The 2008 Championship League Darts is the inaugural edition of a

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

competition – the

Championship League Darts Championship League was a PDC darts tournament that used a league and legs format similar to the Premier League but offered the top players outside the top 8 in the PDC Order of Merit a chance to compete for the championship. It was the first e ...

. The competition is organised and held by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

and has a maximum prize fund of £189,000. The format of the tournament is similar to the

Premier League Darts Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament ori ...

tournament, also organised by the PDC, except it is contested by a larger pool of players who are split up into a number of groups. In a first for darts the tournament will be shown in its entirety on the internet. Every match can be watched in the UK on the

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and

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websites. The tournament will also be available globally through the internet, except in the United States of America where it can't be shown for legal reasons.

Format

The first group will consist of the top 8 players from the

PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded fo ...

who are available for the competition. These 8 players will play each other over the course of a day and receive points for their performance. A win will earn a player two points, whilst a draw will earn them 1 point. All matches will be contested over 10 legs with a player winning the match when the reach 6 legs or the match being declared a draw should the score reach 5–5. When all players have played each other, the four players with the most points will progress to the semi-finals with the winners of those matches progressing into the final. The winner of the final will progress to the winners group which shall take place at the end of the competition. The runner-up, losing semi-finalists and the players finishing fifth and sixth will move into group two, where they will be joined by the next three players in the Order of Merit. The format of the second group will be the same as the first group with players moving into the third group. In total there will be 8 groups before the final group takes place. This format ensures that all players who don't win the group or finish in the last two positions will have another chance to qualify for the winners group.

Qualification

Players must have been in top 29 places in PDC Order of Merit following

2008 World Matchplay Darts The 2008 Stan James World Matchplay was the 15th annual staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 20–26 July 2008. World number three ...

in order to qualify. 31 places used because of Raymond Van Barneveld and John Part withdrawing. PDC Order of Merit following

. 1. Phil Taylor , 2. ~~Raymond van Barneveld~~ , 3. James Wade , 4. ~~John Part~~ , 5. Terry Jenkins , 6. Wayne Mardle , 7. Adrian Lewis , 8. Andy Hamilton , 9. Colin Lloyd , 10. Roland Scholten , 11. Dennis Priestley , 12. Peter Manley , 13. Alan Tabern , 14. Ronnie Baxter , 15. Colin Osborne , 16. Kevin Painter , 17. Mervyn King , 18. Denis Ovens , 19. Mark Dudbridge , 20. Vincent van der Voort , 21. Chris Mason , 22. Kirk Shepherd , 23. Andy Jenkins , 24. Barrie Bates , 25. Andy Smith , 26. Mark Walsh , 27. Adrian Gray , 28. Wayne Jones , 29. Mick McGowan , 30. Alex Roy , 31. Wes Newton

Player omissions and delays

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

, who is taking a two-month sabbatical from darts, and

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, a ...

, based in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, will not be competing in the tournament.

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

will also enter in group 3, not group 1 as his ranking would suggest, because he has been suspended from playing in any PDC tournaments for two months following an altercation with

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English retired darts player, known as "The Artist". He is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the ...

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...

is also entering the competition later than his ranking would suggest, for unknown reasons. On 1 September it was announced that

Dennis Priestley Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is ...

had withdrawn from group 2 due to his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer. As such he has been replaced in group 2 by Mervyn King. Subsequent group line-ups have also changed, with players from later groups being brought into earlier ones.

Priestley Priestley may refer to: Places * Priestley, West Virginia, US, an unincorporated community * Priestley Glacier, a major valley glacier in Antarctica * Priestley (lunar crater), on the far side of the Moon * Priestley (Martian crater) * 5577 P ...

hopes to return in time for group 7.

Prize money

The prize money for the tournament is a unique concept with players winning a set amount of money for each leg that they win.

Groups 1 – 8

In groups 1 – 8 the prize money will be as follows: *Group Matches – £50 per leg won *Play-off Matches – £100 per leg won

Winners Group

In the winners group the prize money will be as follows: *Group Matches – £100 per leg won *Play-off Matches – £200 per leg won In addition the winners group will have separate prizes for the winner, runner-up and losing semi-finalists. These prizes will breakdown as follows: *Winner – £10,000 and a place in the

2008 Grand Slam of Darts The 2008 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15 to 23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, ...

*Runner-up – £5,000 *Losing Semi-finalists – £2,500 each

Prize money won

The following table shows the amount of prize money that has been won by each player. *Final position money is awarded to the semi-finalists of the winners group (£2,500), the runner-up, (£5,000), and the overall winner (£10,000).

Tournament Dates

The tournament will take place over 9 days throughout September and October 2008. One group will be played on each day. The dates are as follows: *Group 1 – Tuesday 2 September 2008 *Group 2 – Wednesday 3 September 2008 *Group 3 – Monday 22 September 2008 *Group 4 – Tuesday 23 September 2008 *Group 5 – Wednesday 24 September 2008 *Group 6 – Thursday 25 September 2008 *Group 7 – Tuesday 21 October 2008 *Group 8 – Wednesday 22 October 2008 *Winners Group – Thursday 23 October 2008 The tournament will take place at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex.

Groups

The groups are as follows: Note: Bold indicates group winner, ''italics'' indicate the eliminated players. In groups 1–7, players are eliminated for finishing in the bottom two of the league, in group 8 and the Winners Group players are eliminated for failing to win outright. Winners Group * Phil Taylor * ''

Alan Tabern "The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Darts career A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...

'' * '' Mervyn King'' * ''

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

'' * ''

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won two ...

'' * ''

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is bes ...

'' * ''

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 r ...

'' * '' Mark Walsh''

Results

Group One

Played Tuesday 2 September, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals Phil Taylor 6–3

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English retired professional darts player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the ...

6–5

Final Phil Taylor 7–0 Colin Lloyd

Group Two

Played Wednesday 3 September, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals

6–5

6–5 Mervyn King Final Alan Tabern 7–6 Kevin Painter

Group Three

Played Monday 22 September, results as follows: League stages *

hit a

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 an ...

Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals

6–4

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957 in Enfield) is an English retired professional darts player. He is nicknamed ''The Heat'' and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he ha ...

Mervyn King 6–1

Final Mervyn King 7–5 Adrian Lewis

Group Four

Played Tuesday 23 September, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals

6–0

6–3

Final Andy Hamilton 7–3 Vincent van der Voort

Group Five

Played Wednesday 24 September, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals

6–2

6–3

Final Colin Osborne 7–5 Adrian Lewis

Group Six

Played Thursday 25 September, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals Mark Walsh 6–3

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 ...

6–5

Final Vincent van der Voort 7–2 Mark Walsh

Group Seven

Played Tuesday 21 October, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold – Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals

6–3 Andy Smith

6–4 Mark Walsh Final Mark Dudbridge 7–4 Adrian Lewis

Group Eight

Played Wednesday 22 October, results as follows: League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals Mark Walsh 6–3

6–4 Wayne Jones Final Mark Walsh 7–4 Dennis Priestley

Winners Group

Played Thursday 23 October, results as follows:PDC website report – Taylor Wins Championship League Darts
from the Professional Darts Corporation, obtained 23-10-2008 League stages Final league table NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Green – Qualified for the semi-finals, Red – Out of the tournament Semi-finals £2,500 each (1) Phil Taylor 6–4

(4) (3) Mervyn King 6–5 Mark Walsh (2) Final Winner: £10,000 &

place, Runner-up: £5,000 (1) Phil Taylor 7–5 Mervyn King (3)

References

External links

Championship League Darts page on the PDC website
{{2008 in PDC darts Championship League Darts