The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC'sUK Opendarts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at Bolton Wanderers'Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England, between 5–8 June 2008.
James Wade won the tournament; his first UK Open title, and his third major championship inside 12 months. He defeated American Gary Mawson in the final 11–7.
As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning were collated into the UK Order Of Merit. The top 128 players in the list, who played a minimum of three events (plus ties) won a place at the final stages.[1]
The final UK Open Order of Merit qualifiers (146) were also joined by 32 Holsten qualifiers from pub tournaments throughout the UK. The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round
Preliminary & First round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): Holsten pub qualifiers and those lowest in the UK Open Order of Merit start the tournament here.
Second round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): The players just outside the top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join preliminary and first round winners.
Third round (Last 64) (Friday, best of 17 legs): Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 survivors from the first night's play.
Fourth round (Last 32) (Saturday afternoon, best of 17 legs)
Fifth round (Last 16) (Saturday evening, best of 17 legs)
Quarter-finals (Sunday afternoon, best of 19 legs)
Semi-finals (Sunday evening, best of 19 legs)
Final (Sunday evening, best of 21 legs)
2007-2008 UK Open regional finalsEdit
There were eight regional final events staged between September 2007 and March 2008 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:
23 September 2007 (Wales): James Wade 8-7 Raymond van Barneveld
7 October (Ireland): Raymond van Barneveld 8-2 Kevin McDine
21 October (Scotland): James Wade 8-2 Ronnie Baxter
13 January 2008 (North East): Colin Osborne 8-6 Denis Ovens
10 February 10 (South West): Colin Lloyd 8-6 Andy Hamilton
2 March (South): Colin Lloyd 8-6 Phil Taylor
16 March (North West): Phil Taylor 8-7 Adrian Lewis
30 March (Midlands): Phil Taylor 8-0 Brendan Dolan
Tournament reviewEdit
The tournament has the nickname, the "FA Cup of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round. This provides no protection for the top players, who are usually seeded to avoid each other in early rounds. Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor, the top two in the PDC rankings respectively, met at the quarter-final stage for the third successive year, with the Dutchman coming out on top each occasion, this time 10-9. In addition, Adrian Lewis and Wayne Mardle - two players who played in the 2008 Premier League - played as early as the third Round, the last 64 stage.
Van Barneveld, who had won the tournament for the previous two years went out in the semi-finals to Gary Mawson, which was the Dutchman's first loss at the Reebok Stadium in the event. It also meant that Phil Taylor now overtook him to regain the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit/world rankings, as van Barneveld had failed to defend the £30,000 from the UK Open two years ago.
Earlier in the tournament, Phil Taylor threw his fourth nine dart leg in six years in the UK Open, during a 9-1 victory over Jamie Harvey in the fourth round. In his Fifth round match against Wesley Newton, Taylor achieved the highest televised 3 dart average (to date) of 114.53 surpassing Darryl Fitton's record (114.15) in the International Darts League 2004 against Davy Richardson.
The semi-final line-up contained only one player from the United Kingdom for the first time it the tournament's six-year history. That one player - James Wade, however went on to claim to the title.
Gary Mawson was the first American player to reach the UK Open final, and the first American since Larry Butler in 1994 to reach a major PDC final.
Random draws were made after each round up to the semi-final stage. Draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively.
