2008 Grand Slam of Darts explained

Tournament Name:	2008 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts
Dates:	15–23 November 2008
Venue:	Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Location:	Wolverhampton
Organisation:	PDC
Format:	Legs
Prize Fund:	£356,000
Winners Share:	£100,000
Nine Dart:	James Wade
Winner:	Phil Taylor
Prev:	2007
Next:	2009

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, Wolverhampton, England. As with 2007, the tournament included players from both the PDC and BDO organisations.

Phil Taylor successfully defended the title after defeating Terry Jenkins 18–9 in the final.

James Wade also hit the first nine-dart finish in the history of this tournament, during his second round defeat by Gary Anderson.

Prize Fund

The prize fund for the 2008 tournament was as follows:

Position (num. of players)		Prize money (Total: £356,000)
Winner	align=center	(1)	align=center	£100,000
Runner-up	align=center	(1)	align=center	£40,000
Semi-finalists	align=center	(2)	align=center	£20,000
Quarter-finalists	align=center	(4)	align=center	£12,500
Last 16 (second round)	align=center	(8)	align=center	£7,500
Last 32 (group stage)	align=center	(16)	align=center	£4,000
Highest finish	align=center	(1)	align=center	£2,000

Qualifying

There were 15 tournaments that provided qualifying opportunities to players. Most tournaments offered a qualifying position for the winner and runner-up of the tournament, however the World Championships and the 2007 Grand Slam also offered a place in the tournament to the losing semi-finalists. There were also various other ways of qualifying for overseas players, including those from Australia and the United States, as well as a wildcard qualifying event open to any darts player.

Qualifying tournaments

PDC

width=300	Tournament	width=50	Year	width=80	Position	width=200	Player		width=200	Qualifiers
Grand Slam of Darts	2007	Winner	Phil Taylor	Phil Taylor Andy Hamilton Kevin McDine Gary Anderson Raymond van Barneveld Andy Jenkins John Part Kirk Shepherd Kevin Painter Wayne Mardle James Wade Terry Jenkins Vincent van der Voort Gary Mawson Colin Lloyd Denis Ovens Adrian Lewis
		Runner-up	Andy Hamilton
			Kevin McDine Gary Anderson
PDC World Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Phil Taylor
		Semi-finalists	Andy Jenkins Andy Hamilton
	2008	Winner	John Part
		Runner-up	Kirk Shepherd
		Semi-finalists	Kevin Painter Wayne Mardle
World Matchplay	2007	Winner	James Wade
		Runner-up	Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	James Wade
World Grand Prix	2007	Winner	James Wade
		Runner-up	Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Raymond van Barneveld
Las Vegas Desert Classic	2007	Winner	Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	James Wade
UK Open	2007	Winner	Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Vincent van der Voort
	2008	Winner	James Wade
		Runner-up	Gary Mawson
US Open	2007	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Raymond van Barneveld
	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Colin Lloyd
Premier League Darts	2007	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	James Wade
German Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Denis Ovens
European Championship	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Adrian Lewis
Championship League Darts	2008	Winner	Phil Taylor
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

BDO

For the second year running, Martin Adams declined his invitation to take part in the competition.

width=300	Tournament	width=50	Year	width=80	Position	width=200	Player		width=200	Qualifiers
BDO World Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Martin Adams	Phill Nixon Niels de Ruiter Mervyn King Mark Webster Simon Whitlock Brian Woods Michael van Gerwen Robert Thornton Darryl Fitton
		Runner-up	Phill Nixon
			Niels de Ruiter Mervyn King
	2008	Winner	Mark Webster
		Runner-up	Simon Whitlock
		Semi-finalists	Martin Adams Brian Woods
World Masters	2006	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
		Runner-up	Martin Adams
	2007	Winner	Robert Thornton
		Runner-up	Darryl Fitton
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Defunct Tournaments

width=300	Tournament	width=50	Year	width=80	Position	width=200	Player
International Darts League	2007	Winner	Gary Anderson
		Runner-up	Mark Webster
World Darts Trophy	2007	Winner	Gary Anderson
		Runner-up	Phil Taylor
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Other qualifiers

^[1]

width=300	Criteria	width=200	Player
PDC North America Order of Merit Leader	Darin Young
William Cross Pro-Am	Paul Nicholson
2008 BDO Women's World Darts Champion	Anastasia Dobromyslova
ITV Wildcards	Wes Newton Colin McGarry Alan Tabern

Pro-Celebrity Challenge

As a curtain-raiser for the main Grand Slam of Darts, a competition involving eight celebrities and eight of the professionals taking part in the Grand Slam took place on the Friday before the tournament. The winners of the tournament collected a first prize of £8,000. In a closely fought final, James Wade and Steve Backley won a final-leg decider over Phil Taylor and Neil Ruddock, with Backley's double two checkout sealing the victory. Those involved were:

John Part Raymond van Barneveld Anastasia Dobromyslova Wayne Mardle Phil Taylor James Wade Peter Manley Mark Webster

Barry McGuigan – former world boxing champion Phil Tufnell – former cricketer Steve Davis – six-time world snooker champion Michael Le Vell – actor Neil Ruddock – former footballer Steve Backley – former athlete Dave Ulliott – poker player Mike Tindall – rugby player

Draw and results

all matches first-to-3/best of 5.

