2008 PDC World Darts Championship

The 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes, was the 15th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The 2008 event began on December 17, 2007 (a tradition for the event to begin in the previous calendar year) and the final was played on New Year's Day for the second year in succession. There was no play on December 23, 24, 25 and 31st.

John Part won his third World Championship, beating the qualifier Kirk Shepherd 7-2 in the final. He joined Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the only people to have won more than two world titles. He also became only one of two players to have won the PDC World Darts Championship more than once, along with Taylor. In addition, he is the only player to have won World Championships in three different venues; the Lakeside, the Circus Tavern and the Alexandra Palace.

Raymond van Barneveld was the defending champion having won the PDC World Championship at the first attempt in an epic final against Phil Taylor in 2007. He was knocked out in the third round with a 4-2 loss to Kevin Painter.

Phil Taylor failed to reach the final of the competition, for the first time in PDC World Championship history, after losing 5-4 to Wayne Mardle in the quarter-finals.

After being staged at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet for 14 years, the tournament moved to the Alexandra Palace in London. The championships had been considered to have outgrown the Circus Tavern whose capacity of 800-900 spectators was considerably smaller than some Holsten Premier League darts events in 2007 which saw crowds reaching 5,000. The Alexandra Palace was the venue of the News of the World Darts Championship between 1963 and 1977 and boasts a capacity for 2008 of 2,500.

Draw

Preliminary Round Draw

(best of nine legs, played Wednesday 19 December and Thursday 20 December)

Akihiro Nakagawa 2-5 Anthony Forde

Rizal Barellano 0-5 Miloslav Navratil

Alan Bolton 0-5 Erwin Extercatte

Ashfaque Sayed 0-5 Shi Yongsheng

First Round Draw

(best of five sets, sets are best of five legs)

(1) Phil Taylor 91.11 3-2 Michael van Gerwen 85.99

(32) Adrian Gray 88.01 2-3 Mark Walsh 87.63

(16) Andy Jenkins 86.80 3-2 Miloslav Navratil 83.12

(17) Alan Tabern 87.96 3-1 Per Laursen 84.17

(8) Roland Scholten 94.25 3-2 Matt Clark 93.88

(25) Mervyn King 95.97 3-2 Michael Rosenauer 86.60

(9) Wayne Mardle 91.13 3-2 Ray Carver 90.30

(24) Wes Newton 87.15 0-3 : Jamie Caven 89.36

(5) Peter Manley 90.09 3-2 Toon Greebe 89.60

(28) Alan Warriner-Little 80.98 3-1 Shi Yongsheng 76.38

(12) Colin Lloyd 85.75 2-3 Jan van der Rassel 90.66

(21) Denis Ovens 85.08 3-0 : Colin Monk 69.48

(4) Terry Jenkins 83.62 2-3 Kirk Shepherd 79.09

(29) Mick McGowan 86.66 3-0 Jason Barry 87.75

(13) Barrie Bates 82.99 3-0 Gerry Convery 79.50

(20) Colin Osborne 90.33 1-3 Erwin Extercatte 92.58

(2) Raymond van Barneveld 89.12 3-0 Anthony Forde 81.84

(31) Bob Anderson 91.07 2-3 : Jason Clark 89.70

(15) Kevin Painter 96.45 3-0 Gary Mawson 83.86

(18) Chris Mason 84.72 3-1 Steve Brown 77.61

(7) Adrian Lewis 96.79 3-1 Dave Askew 90.46

(26) Vincent van der Voort 86.94 3-2 Jelle Klaasen 90.27

(10) Dennis Priestley 92.06 1-3 Steve Maish 92.59

(23) Wayne Jones 83.71 0-3 Tony Eccles 91.17

(6) Andy Hamilton 90.20 3-1 Leroy Kwadijk 74.17

(27) Alex Roy 86.41 3-2 Warren Parry 83.56

(11) John Part 94.08 3-1 Charles Losper 85.21

(22) Andy Smith 81.11 2-3 Mensur Suljovic 83.26

(3) James Wade 89.82 3-0 Steve MacArthur 75.66

(30) Steve Beaton 76.99 3-0 Steve Evans 75.56

(14) Ronnie Baxter 90.31 3-2 Dan Olson 85.17

(19) Mark Dudbridge 85.46 3-1 Steve Hine 83.07

Last 32 to Final

Highest Checkouts: 170, Mervyn King, James Wade, Wayne Mardle

180's scored : 478

Most 180s Scored, Individual : 34 John Part, 33 Kirk Shepherd, 24 Wayne Mardle, 24 Kevin Painter, 22 Adrian Lewis.