ReferencesEdit
^UK Open Order of Merit table 2008-03-28 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
External linksEdit
planetdarts.tv
October 19, 2023
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The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC s UK Open darts tournament where following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion The tournament was held at Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium Bolton England between 5 8 June 2008 2008 Blue Square UK OpenTournament informationDates5 8 June 2008VenueReebok StadiumLocationBoltonCountry EnglandOrganisation s PDCFormatLegsFinal best of 21Prize fund 178 000Winner s share 35 000Nine dart finishPhil TaylorChampion s James Wade 2007 2009 James Wade won the tournament his first UK Open title and his third major championship inside 12 months He defeated American Gary Mawson in the final 11 7 Contents 1 Format 2 Prize money 3 Schedule 4 2007 2008 UK Open regional finals 5 Tournament review 6 Results 6 1 Preliminary round 6 2 First round 6 3 Second round 6 4 Third round 6 5 Fourth round 6 6 Final Stages 7 References 8 External linksFormat EditAs in previous years eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning were collated into the UK Order Of Merit The top 128 players in the list who played a minimum of three events plus ties won a place at the final stages 1 The final UK Open Order of Merit qualifiers 146 were also joined by 32 Holsten qualifiers from pub tournaments throughout the UK The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night They played down to 32 players and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night to provide the competition s last 64 A random draw was made after each subsequent roundPrize money EditStage no of players Prize money Total 178 000 Winner 1 35 000Runner Up 1 15 000Semi finalists 2 10 000Quarter finalists 4 5 000Last 16 fifth round 8 4 000Last 32 fourth round 16 3 000Last 64 third round 32 1 000Last 96 second round 32 n aLast 128 first round 32 n aLast 136 preliminary round 8 n aNine dart finish 1 25 000Schedule EditPreliminary amp First round Thursday best of 11 legs Holsten pub qualifiers and those lowest in the UK Open Order of Merit start the tournament here Second round Thursday best of 11 legs The players just outside the top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join preliminary and first round winners Third round Last 64 Friday best of 17 legs Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 survivors from the first night s play Fourth round Last 32 Saturday afternoon best of 17 legs Fifth round Last 16 Saturday evening best of 17 legs Quarter finals Sunday afternoon best of 19 legs Semi finals Sunday evening best of 19 legs Final Sunday evening best of 21 legs 2007 2008 UK Open regional finals EditThere were eight regional final events staged between September 2007 and March 2008 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table The tournament winners were 23 September 2007 Wales James Wade 8 7 Raymond van Barneveld 7 October Ireland Raymond van Barneveld 8 2 Kevin McDine 21 October Scotland James Wade 8 2 Ronnie Baxter 13 January 2008 North East Colin Osborne 8 6 Denis Ovens 10 February 10 South West Colin Lloyd 8 6 Andy Hamilton 2 March South Colin Lloyd 8 6 Phil Taylor 16 March North West Phil Taylor 8 7 Adrian Lewis 30 March Midlands Phil Taylor 8 0 Brendan DolanTournament review EditThe tournament has the nickname the FA Cup of darts as a