Draw

Group stages

All matches first-to-5/best of 9.

NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; Q = Qualifier
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/- = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Average = 3-dart average; Pts = Points.

Group A

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1	Phil Taylor (1)	3	2	1	14	6	+8	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Andy Jenkins	3	2	1	13	13	0	4
3		3	1	2	10	11	−1	2	Eliminated
4	Phill Nixon (BDO)	3	1	2	6	13	−7	2

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
107.36 Phil Taylor	5 – 0	Phill Nixon 92.91
	4 – 5	Andy Jenkins 85.39

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
99.98 Vincent van der Voort	5 – 1	Phill Nixon 85.33
	4 – 5	Andy Jenkins 96.89

17 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	3 – 5	Phill Nixon 87.79
	1 – 5	Phil Taylor 104.51

Group B

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1		3	2	1	13	6	+7	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Andy Hamilton (8)	3	2	1	11	9	+2	4	Nine Dart Shootout
2	Alan Tabern (Q)	3	2	1	11	9	+2	4
4	Brian Woods (BDO)	3	0	3	4	15	−11	0	Eliminated

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
105.64 Andy Hamilton	5 – 3	Brian Woods 88.67
91.21 Alan Tabern	5 – 3	Simon Whitlock 89.73

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	0 – 5	Simon Whitlock 84.44
95.94 Andy Hamilton	5 – 1	Alan Tabern 94.57

17 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
90.61 Alan Tabern	5 – 1	Brian Woods 73.63
98.86 Simon Whitlock	5 – 1	Andy Hamilton 103.04

Nine-dart shootout

With Andy Hamilton and Alan Tabern finishing level on points and leg difference, a piece of history was made, with a nine-dart shootout between the two to see who would play Phil Taylor in the second round. The match took place after the conclusion of Tuesday's second round matches.

width=20	POS	width=150	Player	width=3	1	width=3	2	width=3	3	width=20	4	width=20	5	width=20	6	width=3	7	width=20	8	width=20	9	width=20	Pts	width=150	Status
2	Andy Hamilton	60	60	5	60	20	60	–	–	–	265	Advance to the last 16
3	Alan Tabern	60	20	5	20	1	20	3	20	20	169	Eliminated

Group C

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1	Mervyn King	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Advance to the last 16
2		3	1	2	12	10	+2	2
3	Colin McGarry (Q)	3	1	2	9	14	−5	2	Eliminated
4		3	1	2	6	11	−5	2

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	4 – 5	Colin McGarry 80.14
92.93 Mervyn King	5 – 1	Michael van Gerwen 86.74

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
93.93 Mark Webster	5 – 0	Michael van Gerwen 75.62
	3 – 5	Mervyn King 89.81

17 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
84.51 Michael van Gerwen	5 – 1	Colin McGarry 76.55
97.14 Mervyn King	5 – 3	Mark Webster 92.21

Group D

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=19	LF	width=19	LA	width=19	+/-	width=19	Pts	width=183	Status
1	John Part (5)	3	2	1	13	7	+6	4
2	Kevin McDine	3	2	1	11	7	+4	4
3	Wayne Mardle	3	2	1	10	12	−2	4	Eliminated
4		3	0	3	7	15	−8	0

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
78.22 John Part	5 – 1	Anastasia Dobromyslova 75.91
	0 – 5	Kevin McDine 89.73

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
79.28 Wayne Mardle	5 – 4	Anastasia Dobromyslova 86.07
92.11 John Part	5 – 1	Kevin McDine 80.10

17 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
95.44 Wayne Mardle	5 – 3	John Part 94.47
92.44 Kevin McDine	5 – 2	Anastasia Dobromyslova 80.30

Group E

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1		3	3	0	15	7	+8	6
2	Robert Thornton	3	2	1	13	12	+1	4
3	Gary Mawson	3	1	2	11	10	+1	2	Eliminated
4	Kirk Shepherd	3	0	3	5	15	−10	0

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
84.02 Robert Thornton	5 – 3	Gary Mawson 81.72
100.38 Raymond van Barneveld	5 – 1	Kirk Shepherd 82.73

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
81.68 Gary Mawson	5 – 0	Kirk Shepherd 74.90
101.38 Raymond van Barneveld	5 – 3	Robert Thornton 97.82

18 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
93.25 Raymond van Barneveld	5 – 3	Gary Mawson 94.63
	4 – 5	Robert Thornton 93.49

Group F

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1	Terry Jenkins (7)	3	2	1	14	8	+6	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Darin Young (Q)	3	2	1	13	11	+2	4
3	Wes Newton (Q)	3	2	1	10	12	−2	4	Eliminated
4	Colin Lloyd	3	0	3	9	15	−6	0

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	4 – 5	Darin Young 92.43
	4 – 5	Wes Newton 79.51

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
85.61 Terry Jenkins	5 – 3	Colin Lloyd 84.38
85.30 Darin Young	3 – 5	Wes Newton 82.38