Highest Tournament Dart Average (In A Single Match): John Part 99.06 vs Suljovic (Second Round).

Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

Statistics

Player	Played	Sets Won	Sets Lost	Legs Won	Legs Lost	100+	140+	180s	High Checkout	3-dart Average
John Part	6	29	10	98	68	202	112	34	160	94.42
Kirk Shepherd	6	24	23	104	101	237	120	33	160	83.92
Phil Taylor	4	15	13	66	59	162	70	19	137	93.67
Michael van Gerwen	1	2	3	11	13	29	15	1	106	85.99
Adrian Gray	1	2	3	10	12	28	18	3	104	88.01
Mark Walsh	2	6	6	23	24	52	38	10	156	88.58
Andy Jenkins	2	3	6	14	19	31	15	9	142	83.42
Rizal Barellano	1	0	0	0	5	4	3	0	-	68.58
Miloslav Navratil	2	2	3	12	11	14	8	6	81	79.04
Alan Tabern	3	10	5	39	30	98	55	9	160	89.14
Per Laursen	1	1	3	8	10	30	10	2	68	84.17
Roland Scholten	3	10	8	36	40	103	56	19	140	93.07
Matt Clark	1	2	3	12	10	25	19	4	100	93.88
Mervyn King	2	5	6	26	24	57	47	10	170	93.14
Michael Rosenauer	1	2	3	11	13	29	18	3	116	86.60
Wayne Mardle	5	20	16	81	70	183	135	24	170	90.92
Ray Carver	1	2	3	8	11	26	7	7	110	90.30
Wes Newton	1	0	3	4	9	14	11	2	81	87.15
Jamie Caven	2	4	4	15	17	39	16	3	121	85.86
Peter Manley	4	15	9	57	49	167	80	14	156	90.27
Toon Greebe	1	2	3	9	12	22	17	4	94	89.60
Alan Warriner-Little	2	4	5	19	18	46	22	4	108	86.77
Ashfaque Sayed	1	0	0	0	5	4	2	0	-	72.03
Shi Yongsheng	2	1	3	10	11	23	13	0	119	77.33
Colin Lloyd	1	2	3	14	14	29	13	1	120	85.75
Jan van der Rassel	3	8	7	37	37	103	51	10	116	89.47
Denis Ovens	2	4	4	18	14	46	20	6	100	87.65
Colin Monk	1	0	3	0	9	4	4	0	-	69.48
Terry Jenkins	1	2	3	10	10	32	13	1	56	83.62
Mick McGowan	2	6	4	25	24	66	35	6	120	85.88
Jason Barry	1	0	3	5	9	13	13	1	64	87.75
Barrie Bates	3	9	7	36	28	101	34	6	120	83.66
Gerry Convery	1	0	3	1	9	10	4	2	82	79.50
Colin Osborne	1	1	3	8	9	14	6	10	144	90.33
Alan Bolton	1	0	0	0	5	3	0	0	-	60.38
Erwin Extercatte	3	6	5	27	24	61	18	5	147	79.91
Raymond van Barneveld	3	9	5	34	25	73	36	13	120	90.73
Akihiro Nakagawa	1	0	0	2	5	9	1	1	40	68.85
Anthony Forde	2	0	3	9	11	28	11	2	120	75.84
Bob Anderson	1	2	3	10	11	30	16	4	141	91.07
Jason Clark	2	4	6	19	24	53	32	9	104	88.83
Kevin Painter	5	18	10	69	45	159	77	24	137	92.23
Gary Mawson	1	0	3	2	9	14	4	2	96	83.86
Chris Mason	2	3	5	16	15	39	15	2	136	84.32
Steve Brown	1	1	3	3	11	20	7	0	67	77.61
Adrian Lewis	4	13	11	46	50	118	55	22	136	92.26
Dave Askew	1	1	3	8	10	25	11	3	62	90.46
Vincent van der Voort	2	5	6	27	28	71	32	19	124	91.70
Jelle Klaasen	1	2	3	15	15	36	19	6	104	90.27
Dennis Priestley	1	1	3	7	9	28	7	3	130	92.06
Steve Maish	2	6	5	25	24	68	17	7	110	89.94
Wayne Jones	1	0	3	3	9	22	7	0	42	83.71
Tony Eccles	3	10	7	41	33	96	55	10	156	93.15
Andy Hamilton	2	4	5	19	17	35	20	16	144	90.59
Leroy Kwadijk	1	1	3	3	11	10	6	0	160	74.17
Alex Roy	3	7	7	35	30	108	41	5	124	87.63
Warren Parry	1	2	3	11	16	41	13	1	91	83.56
Charles Losper	1	1	3	8	11	18	9	4	94	85.21
Andy Smith	1	2	3	11	12	34	16	2	88	81.11
Mensur Suljovic	2	4	6	17	23	38	15	11	111	87.26
James Wade	4	15	6	59	46	134	72	17	170	89.19
Steve MacArthur	1	0	3	1	9	15	5	0	16	75.66
Steve Beaton	2	6	4	23	18	52	23	7	98	82.40
Steve Evans	1	0	3	1	9	13	9	1	20	75.56
Ronnie Baxter	2	5	6	23	25	71	25	9	137	91.07
Dan Olson	1	2	3	9	13	23	12	6	120	85.17
Mark Dudbridge	3	9	7	38	30	71	38	12	113	86.11
Steve Hine	1	1	3	5	11	17	8	2	100	83.07