random draw is staged after each round This provides no protection for the top players who are usually seeded to avoid each other in early rounds Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor the top two in the PDC rankings respectively met at the quarter final stage for the third successive year with the Dutchman coming out on top each occasion this time 10 9 In addition Adrian Lewis and Wayne Mardle two players who played in the 2008 Premier League played as early as the third Round the last 64 stage Van Barneveld who had won the tournament for the previous two years went out in the semi finals to Gary Mawson which was the Dutchman s first loss at the Reebok Stadium in the event It also meant that Phil Taylor now overtook him to regain the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit world rankings as van Barneveld had failed to defend the 30 000 from the UK Open two years ago Earlier in the tournament Phil Taylor threw his fourth nine dart leg in six years in the UK Open during a 9 1 victory over Jamie Harvey in the fourth round In his Fifth round match against Wesley Newton Taylor achieved the highest televised 3 dart average to date of 114 53 surpassing Darryl Fitton s record 114 15 in the International Darts League 2004 against Davy Richardson The semi final line up contained only one player from the United Kingdom for the first time it the tournament s six year history That one player James Wade however went on to claim to the title Gary Mawson was the first American player to reach the UK Open final and the first American since Larry Butler in 1994 to reach a major PDC final Results EditPreliminary round Edit Best of 11 legs Johnny Haines 6 V 5 John Kuczynski Scott Waites 6 V 0 Scott Mitton Paul Whitworth 6 V 2 Mark Jodrill Nigel Birch 6 V 2 Paul Knighton Nicky Turner 6 V 3 Gordon Fitzpatrick Alan Casey 6 V 1 Alan Green Paul Cooper 6 V 2 Michael Barnard Chris Hornby 6 V 4 Steve Hillier First round Edit Best of 11 legs Jamie Harvey 6 V 1 Richie Burnett Robert Thornton 6 V 5 Anastasia Dobromyslova Dennis Priestley 6 V 1 Danny King Dave Honey 6 V 1 Nicky Turner Mike Smith 6 V 3 Alan Caves Gary Mawson 6 V 5 Darren Johnson Dave Johnson 6 V 3 Stuart Pickles Ian Jopling 6 V 5 Ken Dobson Joey Palfreyman 6 V 1 Mel Davies Martin Burchell 6 V 3 Darren Sutton Dave Harris 6 V 3 Mick Savvery Alan Casey 6 V 4 Lee Palfreyman John Quantock 6 V 4 Gary Noonan Dan Timmins 6 V 0 Andrew Callary Snr Tony Ayres 6 V 3 David Howells Darren Webster 6 V 1 Chris Hornby Martyn Turner 6 V 5 Alan Reynolds Bob Crawley 6 V 1 Harry Anderson Adrian Welsh 6 V 5 David Woodwards Paul Whitworth 6 V 5 Dave Ladley Tony Mitchell 6 V 1 Geoff Harkup Johnny Haines Bye Darren Williams Scott Waites 6 V 3 Aaron Turner Shane Passey 6 V 3 Joe Bata Sean Palfrey 6 V 5 Jamie Robinson Lee White 6 V 5 Ryan Francis Nigel Birch 6 V 1 Dale Pinch Joe Cullen 6 V 0 Mark Stapleton Sam Rooney 6 V 1 Ritchie Corner Justin Pipe 6 V 4 Geoff Wylie Paul Cooper 6 V 4 Kevin McDine Second round Edit Best of 11 legs Terry Jenkins 6 V 0 Joey Palfreyman Wayne Mardle 6 V 3 Gary Welding Kevin Painter 6 V 2 Tony Eccles Matt Clark 6 V 4 Steve Beaton Kirk Shepherd 6 V 4 Jan van der Rassel Robert Thornton 6 V 2 Bob Crawley Joe Cullen 6 V 3 Dennis Smith Paul Cooper 6 V 1 Carlos Rodriguez John Magowan Bye Jimmy Mann Dave Askew 6 V 4 Steve Hine Nigel Birch 6 V 5 Shane Passey Andy Jenkins 6 V 1 Mike Smith Gary Mawson 6 V 0 Mark Frost Dave Honey 6 V 2 Kevin Dowling Dennis Priestley 6 V 4 Mick