The 2007 Tropicana International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

from May 4–12. The tournament was sponsored by Tropicana — a Dutch-based soft drink manufacturer.

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 ...

entered the tournament as three-times and defending champion. Darts history was made when the tournament became the first televised event to witness two

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 ...

es. On May 8, Phil Taylor hit his fourth perfect game on television against

and the following night

Tony O'Shea Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date h ...

matched the effort against

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 ...

. Despite the presence of current BDO and PDC World Champions and four other former world champions in the field, none progressed beyond the quarter-finals. 36 year old Gary Anderson won his first major title with a 13–9 victory over fellow BDO/WDF player Mark Webster.

Prize fund

The total prize fund is €135,000 (plus €26,000 for a nine-dart finish) :Winner €30,000 :Runner-up €15,000 :Semi-finalists €7,500 :Quarter-finalists €4,500 :2nd Group stage losers €3,000 :1st Group stage losers €2,000 :Preliminary round losers €1,000 :

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 ...

Opel Tigra TwinTop The Opel Tigra name has been applied to two different cars engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel, both based on different iterations of the Opel Corsa, Corsa Supermini car, supermini, the first built in Spain, the second in France. ...

valued at €26,000 – achieved by Phil Taylor on May 8 v Raymond van Barneveld. The sponsors presented

with the same brand of car later in the tournament for his nine-darter on May 9, although originally there was only one bonus prize on offer. :Highest checkout €1,000 currently shared by Phil Taylor 170 &

2007 controversy

The staging of the 2007 IDL has been filled with controversy. There have been several format changes, disagreements and even court cases surrounding the event. In 2006 the BDO secured an agreement for 28 of their players to participate in the event until 2010. However, as the popularity of the PDC circuit grew in the Netherlands, the organisers decided to renege on the deal and invite only 12 BDO players. The remaining 20 players would qualify from the PDC including their top 12 ranked players plus four wildcards and four from a PDC/PDPA qualifying event. This led to a threat from the BDO to take court action against the organisers who wanted their agreement upholding.Agreement on increasing PDC players
Planetdarts A compromise was reached and the organisers introduced a preliminary round. The original 16 BDO/WDF players who believed they had missed out were to be joined by a further four automatic qualifiers from the PDC Order of Merit and a further four players from an already confirmed qualifying event in April. This expanded the field from 32 to 56 players. However the sponsors of the four wildcard players (Michael van Gerwen, Mervyn King, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort) were upset that their players had been relegated to the preliminary round when they felt they had an agreement to be automatically into the televised stages. The BDO also felt that all 28 of their players should not have to face a preliminary round. The dispute was resolved on April 25 when a Dutch court rejected the claims of the four wildcard players. Three of the players managed to qualify from the preliminary round with only van der Voort missing out.

Results

Preliminary Round

Played Friday 4 May 2007 Group One – Winner: Mervyn King :Matt Clark 5–4 Albertino Essers :Mervyn King 5–1 Steve Farmer :Steve Farmer 5–4 Albertino Essers :Mervyn King 5–3 Matt Clark :Matt Clark 5–0 Steve Farmer :Mervyn King 5–1 Albertino Essers Group Two – Winner: Gary Robson :Gary Robson 5–0 Alan Tabern :Edwin Max 5–2 Kevin Painter :Gary Robson 5–1 Edwin Max :Kevin Painter 5–2 Alan Tabern :Alan Tabern 5–3 Edwin Max :Kevin Painter 5–3 Gary Robson Group Three – Winner: Michael van Gerwen :Brian Sorensen 5–0 Kevin McDine :Michael van Gerwen 5–1 Steve West :Steve West 5–4 Brian Sorensen :Michael van Gerwen 5–3 Kevin McDine :Michael van Gerwen 5–4 Brian Sorensen :Kevin McDine 5–3 Steve West Group Four – Winner: Ross Montgomery :Ross Montgomery 5–4 Chris Mason :Dirk Hespeels 5–2 Vincent van der Voort :Ross Montgomery 5–4 Dirk Hespeels :Vincent van der Voort 5–3 Chris Mason :Dirk Hespeels 5–0 Chris Mason :Ross Montgomery 5–2 Vincent van der Voort Group Five – Winner: Barrie Bates :Wayne Jones 5–2 Shane Tichowitsch :Barrie Bates 5–1 Phill Nixon :Phill Nixon 5–4 Shane Tichowitsch :Barrie Bates 5–1 Wayne Jones :Barrie Bates 5–3 Shane Tichowitsch :Phill Nixon 5–4 Wayne Jones Group Six – Winner: Mark Dudbridge :Mark Dudbridge 5–4 Goran Klemme :Andy Jenkins 5–1 Andy Murray :Andy Jenkins 5–4 Mark Dudbridge :Goran Klemme 5–1 Andy Murray :Goran Klemme 5–4 Andy Jenkins :Mark Dudbridge 5–0 Andy Murray Group Seven – Winner: Jelle Klaasen :Robbie Green 5–2 Robert Hughes :Jelle Klaasen 5–1 Mark Barilli :Mark Barilli 5–0 Robert Hughes :Jelle Klaasen 5–2 Robbie Green :Jelle Klaasen 5–1 Robert Hughes :Robbie Green 5–2 Mark Barilli Group Eight – Winner: Ronnie Baxter :Ron Meulenkamp 5–3 Richie Burnett :Ronnie Baxter 5–1 Paul Hogan :Ron Meulenkamp 5–2 Paul Hogan :Richie Burnett 5–4 Ronnie Baxter :Ronnie Baxter 5–2 Ron Meulenkamp :Richie Burnett 5–1 Paul Hogan

First Round

Played Saturday 5 May to Monday 7 May

Second Round

Played Tuesday 8 May to Thursday 10 May

Knockout stages

2007 format

The field was scheduled to contain 56 players with 12 automatically from each organisation going into the group stages. Some players from the BDO withdrew citing the uncertainty over the staging of the event as their reason. A preliminary round will now consist of: * The BDO/WDF players ranked 13 to 28 at the cut-off date (Mario Robbe, Scott Waites, Gary Robson, Brian Sørensen, Albertino Essers, Ross Montgomery, Ron Meulenkamp, Shane Tichowitsch, Robert Hughes, Göran Klemme, Steve West, Mark Barilli, Phill Nixon, Steve Farmer, Paul Hogan, Edwin Max) Dirk Hespeels and Andy Murray were added to the field to replace the withdrawn players * The PDC players ranked 13 to 16 at the cut-off date (Ronnie Baxter, Andy Jenkins, Barrie Bates, Kevin Painter) * Eight qualifiers from a

PDPA PDPA can refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan – a communist party * Personal Data Protection Act 2012 – a Singapore law governing the use and protection of personal data *Professional Dart Players Association – a trade associ ...

qualifying tournament at Villa Park, Birmingham on April 21 (Chris Mason, Wayne Jones, Richie Burnett, Alan Tabern, Mark Dudbridge, Matt Clark, Kevin McDine and Robbie Green) * Wildcards

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...

, Mervyn King and

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 ...

. Eight players from the preliminary round will go through to join the 24 automatic qualifiers in the group stages.

References

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International Darts League The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held. Gary Anders ...

International Darts League 2007 in Dutch sport