Tournament Review

Day One, Monday 17 December

The first match of the tournament saw top Dane Per Laursen fall 1-3 to 17th seed Alan Tabern. The first seed to go out of the tournament was 32nd seed Adrian Gray who was beaten 2-3 in a close contest by Mark Walsh - the winner would face Phil Taylor in the second round.

The most high quality match of the night came with 9th seed Wayne Mardle defeating American Ray Carver 3-2. Carver had taken the game to a final set by hitting a 13 and 12 darter in succession in the fourth set, but some poor scoring in the final set cost him the match. Both players finished with 90+ 3-dart averages. The biggest shock of the night saw 12th seed Colin Lloyd's poor run in televised events continue with a first round defeat to Dutchman Jan van der Rassel. Lloyd missed a bullseye to take the match 3-1 and the match went to a tie-break in the deciding set. Van der Rassel took it 6-4 to avoid a sudden death leg.

Alan Tabern 3-1 Per Laursen (3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1)

Mark Walsh 3-2 Adrian Gray (3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 1-3, 3-1)

Wayne Mardle 3-2 Ray Carver (2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 0-3, 3-1)

Jan van der Rassel 3-2 Colin Lloyd(3-2, 1-3, 1-3, 3-2, 6-4)

Day Two, Tuesday 18 December

Opening match of the second night was 8th seed Roland Scholten against Matt Clark. The two produced a very impressive match before Scholten took the final set 4-2 to beat Clark - both attained 3-dart averages above 93. 5th seed Peter Manley defeated 19-year old Dutchman Toon Greebe 3-2 in a close second match.

The biggest match of the draw saw Michael van Gerwen miss a dart at double twelve for the match in the fourth set against top seed Phil Taylor which would have been Taylor's first defeat outside the final since the PDC World Championship began in 1994. The match went to a tie-break in the final set with Taylor winning it five legs to three for a 3-2 sets victory. Following that, 25th seed Mervyn King survived a challenge from Michael Rosenauer to come through 3-2, despite having an impressive 3-dart average of 95.

Roland Scholten 3-2 Matt Clark (3-2, 0-3, 3-2, 0-3, 4-2)

Peter Manley 3-2 Toon Greebe (3-1, 2-3, 3-0, 0-3, 4-2)

Phil Taylor 3-2 Michael Van Gerwen (3-0, 0-3, 2-3, 3-2, 5-3)

Mervyn King 3-2 Michael Rosenauer (3-2, 3-0, 0-3, 2-3, 5-3)

Day Three, Wednesday 19 December

The biggest upset of the championship so far saw Terry Jenkins knocked out in the first round by Kirk Shepherd. Jenkins missed seven darts to take the match 3-1 but the 21 year old levelled the match and took all three legs in the final set.

