The 2008 Championship League Darts is the inaugural edition of a darts competition â the Championship League Darts. The competition is organised and held by the Professional Darts Corporation and has a maximum prize fund of ã189,000.
The format of the tournament is similar to the Premier League Darts tournament, also organised by the PDC, except it is contested by a larger pool of players who are split up into a number of groups.
In a first for darts the tournament will be shown in its entirety on the internet. Every match can be watched in the UK on the Ladbrokes and bet365 websites. The tournament will also be available globally through the internet, except in the United States of America where it can't be shown for legal reasons.
The first group will consist of the top 8 players from the PDC Order of Merit who are available for the competition. These 8 players will play each other over the course of a day and receive points for their performance. A win will earn a player two points, whilst a draw will earn them 1 point. All matches will be contested over 10 legs with a player winning the match when the reach 6 legs or the match being declared a draw should the score reach 5âÂÂ5. When all players have played each other, the four players with the most points will progress to the semi-finals with the winners of those matches progressing into the final.
The winner of the final will progress to the winners group which shall take place at the end of the competition. The runner-up, losing semi-finalists and the players finishing fifth and sixth will move into group two, where they will be joined by the next three players in the Order of Merit. The format of the second group will be the same as the first group with players moving into the third group. In total there will be 8 groups before the final group takes place.
This format ensures that all players who don't win the group or finish in the last two positions will have another chance to qualify for the winners group.
Players must have been in top 29 places in PDC Order of Merit following 2008 World Matchplay Darts in order to qualify. 31 places used because of Raymond Van Barneveld and John Part withdrawing.
PDC Order of Merit following 2008 World Matchplay Darts.
1. Phil Taylor | 2. <s>Raymond van Barneveld</s> | 3. James Wade | 4. <s>John Part</s> | 5. Terry Jenkins | 6. Wayne Mardle | 7. Adrian Lewis | 8. Andy Hamilton | 9. Colin Lloyd | 10. Roland Scholten | 11. Dennis Priestley | 12. Peter Manley | 13. Alan Tabern | 14. Ronnie Baxter | 15. Colin Osborne | 16. Kevin Painter | 17. Mervyn King | 18. Denis Ovens | 19. Mark Dudbridge | 20. Vincent van der Voort | 21. Chris Mason | 22. Kirk Shepherd | 23. Andy Jenkins | 24. Barrie Bates | 25. Andy Smith | 26. Mark Walsh | 27. Adrian Gray | 28. Wayne Jones | 29. Mick McGowan | 30. Alex Roy | 31. Wes Newton
Raymond van Barneveld, who is taking a two-month sabbatical from darts, and John Part, based in Canada, will not be competing in the tournament. Adrian Lewis will also enter in group 3, not group 1 as his ranking would suggest, because he has been suspended from playing in any PDC tournaments for two months following an altercation with Kevin Painter. Peter Manley is also entering the competition later than his ranking would suggest, for unknown reasons.
On 1 September it was announced that Dennis Priestley had withdrawn from group 2 due to his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer. As such he has been replaced in group 2 by Mervyn King. Subsequent group line-ups have also changed, with players from later groups being brought into earlier ones. Priestley hopes to return in time for group 7.
The prize money for the tournament is a unique concept with players winning a set amount of money for each leg that they win.
In groups 1 â 8 the prize money will be as follows:
In the winners group the prize money will be as follows:
In addition the winners group will have separate prizes for the winner, runner-up and losing semi-finalists. These prizes will breakdown as follows:
The following table shows the amount of prize money that has been won by each player.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Final position money is awarded to the semi-finalists of the winners group (ã2,500), the runner-up, (ã5,000), and the overall winner (ã10,000).
The tournament will take place over 9 days throughout September and October 2008. One group will be played on each day. The dates are as follows:
The tournament will take place at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex.
The groups are as follows:
Note: Bold indicates group winner, italics indicate the eliminated players. In groups 1âÂÂ7, players are eliminated for finishing in the bottom two of the league, in group 8 and the Winners Group players are eliminated for failing to win outright.
Winners Group
Played Tuesday 2 September, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Phil Taylor 6âÂÂ3 Andy Hamilton
Colin Lloyd 6âÂÂ5 Alan Tabern
Final
Phil Taylor 7âÂÂ0 Colin Lloyd
Played Wednesday 3 September, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Alan Tabern 6âÂÂ5 Andy Hamilton
Kevin Painter 6âÂÂ5 Mervyn King
Final
Alan Tabern 7âÂÂ6 Kevin Painter
Played Monday 22 September, results as follows:
League stages
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Adrian Lewis hit a nine dart finish
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Adrian Lewis 6âÂÂ4 Denis Ovens
Mervyn King 6âÂÂ1 Colin Osborne
Final
Mervyn King 7âÂÂ5 Adrian Lewis
Played Tuesday 23 September, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Andy Hamilton 6âÂÂ0 Mark Dudbridge
Vincent van der Voort 6âÂÂ3 Adrian Lewis
Final
Andy Hamilton 7âÂÂ3 Vincent van der Voort
Played Wednesday 24 September, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Adrian Lewis 6âÂÂ2 Peter Manley
Colin Osborne 6âÂÂ3 Mark Dudbridge
Final
Colin Osborne 7âÂÂ5 Adrian Lewis
Played Thursday 25 September, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Mark Walsh 6âÂÂ3 Barrie Bates
Vincent van der Voort 6âÂÂ5 Adrian Lewis
Final
Vincent van der Voort 7âÂÂ2 Mark Walsh
Played Tuesday 21 October, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Gold â Did not qualify for semi-finals but returns in next group, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Adrian Lewis 6âÂÂ3 Andy Smith
Mark Dudbridge 6âÂÂ4 Mark Walsh
Final
Mark Dudbridge 7âÂÂ4 Adrian Lewis
Played Wednesday 22 October, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals
Mark Walsh 6âÂÂ3 Adrian Lewis
Dennis Priestley 6âÂÂ4 Wayne Jones
Final
Mark Walsh 7âÂÂ4 Dennis Priestley
Played Thursday 23 October, results as follows:
League stages
Final league table
<small>NB: Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied. <br />Green â Qualified for the semi-finals, Red â Out of the tournament</small>
Semi-finals <small>ã2,500 each</small>
(1) Phil Taylor 6âÂÂ4 Alan Tabern (4)
(3) Mervyn King 6âÂÂ5 Mark Walsh (2)
Final <small>Winner: ã10,000 & 2008 Grand Slam of Darts place, Runner-up: ã5,000</small>
(1) Phil Taylor 7âÂÂ5 Mervyn King (3)