The Topic International Darts League was 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 ...
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 ...
.
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 ...
dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held.
Gary Anderson was the final champion, having claimed the title in 2007, when the tournament also became the first major 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.
Held in May, it was the second leg of the
BDO’s Grand Slam title of televised majors, along with the
World Darts Trophy
The Bullit World Darts Trophy was a professional Darts (sport), darts tournament run by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation. Held each September from 2002 to 2007, it took place at the :nl:Vechtsebanen, De Vechtsebanen ...
, the
Winmau World Masters
The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...
and the
Lakeside World Professional Championship.
It began as a tournament for BDO players, but following van Barneveld's move to the
PDC, Dutch broadcaster
SBS-6 were able to grant five invitations to non-WDF affiliated players for the first time in 2006, in order to maintain interest in the event. The number of invitations was increased to 20 in 2007 as more Dutch players, including
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 ...
and
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 ...
, had moved to the PDC. This was done with the agreement of the Schoofs Management & Events/Maximum Score – the owner and promoter of the tournament.
It is the only major event that
Phil Taylor has competed in at least once, but never won.
End of event
Towards the end of 2007, the chairman of the PDC,
Barry Hearn
Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sporting events promoter and the founder and President of promotions company Matchroom Sport.
Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports including snooker, darts, pool ...
, announced that its players would not be competing in the 2008 International Darts League and World Darts Trophy events. As a result, SBS6 announced they would no longer be broadcasting the event, with their coverage relying heavily on big names such as van Barneveld, which then cast doubts over whether either tournament would go ahead.
The tournament promoters filed a lawsuit against the PDC and SBS6 claiming a contract had been agreed for the PDC players to be involved. The case ended in failure on 21 February 2008, and the International Darts League was indefinitely postponed. The future of the World Darts Trophy was also thrown into doubt as a result of the decision, and both events were confirmed defunct by the failure of an appeal on April 29, 2008.
Format
The format has changed slightly over the years – the 2006 competition had 8
round-robin groups of 4 players. The top two players in each group qualified for another round-robin phase. Again, the top two players in each group progressed, but this time to the quarter-finals of the knockout stages.
Despite the presence of the PDC players in 2006 and 2007, the tournament was still a WDF/BDO ranking event, with all available points going only to the WDF/BDO players competing.
International Darts League finals
{, class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 , Year
! rowspan=2 , Champion
[Each player's average score is based on the average for each 3-dart visit to the board (ie total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)]
! rowspan=2 , Score
! rowspan=2 , Runner-up
! colspan=3 , Prize money
! rowspan=2 , Sponsor
! rowspan=2 , Venue
, -
! Total
! Champion
! Runner-up
, -
, 2003
, {{nowrap, {{flagicon, NED
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 ...
(97.77)
, 8–5
, {{nowrap, {{flagicon, ENG
Mervyn King (97.50)
, rowspan=4 , €134,000
, rowspan=5 , €30,000
, rowspan=5 , €15,000
, rowspan=3 , Tempus
, rowspan=5 , Triavium,
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 ...
, -
, 2004
, {{flagicon, NED
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 ...
(101.64)
, 13–5
, {{flagicon, AUS
Tony David
Tony David (born 11 September 1967) is an Australian former professional darts player, who played under the nickname The Deadly Boomerang. He is the only Australian player to have been a senior singles world darts champion, having won the 200 ...
(95.04)
, -
, 2005
, {{flagicon, ENG
Mervyn King (91.89)
, {{nowrap, 13–11
, {{flagicon, ENG
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 ...
(91.74)
, -
,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, {{flagicon, NED
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 ...
(99.54)
, 13–5
, {{flagicon, ENG
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 ...
(95.25)
, rowspan=2 , Topic
, -
,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, {{flagicon, SCO
Gary Anderson (95.85)
, 13–9
, {{nowrap, {{flagicon, WAL
Mark Webster (94.54)
, €158,000
Sponsors
* 2003–2005 Tempus
* 2006–2007 Topic
References
External links
International Darts League
{{PDC Darts Tournaments
{{BDO & WDF Tournaments
2003 establishments in the Netherlands
2007 disestablishments in the Netherlands
Professional Darts Corporation tournaments
British Darts Organisation tournaments
Darts in the Netherlands
International sports competitions hosted by the Netherlands