Bob Anderson almost pulled off a superb comeback having levelled his match against Jason Clark from being two sets behind. Anderson, now 60, took out three ton-plus finishes to claw his way back and even led the decider at one stage before Clark pulled away to go through.

Jamie Caven, a player who only has sight in one of his eyes produced another upset to beat World Number 25 Wes Newton in the first round. Denis Ovens beat Colin Monk without dropping a leg. Barrie Bates only lost one leg in his match with Gerry Convery. Mick McGowan won an all-Irish battle with Jason Barry and there were also wins for Chris Mason and Kevin Painter.

Jamie Caven 3-0 Wes Newton (3-2, 3-0, 3-2)

Denis Ovens 3-0 Colin Monk (3-0, 3-0, 3-0)

Mick Mcgowan 3-0 Jason Barry (3-1, 3-2, 3-2)

Barrie Bates 3-0 Gerry Convery (3-0, 3-0, 3-1)

Jason Clark 3-2 Bob Anderson (3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 1-3, 3-1)

Kirk Shepherd 3-2 Terry Jenkins (3-2, 0-3, 1-3, 3-2, 3-0)

Chris Mason 3-1 Steve Brown (2-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-0)

Kevin Painter 3-0 Gary Mawson (3-1, 3-0, 3-1)

Day Four, Thursday 20 December

Raymond van Barneveld opened the defence of his title with a 3-0 win over Anthony Forde although the Barbados qualifier took the second and third sets to deciding legs. Two of Barneveld's fellow Dutchmen produced the match of the night and possibly the tournament so far - Vincent van der Voort beat Jelle Klaasen with the match going all the way to the an eleventh leg sudden death in the final set. There were 18 maximum 180 scores in the match and Klaasen himself missed 10 darts to win the match.

Steve Maish upset Dennis Priestley in an emotional match (Priestley is currently battling cancer). Tony Eccles got his PDC World Championship debut off to a successful start with a clinical win 3-0 against Wayne Jones. Andy Jenkins and Alex Roy both had tough 3-2 victories against Czech qualifier Miloslav Navratil and New Zealand's Warren Parry respectively. Andy Hamilton and Adrian Lewis both progressed 3-1 into the second round.

Andy Jenkins 3-2 Miloslav Navratil (3-1, 0-3, 2-3, 3-0, 3-0)

Tony Eccles 3-0 Wayne Jones (3-1, 3-2, 3-0)

Andy Hamilton 3-1 Leroy Kwadijk (3-0, 3-0, 2-3, 3-0)

Alex Roy 3-2 Warren Parry (3-1, 2-3, 2-3, 3-0, 6-4)

Steve Maish 3-1 Dennis Priestley (3-1, 3-1, 0-3, 3-2)

Adrian Lewis 3-1 Dave Askew (3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2)

Raymond Van Barneveld 3-0 Anthony Forde (3-0, 3-2, 3-2)

Vincent Van Der Voort 3-2 Jelle Klaasen (2-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 6-5)

Day Five, Friday 21 December

There were more first round upsets as Mensur Suljovic, an Austrian qualifier beat Andy Smith and Erwin Extercatte beat Colin Osborne. There were no such problems for world number three James Wade who only dropped one leg in his match with Steve MacArthur. Steve Beaton also went through for the loss of just one leg to Steve Evans. John Part and Mark Dudbridge each lost one set in their opening games, with Ronnie Baxter having a bit more trouble before finally disposing of Canada's Dan Olson

Alan Warriner-Little 3-1 Shi Yongsheng (3-0, 2-3, 3-1, 3-1)

Erwin Extercatte 3-1 Colin Osborne (3-2, 0-3, 3-2, 3-1)

Mensur Suljovic 3-2 Andy Smith (3-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1)

Steve Beaton 3-0 Steve Evans (3-0, 3-1, 3-0)

Ronnie Baxter 3-2 Dan Olson (3-0, 1-3, 3-1, 2-3, 4-2)

James Wade 3-0 Steve Macarthur (3-0, 3-0, 3-1)

John Part 3-1 Charles Losper (3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2)

Mark Dudbridge 3-1 Steve Hine (3-1, 2-3, 3-0, 3-1)

Day Six, Saturday 22 December

The tournament moved into the second round with Alan Tabern the first player to go through. He beat Andy Jenkins 4-0. Jan van der Rassel added Denis Ovens to his list of casualties - having seen of Colin Lloyd in the first round. Peter Manley then knocked out Alan Warriner-Little to finish of the afternoon session.

