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The Finder Darts Masters 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 in
Egmond aan Zee Egmond aan Zee () is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, about 9 km west of Alkmaar. Egmond aan Zee was a separate municipality until 1978, when it merged with E ...
, Netherlands, sanctioned by the
British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...
and the
World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...
, running intermittently under several different names from 1995 to 2018. The tournament was previously known as the Zuiderduin Masters from 2007 to 2014, as the Leendesk Masters in 2005, as the Doeland Grand Masters from 2001 to 2004, as the European Grand Masters in 2000, and as the Dutch Grand Masters in 1995 and 1996. It was held in December and was traditionally the last BDO event held before the annual
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. The tournament was an unranked event until 2008, when it was installed as a ranking event, along with the World Championships and the
World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam (tennis), Gran ...
, following the cancellation of 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 ...
and the
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 ...
. The organizers of the event announced in 2019 that that year's event would not take place due to the termination of the sponsorship with Dutch e-commerce company Finder, and the tournament has been discontinued.


History


1995–1996: Dutch Grand Masters

The competition began in 1995, known as the Dutch Grand Masters with
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 ...
and
Francis Hoenselaar Francisca ("Francis") Hoenselaar (born 15 January 1965 in Rotterdam, South Holland) is a retired Dutch professional darts player from the Netherlands. She was nicknamed ''The Dutch Crown''. A leading player in the women's game, Hoenselaar was ...
winning their first major tournament. The tournament ceased between 1997 and 1999.


2000: European Grand Masters

Following a growth in popularity in darts in the Netherlands because of the great success of players such as
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 ...
the event returned in 2000. It returned as the "European Grand Masters" in 2000.


2001–2004: Doeland Grand Masters

The tournament became the "Doeland Grand Masters" from 2001 to 2004.


2005: Leendesk Masters

In 2005 the tournament was named the "Leendesk Masters".


2007–2014: Zuiderduin Masters

The 2006 Masters was postponed, and was to be held in March 2007, reverting to its original title "Dutch Grand Masters". The event was later cancelled, due to lack of sponsorship, but was revived later that year when the tournament venue, the Hotel Zuidenduin, stepped in to sponsor the tournament signing a five-year contract until 2012, and it was branded the Zuiderduin Masters. Following sponsorship from the Hotel Zuiderduin, a women's competition was added in 2008 and after a demonstration tournament for juniors in 2010, a juniors competition was added in 2011. A new three-year contract was agreed in 2011 for it to remain the Zuiderduin Masters up to 2014. The first
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 ...
at the tournament was recorded by
Darryl Fitton Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses; one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience ...
in 2009.


2015–2018: Finder Darts Masters

Finder, an international operating company, took over the naming rights to the tournament from the 2015 edition onwards. It was branded the Finder Darts Masters.


Format


Men

The field is made up of 24 players. Qualification is determined from the top 16 players from the Zuiderduin Masters ranking table, which is separate from the BDO/WDF World Rankings, as well four players from the International Darts Tour of the Lowlands (IDTL) before its collapse in 2010/2011, and the winner of the Netherlands Champions League of Darts, plus 3 wild cards. If an IDTL qualifier is already qualified through his ranking, an extra wild card becomes available. From 2011, the men's winner at the MariFlex Open, a Zuiderduin Masters ranking event, gained automatic entry in to that years Zuiderduin Masters tournament. It was replaced with the Hal Open in 2014, but retained the same stipulations the MariFlex Open had. Since the 2013 Zuiderduin Masters tournament, the men's champion from the previous year was invited back to the following year's tournament. The 24 players are split into 8 groups, with each player playing 2 matches, best of 9 legs. The top player from each group advance to the quarter-finals, which is played in set format through to the final.


Women

Following the tournament's inception as a ranking event in 2008, a women's competition was installed with an eight-player field, made up from the top five players in the Zuiderduin Masters rankings, an IDTL qualifier before its collapse, the NDB Champions League of Darts winner and a wildcard. Likewise with the men's event, an extra wildcard can also be awarded. The competition was played in a straight knockout format. The women's competition was played in a straight knockout format up to and including the 2010 tournament before a new format was introduced in 2011. The field was shortened to six players. Two groups consist of three players playing one another once, with both group winners advancing to the final. The group stage matches are played over a legs format before the final in played in a sets format. From 2011, the six-player field has been made up from the top two players in the Zuiderduin Masters rankings, the NDB Champions League of Darts winner, two wildcards and the MariFlex Open winner. From 2011, the women's winner at the MariFlex Open, a Zuiderduin Masters ranking event, gained automatic entry into that years Zuiderduin Masters tournament. It was replaced with the Hal Open in 2014, but retained the same stipulations the MariFlex Open had. Since the 2013 Zuiderduin Masters tournament, the women's champion from the previous year has been invited back to the following year's tournament.


Youth

The youth tournament was instigated in 2011 with the first winner being
Jimmy Hendriks Jimmy Hendriks (born 19 March 1994) is a Dutch darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career BDO He won the WDF World Youth Cup and World Youth Masters in 2011 and the Lithuania Open in 2012; 2012 proved to be a su ...
who in the same year also won the WDF World Youth Cup and World Youth Masters.


Venue

The tournament has been held at the Hotel Zuiderduin in
Egmond aan Zee Egmond aan Zee () is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, about 9 km west of Alkmaar. Egmond aan Zee was a separate municipality until 1978, when it merged with E ...
since 2001. The 2000 tournament was held in
Hardenberg Hardenberg (; nds-nl, Haddenbarreg or '' 'n Arnbarg'') is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel, Eastern Netherlands. The municipality of Hardenberg has a population of about 60,000, with about 19,000 living in the city. It recei ...
. In 2007, following the postponement of the 2006 event, plans were made to host the 2007 Dutch Grand Masters in
Rosmalen Rosmalen () is a town in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. The town is located 6 kilometers east of the city of 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) and has been part of that Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality si ...
, but after it was cancelled, the plans were aborted and it remained in Egmond.


List of tournaments


Men's


Women's


Youth's


Finalists


References


External links


Official website

Men's tournament history
Darts Database.
Women's tournament history
Darts Database.
Men's tournament history
Master Caller.
Women's tournament history
Master Caller. {{BDO & WDF Tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1995 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2018 British Darts Organisation tournaments Darts in the Netherlands International sports competitions hosted by the Netherlands 1995 establishments in the Netherlands 2018 disestablishments in the Netherlands