The 2008 US Open is the second year of a darts tournament, organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). It was played at the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

between May 16 and May 18, 2008. Phil Taylor successfully defended his title.

Television coverage and format

The event was broadcast on

Nuts TV Nuts TV was a British television channel related to '' Nuts'' magazine. Nuts TV began broadcasting on Freeview channel 42 on 12 September 2007, and launched on Sky Digital on 21 January 2008. A 1-hour timeshift channel, Nuts TV +1 launched on ...

in the UK from the last 16 onwards. The tournament was open to PDPA members and citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The elimination tournament was played down to the last 16 on the Friday and the last 16 played off on Saturday. The quarter-finals onwards took place on Sunday. In addition, the PDC also staged the $50,000 North American Darts Championship on the 16th and 17 May.

Tournament Review

Friday 16th May

Five American players made it through to the last 16 as there were a series of shock results on the opening day of the event. The biggest shock was when

Gary Mawson Gary Mawson (born May 17, 1963) is a Canadian-born American professional darts player. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. Mawson played darts for the USA in 2004 and the years immediately following, having previously ...

beat world number one and five-time former World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld in the last 32. Current World Champion,

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 ...

went out in round two to Roger Carter who also progressed to the last 16.

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

beat

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

to reach Saturday's main stage competition. David Fatum and Ray Carver completed the American line-up of five in the last 16. World number four,

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

also suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Paul Lim, the man who achieved the first ever World Championship nine darter in 1990. World number seven,

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 ...

, was beaten in the third round by Buddy Lessig. Number three seed, James Wade withdrew from the event due to illness. Out of the top 8 seeds, only two, Phil Taylor and Roland Scholten, made it to the last 16.

Saturday 17th May

The fifth round action opened with David Fatum being the first player and first American to reach the quarter finals, beating out fellow countryman

. Davis however did save some face with a 164 checkout, the highest of the night. Roger Carter was another American player to lose out, to Chris Mason.

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 rea ...

also put on an impressive display in beating Dave Honey in straight sets. Veteran

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 ...

moved into the quarters, dropping only one leg against Adrian Gray. Phil Taylor continued his imposing form, averaging 107 against Colin Osborne, who did take a set out of 'The Power'. American

, who had earlier knocked out the number one seed Raymond van Barneveld, lost 3–1 to Blackpool's

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 a ...

, and Colin Lloyd also looked to be in menacing form, not dropping a leg against world number eight Roland Scholten. The biggest shock of the night came with America's Ray Carver beating

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 ...

3–1 in a high quality match including a 131 checkout from Carver.

Results

Total Prize Fund £126,000 (unchanged from 2007) Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

Earlier rounds

Preliminary round

Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modelling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film '' Batman''. Hall was t ...

3–0 Kurt Tyson : Joe Chaney 3–0 Michael Mitchell

First round

Second round

Third round

Losers £1,000

Fourth round

Losers £1,500

North American Darts Championship

For the first time the PDC staged a large tournament available only to citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The tournament was worth $50,000, with $15,000 going to the winner. It was played separately from the US Open on the 16th and 17 May, though players could enter for both tournaments.

Darin Young Darin may refer to Places *Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran *Darin, Yazd, a villa ...

, who had been knocked out in the first round of the US Open, emerged the victor. On the first night the main shock was the defeat of World Champion and number one seed

, who was beaten by Buddy Lessig in the third round. The number two seed,

Gerry Convery Gerald "Gerry" Johnny Convery (born September 27, 1955) is a former Northern Irish born Canadian professional darts player. Darts career From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Convery played in the 2001 Winmau World Masters, where he lost in the Last 192 st ...

, also lost in the second round to Paul Lim. Leading American and third seed Ray Carver was defeated in the fifth round by Brad Wethington and

John Kuczynski John Kuczynski (born October 16, 1973 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania) is a former American professional darts player. He currently resides in Zion Grove, Pennsylvania and used the nickname Johnny K for his matches. Career For five years running ...

was beaten in the quarters by Brian Blake. The second night saw the semi-finals and final being played out. Number eight seed

beat out

in a close 7–5 game in the first semi-final, while Brad Wethington just beat Chris White in a 7–6 affair. The final followed suit. Wethington missed a dart to win the title before Young came back to win 8–7 and claim the title. Young said it was 'the biggest win of iscareer'. That moment was dubbed the 'most interesting' part of the Championship.

References

External links

Planet Darts US Open news
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Us Open Darts US Open (darts)

US Open Darts The US Open was a United States darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which launched in May 2007. It replaced the World Series of Darts which ran for one year and was cancelled as a result of poor television r ...