Despite a maximum 170 checkout, Mervyn King went out of his first PDC World Championship to Dutchman Roland Scholten 2-4. Phil Taylor had another tough battle before progressing to the last 16. Mark Walsh led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Taylor reeled off six consecutive legs to progress. Jamie Caven won the first set against Wayne Mardle before the Romford man found his range and went on to win 4-1.

Alan Tabern 4-0 Andy Jenkins (3-1, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2)

Jan Van Der Rassel 4-1 Denis Ovens (3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1)

Peter Manley 4-1 Alan Warriner-Little (3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-0)

Roland Scholten 4-2 Mervyn King (3-2, 0-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2)

Phil Taylor 4-3 Mark Walsh (0-3, 3-2, 0-3, 3-0, 2-3, 3-0, 3-0)

Wayne Mardle 4-1 Jamie Caven (1-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2)

Sunday 23 December to Tuesday 25 December

The tournament went into hiatus for the Christmas period.

Day Seven, Wednesday 26 December

James Wade was made to fight his way into the last 16 with a 4-3 victory over former BDO World Champion Steve Beaton. Wade led 2-0 in sets and 2-0 in legs before Beaton started to fight back and took the match to a final set before Wade held out for victory. Kirk Shepherd continued his giant-killing run adding to his first round win over Terry Jenkins with a win against Mick McGowan. Kevin Painter powered past a disappointing Chris Mason. Adrian Lewis and John Part had comfortable wins, but Barrie Bates had a struggle getting past Erwin Extercatte.

Barrie Bates 4-3 Erwin Extercatte (2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-0, 0-3, 3-1)

Kevin Painter 4-0 Chris Mason (3-1, 3-2, 3-1, 3-1)

Kirk Shepherd 4-3 Mick Mcgowan (2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 2-3, 3-2, 1-3, 5-3)

Adrian Lewis 4-2 Vincent Van Der Voort (3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 0-3, 3-2)

John Part 4-1 Mensur Suljovic (3-2, 3-0, 0-3, 3-0, 3-0)

James Wade 4-3 Steve Beaton (3-0, 3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-1)

Day Eight, Thursday 27 December

Phil Taylor came back from the brink of defeat for the third match running, this time against Alan Tabern. Tabern led 2-1 and 3-2 in sets, before Taylor run in four of the last five legs of the match to take the final set 6 legs to 4. Wayne Mardle set up a quarter-final clash with Taylor by beating Roland Scholten.

Earlier the second round was completed as Alex Roy produced an upset defeating number six seed and Grand Slam finalist Andy Hamilton to reach the last 16. Defending champion, Raymond van Barneveld made progress as did Tony Eccles and Mark Dudbridge.

Tony Eccles 4-3 Steve Maish (2-3, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2, 3-2, 3-1)

Alex Roy 4-1 Andy Hamilton (3-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1)

Mark Dudbridge 4-2 Ronnie Baxter (3-0, 3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-0)

Raymond Van Barneveld 4-1 Jason Clark (3-2, 3-2, 3-0, 2-3, 3-1)

Third Round (Last 16)

Phil Taylor 4-3 Alan Tabern (3-1, 2-3, 0-3, 3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 6-4)

Wayne Mardle 4-3 Roland Scholten (3-0, 0-3, 2-3, 3-1, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1)

Day Nine, Friday 28 December

Raymond van Barneveld's reign as PDC World Championship was ended by Kevin Painter in a thrilling match which Painter finished off with a ten-dart leg to clinch the match 4-2. Painter hit seven consecutive treble 20s, en route to a possible nine dart leg before missing a treble 19 before completing a remarkable ten darter to go through to the quarter finals.