18 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	0 – 5	Terry Jenkins 98.88
88.15 Darin Young	5 – 2	Colin Lloyd 82.25

Group G

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1	James Wade (3)	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Advance to the last 16
2	Denis Ovens	3	2	1	13	7	+6	4
3	Adrian Lewis	3	1	2	10	10	0	2	Eliminated
4		3	0	3	1	15	−14	0

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	2 – 5	Denis Ovens 89.48
86.10 James Wade	5 – 1	Niels de Ruiter 74.91

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
89.46 Adrian Lewis	5 – 0	Niels de Ruiter 84.36
	3 – 5	James Wade 111.03

18 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	0 – 5	Denis Ovens 90.54
97.39 James Wade	5 – 3	Adrian Lewis 97.83

Group H

width=20	POS	width=173	Player	width=3	P	width=3	W	width=3	L	width=20	LF	width=20	LA	width=20	+/-	width=20	Pts	width=179	Status
1	Darryl Fitton (BDO)	3	2	1	14	9	+5	4	Advance to the last 16
2		3	2	1	14	11	+3	4
3	Paul Nicholson (Q)	3	1	2	11	14	−3	2	Eliminated
4	Kevin Painter	3	1	2	9	14	−5	2

15 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	2 – 5	Darryl Fitton 86.08
	4 – 5	Paul Nicholson 86.91

16 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
	2 – 5	Gary Anderson 96.40
96.92 Darryl Fitton	5 – 2	Paul Nicholson 93.90

18 November

width=223		width=100		width=223
90.72 Gary Anderson	5 – 4	Darryl Fitton 84.08
87.11 Paul Nicholson	4 – 5	Kevin Painter 98.05

Knockout stages

Statistics

Player	Played	Legs Won	Legs Lost	100+	140+	180s	High checkout	3-dart average
Phil Taylor	7	68	40	126	99	32	151	104.10
Andy Hamilton	4	19	19	53	33	9	136	100.22
Gary Anderson	6	48	41	101	74	30	170	98.65
Raymond van Barneveld	5	34	21	73	33	19	121	98.15
Terry Jenkins	7	59	57	144	99	36	164	97.63
James Wade	4	23	17	54	34	10	141	95.09
Mervyn King	6	45	40	108	61	24	161	94.70
Simon Whitlock	5	30	24	72	32	14	109	92.84
Robert Thornton	4	21	22	56	30	12	126	92.71
Denis Ovens	4	21	17	63	25	3	122	92.10
Alan Tabern	3	11	9	26	19	4	71	92.04
Vincent van der Voort	3	10	11	30	14	5	146	91.47
Adrian Lewis	3	10	10	26	11	5	127	90.69
Darryl Fitton	5	30	27	56	44	13	117	90.58
Kevin Painter	3	9	14	25	19	5	91	90.08
Mark Webster	5	30	22	70	26	9	158	89.98
Paul Nicholson	3	11	14	29	23	5	140	88.93
Phill Nixon	3	6	13	24	15	1	68	88.36
Kevin McDine	4	20	17	40	15	10	107	88.14
Andy Jenkins	4	21	23	56	24	7	104	87.87
Darin Young	4	17	21	48	24	8	86	87.25
John Part	4	15	17	33	12	4	135	86.93
Gary Mawson	3	11	10	27	9	4	152	86.63
Kirk Shepherd	3	5	15	22	11	1	70	83.89
Colin Lloyd	3	9	15	33	13	2	90	83.38
Wayne Mardle	3	10	12	27	8	2	158	83.23
Michael van Gerwen	3	6	11	20	7	3	52	82.68
Brian Woods	3	4	15	16	9	6	120	82.19
Anastasia Dobromyslova	3	7	15	42	10	0	120	81.46
Niels de Ruiter	3	1	15	25	5	2	73	81.37
Wes Newton	3	10	12	27	10	1	100	80.85
Colin McGarry	3	9	14	32	14	0	100	79.23

Television coverage

ITV Sport again broadcast coverage throughout the championship, in the UK. Again, Matt Smith presented the coverage on ITV4, with analysis from Chris Mason and Alan Warriner-Little, commentary from Peter Drury, Stuart Pyke and John Rawling and reports from Ned Boulting and Janie Omorogbe.

Match fixing allegations

Five days after the tournament concluded, the PDC revealed that the organisation had received complaints concerning the Group H match between Darryl Fitton and Gary Anderson, and forwarded those complaints to the Darts Regulation Authority.^[2] On 26 January 2009 it was announced that there was no evidence of player collusion in the arranging of match outcomes.^[3]

Notes and References

1. http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/GrandSlamDetail/0,,10180~1354968,00.html PDC announce ITV Wildcard Qualifiers
2. Web site: PDC Statement. PDC. 28 November 2008. 28 November 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20120916221614/http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~1470509,00.html. 16 September 2012. dead.
3. Web site: DRA Statement. PDC. 26 January 2009. 27 January 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20120916221636/http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~1533112,00.html. 16 September 2012. dead.