McGowan Steve Evans 6 V 4 Owen Caffrey David Platt 6 V 4 Martin Burchell Tony Ayres 6 V 5 Paul Whitworth Jason Clark 6 V 0 Johnny Haines Steve Smith 6 V 4 Jamie Caven Martyn Turner 6 V 1 John Quantock Scott Waites 6 V 0 Lee White Steve Maish 6 V 1 Ian Jopling Alan Warriner Little 6 V 2 Tony Mitchell Jason Barry 6 V 5 Adrian Welsh Mark Lawrence 6 V 5 Darren Webster Justin Pipe 6 V 2 Lionel Sams John Ferrell 6 V 3 Dan Timmins Simon Whatley 6 V 2 Sean Palfrey Jamie Harvey 6 V 4 Dave Harris Alan Casey 6 V 2 Dave Johnson Third round Edit Best of 17 legs Main Stage nbsp M van Gerwen 7 9 R Thornton nbsp nbsp V van der Voort 9 4 C Lloyd nbsp nbsp J Ferrell 3 9 P Taylor nbsp nbsp A Lewis 9 8 W Mardle nbsp nbsp J Part 9 2 C Monk nbsp Board Two nbsp M King 8 9 W Newton nbsp nbsp T Ayres 0 9 R van Barneveld nbsp nbsp K Painter 3 9 C Osborne nbsp nbsp J Wade 9 3 J Pipe nbsp nbsp A Smith 1 9 T Jenkins nbsp Board Three nbsp K Shepherd 8 9 W Jones nbsp nbsp P Cooper 7 9 A Tabern nbsp nbsp J Klaasen 9 6 D Askew nbsp nbsp M Turner 6 9 J Harvey nbsp Board Four nbsp M Dudbridge 9 8 A Warriner Little nbsp nbsp B Bates 9 4 J Clark nbsp nbsp P Manley 9 3 D Honey nbsp nbsp S Evans 8 9 S Whatley nbsp Board Five nbsp N Birch 9 8 D Priestley nbsp nbsp M Walsh 9 4 R Scholten nbsp nbsp A Casey 2 9 J Barry nbsp Board Six nbsp S Brown 9 5 K McDine nbsp nbsp M Clark 2 9 A Hamilton nbsp nbsp S Smith 9 7 A Jenkins nbsp Board Seven nbsp S Waites 9 4 W Atwood nbsp nbsp G Mawson 9 7 A Roy nbsp nbsp D Platt 4 9 M Lawrence nbsp nbsp R Baxter 9 1 S Rooney nbsp Board Eight nbsp J MaGowan 5 9 B Dolan nbsp nbsp S Maish 9 6 D Ovens nbsp nbsp C Mason 9 5 J Cullen nbsp nbsp C Thompson 9 4 A Gray nbsp Fourth round Edit Best of 17 legs Main Stage nbsp J Harvey 1 9 P Taylor nbsp Phil Taylor hit nine darter nbsp R Baxter 9 6 S Waites nbsp nbsp J Barry 7 9 R van Barneveld nbsp nbsp P Manley 7 9 M Dudbridge nbsp nbsp C Osborne 8 9 V van der Voort nbsp Board Two nbsp T Jenkins 6 9 J Part nbsp nbsp J Wade 9 5 S Brown nbsp nbsp A Hamilton 9 6 C Mason nbsp nbsp J Klaasen 9 3 N Birch nbsp Board Three nbsp A Tabern 9 6 R Thornton nbsp nbsp W Newton 9 7 M Walsh nbsp nbsp M Lawrence 4 9 G Mawson nbsp Board Four nbsp W Jones 9 2 B Bates nbsp nbsp A Lewis 8 9 B Dolan nbsp nbsp S Maish 5 9 C Thompson nbsp nbsp S Smith 6 9 S Whatley nbsp Final Stages Edit 5th roundQuarter finalsSemi finalsFinal nbsp James Wade 96 729 nbsp Ronnie Baxter 83 722 nbsp Wade 91 7210 nbsp Tabern 92 806 nbsp Alan Tabern9 nbsp Simon Whatley8 nbsp Wade 101 3910 nbsp v d Voort 93 204 nbsp Vincent van der Voort 95 349 nbsp Jelle Klaasen 93 506 nbsp v d Voort 93 5910 nbsp Thompson 92 215 nbsp Chris Thompson9 nbsp Brendan Dolan2 nbsp James Wade 94 6511 nbsp Gary Mawson 87 337 nbsp Wes Newton 97 323 nbsp Phil Taylor 114 539 nbsp Taylor 101 389 nbsp v Barneveld 97 7210 nbsp Andy Hamilton 98 434 nbsp Raymond van Barneveld 100 419 nbsp Barneveld 92 158 nbsp Mawson 90 6610 nbsp John Part6 nbsp Wayne Jones9 nbsp Jones 87 936 nbsp Mawson 87 1410 nbsp Mark Dudbridge8 nbsp Gary Mawson9Random draws were made after each round up to the semi final stage Draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively References Edit UK Open Order of Merit table Archived 2008 03 28 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts tvExternal links EditUK Open netzone results amp reports planetdarts tv Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2008 UK Open amp oldid 1167608605, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