Earlier, James Wade overcame flu and Mark Dudbridge 4-2 to go through to his first World quarter-final and Kirk Shepherd defeated Barrie Bates 4-3 to be the surprise quarter-finalist. Peter Manley and John Part both had comfortable wins in their last 16 matches.

The talking point of the day may have been the Adrian Lewis v Tony Eccles clash. Eccles started in sensational fashion winning the first eight legs, but couldn't close out the third set. He missed two darts at a double for a 3-0 sets lead and then Lewis started a fightback winning the next three sets to lead 3-2. Eccles fought back himself to level the match, but controversy came in the final set when the scores were level at 2 legs each. Lewis took an unscheduled comfort break just minutes after a scheduled one and when he came back he found his rhythm to win the next two legs and make the quarter finals.

Kirk Shepherd 4-3 Barrie Bates (3-0, 1-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1)

Adrian Lewis 4-3 Tony Eccles (0-3, 0-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 4-2)

James Wade 4-2 Mark Dudbridge (2-3, 3-1, 3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2)

Peter Manley 4-1 Jan Van Der Rassel (2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 3-1)

Kevin Painter 4-2 Raymond Van Barneveld (1-3, 3-0, 3-1, 0-3, 3-2, 3-2)

John Part 4-0 Alex Roy (3-1, 3-2, 3-1, 3-1)

Day Ten, Quarter Finals, Saturday 29 December

For the first time in the 15 year history of the event, Phil Taylor failed to make it to the final after losing to Wayne Mardle. Taylor took an early 3-0 lead, but after winning a set Mardle's confidence increased and with the crowd behind him brought it back to 3-3. With the sets tied 4-4 the legs went with throw until 4-4 when Mardle broke Taylor with tops after Taylor missed double sixteen when the dart went the wrong side of the wire. Wayne closed out the match on his own darts with 140 and double 18 to win the final set 6-4 and a 5-4 win. Mardle immediately broke down into tears after the win. After the match Mardle said "it's not being in the semis that's important... it's beating that guy there (Taylor); he didn't play well, but I still had to play at my best to beat him"

Taylor said "When I was 3 sets to nil up, I thought I'm going to beat him 5-0... If he gets his game together now he's got the biggest chance of his life to win it".

World Matchplay champion James Wade also went out in the quarter-finals to two-time former World Champion John Part. It was a close match, but Part always stayed in front after establishing a 2-0 set lead. Wade did fight back from 1-3 to level the match.

Kirk Shepherd continued his amazing run and for the third time in the tournament survived his opponent having darts to win the match. Peter Manley had two darts to win the final set 3-0, but Shepherd came back to win the final set 4-2. After sharing the first four sets, Kevin Painter beat Adrian Lewis 5-2.

Kirk Shepherd 5-4 Peter Manley (3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 2-3, 1-3, 3-1, 2-3, 3-1, 4-2)

John Part 5-4 James Wade (3-2, 3-0, 1-3, 3-1, 2-3, 1-3, 3-1, 0-3, 4-2)

Wayne Mardle 5-4 Phil Taylor (0-3, 1-3, 0-3, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 6-4)

Kevin Painter 5-2 Adrian Lewis (3-0, 2-3, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2)

Day Eleven, Semi Finals, Sunday 30 December

Kirk Shepherd's sensational run in the tournament continued as he beat Wayne Mardle in the semi-final to reach the final. Shepherd, the 21-year old qualifier built up a 3-1 set lead and missed five darts to go 4-1 up only to see Mardle come back to take the lead 4-3. Mardle, who had beaten Phil Taylor the previous night in the quarter finals looked to be on his way to his first world final before Shepherd fought back again to take the next three sets and become the first qualifier to reach the PDC World final.

The other semi-final was a more clinical performance as John Part returned to the final always having the edge over 2004 finalist Kevin Painter. The fourth set was potential decisive as Painter missed darts to take a 2-0 leg lead. Part then took out the next two legs and a 13-darter in the fourth leg gave him a 3-1 set lead. Painter missed a dart at bullseye to bring the score back to 2-3, leaving Part a 44 finish to go 4-1 up - then also missed a chance to take the sixth set. Part took the match with a classy 130 finish for a 6-2 win.

Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Wayne Mardle (0-3, 3-0, 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-2)

John Part 6-2 Kevin Painter (3-2, 3-2, 0-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 0-3, 3-2)

Day Twelve, Final, Tuesday 1 January 2008

John Part became World Champion for the third time with a ruthless 7-2 victory over qualifier Kirk Shepherd. Shepherd had beaten world number four Terry Jenkins, three time world finalist Peter Manley and Phil Taylor's conqueror Wayne Mardle to become the first qualifier to reach the PDC World final - but he had no answer to Part's experience in the final. The early stages of the match were close with both of the first two sets going down to a deciding leg. Part just edged the first set and in the deciding leg of the second started with 140, 180 and a 15-dart leg for a 2-0 lead. Part then ran off the next six legs to find himself 4-0 in front and missed a bullseye for a 5-0 lead before Shepherd took his first set. The sixth set again went to last leg with Part re-establishing a four set lead but Shepherd continued to battle away and took the seventh set with a brilliant 160 finish. Part opened the eighth set with a 139 finish, then Shepherd hit an 88 to level it before checkouts of 52 and 80 from Part took him one set away from victory at 6-2. The Canadian closed out victory in the ninth set with a double ten in the fifth leg.

John Part 7-2 Kirk Shepherd (3-2, 3-2, 3-0, 3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2)

Format and qualifiers

The televised stages will feature 68 players. The top 32 players in the PDC Order of Merit at November 12, 2007 received an automatic place in the World Championship. . They will be joined by 16 PDPA members and 20 international qualifiers to be determined by the PDC and PDPA.

The 16 PDPA members will be made up from the top eight players (who haven't already qualified) in the PDC Pro Tour Events during 2007 (Jelle Klaasen, Mark Walsh, Tony Eccles, Michael van Gerwen, Steve Brown, Dave Askew, Jason Clark and Matt Clark)

The final eight qualifiers were determined at a PDPA Qualifying event which was held on November 17, 2007 in Wolverhampton - prior to the Grand Slam of Darts tournament. The successful players were Steve Maish, Jan van der Rassel, Colin Monk, Steve Evans, Jamie Caven, Steve Hine, Kirk Shepherd and Jason Barry. Former world champions John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller and Richie Burnett all played in the qualifying rounds but failed to reach the televised stages.

International qualifiers

Gary Mawson - PDC North American Pro Tour Order of Merit

Ray Carver - PDC North American Pro Tour Order of Merit

Gerry Convery - PDC North American Pro Tour Order of Merit

Dan Olson - PDC North American Pro Tour Order of Merit

Leroy Kwadijk - Dutch/Belgian DDF Order of Merit

Toon Greebe - Dutch/Belgian DDF Order of Merit

Mensur Suljovic - German Darts Corporation Order of Merit

Michael Rosenauer - German Darts Corporation Order of Merit

Per Laursen - Danish Order of Merit

Steve MacArthur - DartPlayers Australia Order of Merit

Warren Parry - DartPlayers Australia Oceanic Masters Winner

Charles Losper - South African Open Winner

Four Preliminary Round Winners

Prize Money

The 2008 World Championship will feature a prize fund of £600,000 - a rise of £100,000 on the previous year. The prize money for earlier round losers has been increased, whilst the winner and runner-up prize money is all unchanged.

Winner: £100,000

Runner-Up: £50,000

Semi-Finals: £22,500 (up from £20,000)

Quarter Finals: £15,000 (up from £12,500)

Third Round losers: £10,500 (up from £8,500)

Second Round losers: £7,000 (up from £5,000)

First Round losers: £4,000 (up from £3,500)

Preliminary Round losers (2): £2,500

PDPA Qualifying round losers fund: £16,000

Nine dart finish: £20,000 (not won and rolls over to £25,000 for UK Open)

Trivia

• Kirk Shepherd became the youngest player to ever reach a Darts World Championship (PDC or BDO final.)
• No one in the tournament achieved an average of over 100.
• As a result of Phil Taylor not advancing past the quarter final stages, Raymond van Barneveld became the world number one.
• The tournament saw the first ever PDC World Championship final without the presence of Phil Taylor.

References and external links

• World Championship Darts TV Watch the 2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championships Live Online
• Schedule of matches for the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship
• Article on Hearn's future plans BBC London
• Qualifying for the 2008 World Championships Darts Database