered by Steve Raw, where they were narrowly beaten by Phil Taylor and Bob Anderson. Mason then competed in the 1997 WDC World Championship, where he lost 1–3 to Gerald Verrier and 0–3 to Taylor in the group stage. Shortly after the BDO and PDC agreed the Tomlin Order in June 1997, some BDO players participated in the World Matchplay event between 1997 and 2001, and in the World Grand Prix event between 1998 and 2001. Mason went back to playing in the BDO World Championship afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrie Bates
Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne. Career Bates made his PDC televised debut at the 2003 UK Open reaching the third round. In 2005 he narrowly lost a last-32 match to Lionel Sams at the UK Open and made a superb run to the final in 2006 before losing to Raymond van Barneveld. He made a great impression on the circuit in 2006, winning the John Smiths Singles in February and May's Le Skratch Sarantos Retsinas Memorial event in Montreal. He also reached two Regional Finals of the UK Open in March (losing to Chris Mason and to van Barneveld in November. He reached two PDPA Players Championship finals in 2006 losing to Colin Lloyd in the Isle of Wight in June, but beat Phil Taylor to take his biggest title to date in the Netherlands event in November. His success at events away from the television cameras dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Jenkins
Andrew Jenkins (born 11 March 1971) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was nicknamed "Rocky" due to his rough personality. Jenkins has reached high rankings in the PDC, but has never won a major tournament. In 2009, Jenkins was given a PDC ban for almost two years for an assault on Terry Jenkins during a non-televised PDC tournament. Career BDO Jenkins began his career playing in British Darts Organisation competitions and had some success in the open events. He took the Embassy British Gold Cup Singles in 1994, England Open in 2000, Swiss Open and Japan Open in 2001 and the Isle of Man Open in 2002. His record at the BDO World Darts Championship was disappointing. He made his debut at the Lakeside Country Club in 1995, and managed only one win in his seven consecutive appearances. His only victory came in 1996 against Belgian Bruno Raes, and suffered defeats to Sean Palfrey (1995), Andy Fordham (1996, 1998), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing action. He currently resides in his hometown Blackpool. Baxter is widely regarded as one of the best players never to have won a major TV title. He is still active on the exhibition circuit. BDO Baxter played on the North American circuit during the 1980s and when he participated in the British Darts Organisation he had a consistent record for reaching the final stages of their Open events. As well as winning the Isle of Man Open three times, the Welsh Open twice, and the Syracuse Open, German Open, Denmark Open, Swiss Open, Finnish Open and the Welsh Classic once. He made his World Championship debut in 1991 and won his debut match against Bruno Raes, but lost in the second round to Jocky Wilson. Despite hitting the second highest averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Part
John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, and the PDC World Championship in 2003 and 2008. Part is statistically North America's greatest darts player to date. He has the distinction of being the first non-UK player to win the World Championship, and the only non-European to date to win the PDC World Darts Championship. Part's first Championship was the second time a non-seeded player won the BDO World Darts Championship, and one of the few times where a player only lost one set in the entire tournament. His nine-year gap between his first and second World Championships is tied with Ted Hankey for the longest gap between World Championships, and his third triumph in 2008 saw him become the first player in history to win a world title in three venues, and the first to win at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Hamilton (darts Player)
Andrew Hamilton (born 16 March 1967), nicknamed The Hammer, is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Early career Hamilton started playing darts at the age of 14 with his father Jim and brother Darren. By the age of 18, Hamilton was playing county level darts for Cheshire. However, he did not feel confident enough to pursue a career at the higher level and stopped playing competitive darts for 20 years. 2004–2007 Hamilton made his television debut at the 2004 UK Open but was eliminated in the first round 5–2 by Eddie Lovely. His first semi-final on the PDC Pro Tour came in just his fourth event when he was beaten 3–2 by Mark Dudbridge in a Scottish Players Championship. Hamilton qualified for the PDC World Championship for the first time in 2005 and made an immediate impact by reaching the quarter-final stage. Hamilton defeated Mark Thomson and Mick Manning 3–0 in the early rounds and beat former BDO Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turned full-time professional in 2001 having previously worked as a publican. Despite his Dutch nationality, Scholten speaks with a strong English accent having lived in Peterborough for several years. His considerable height and throwing technique means his darts hit the board at a considerably narrow angle. BDO career Scholten was runner-up in the 1992 Austrian Open, losing to Rod Harrington. He then won the 1993 WDF World Cup, beating Denmark's Troels Rusel in the final. Scholten made his BDO World Championship debut in 1994 where he beat Sean Palfrey in the first round and became the only seed to progress to the second round where he lost to Ronnie Sharp. He followed up with a quarter final showing in the 1994 Winmau World Masters, bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil Taylor on each occasion. He was also a five-time world semi-finalist. He currently works as a pundit and commentator. He has been known as "Hawaii 501" since 2000, a play on the title of the popular television series ''Hawaii Five-O'', due to the Hawaiian shirts he started wearing in 1998 for a bet, and 501 being the start score of a leg of darts. This dress sense coupled with his crowd-pleasing onstage activity (such as dancing to the interval music) saw him become one of the most popular players on the circuit. Early life and career Mardle was born in Dagenham, East London, England. He started playing darts at the age of 11, when he practised with his dad. His first 180 came two weeks after he started playing. He soon became better t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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