2007 Grand Slam of Darts

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2007 PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts
Tournament information
Dates17–25 November 2007
VenueWolverhampton Civic Hall
LocationWolverhampton
Country England
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Prize fund£300,000
Winner's share£80,000
High checkout170 England James Wade
Champion(s)
England Phil Taylor
2008»

The 2007 PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts was the inaugural staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts, held by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament invited the best performing players from the PDC and its rival the British Darts Organisation. There had been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes. This tournament was the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom.

The 2007 tournament was staged at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England from 17–25 November 2007. Phil Taylor won the title, beating Andy Hamilton 18–11 in the final. In one of the early group matches which may not have stood out at the time, John Part narrowly beat Mark Webster 5–4 and less than two months later the two players became the World Champions of their respective organisations.

Format[edit]

The 32 players were split into eight groups of four players with the top two from each group qualifying for the last 16 knockout stages. Each player was therefore guaranteed three matches in the competition. Two points were awarded for a win. All group games were best of 9 legs, the second-round games were extended to best of 19 legs, the semi-finals best of 25 legs, and the final best of 35 legs.

Prize money[edit]

PartyPoker.net increased the prize fund for the event from the original announcement of £250,000 to £300,000 making it the second richest tournament in 2007 – ahead of both the Premier League and the BDO World Championship.[1]

Position (num. of players) Prize money
(Total: £300,000)
Winner (1) £80,000
Runner-up (1) £35,000
Semi-finalists (2) £15,000
Quarter-finalists (4) £10,000
Last 16 (second round) (8) £6,000
Last 32 (group stage) (16) £4,000

Controversy[edit]

Controversy hit the tournament in May when it was confirmed by the BDO that the Winmau World Masters had been moved from its original dates of 26–28 October to a new date of 16–18 November,[2] clashing directly with the Grand Slam. This meant that players from the BDO were forced into a direct choice between competing at the Masters for valuable ranking points or taking their place at the Grand Slam for better prize money. BDO World Champion Martin Adams almost immediately confirmed that he would participate in the Masters, though he was the only BDO player to do so.[3] Adams went out in the quarter-finals of the World Masters meaning his pay cheque of £1,250 was significantly less than the £4,000 he would have received simply for turning up at the Grand Slam. Adams also declined the chance to compete in 2008, even though the two tournaments did not clash as the Masters was moved to December.

Qualifiers[edit]

The PDC Chairman Barry Hearn announced on 21 February 2007 that all major tournament finalists for the past two years from both the BDO and PDC will be invited to the event. Also World Championship semi-finalists from the same period would receive an invite.

The tournaments used for the qualifying criteria were the two World Championships, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Masters (2006 only), UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, Premier League, World Series of Darts, International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy with the field set at 32 players.

BDO players Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Shaun Greatbatch, Niels de Ruiter, Phill Nixon and Scott Waites all accepted invites to the event leaving Martin Adams (the BDO World Champion) as the only player to have rejected the opportunity to play.[4] He participated in the 2007 Winmau World Masters instead, losing at the quarter-final stage.

PDC[edit]

Tournament Year Position Player Qualifiers
PDC World Darts Championship 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor England Phil Taylor
England Peter Manley
England Wayne Jones
England Wayne Mardle
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
England Andy Hamilton
England Andy Jenkins
England James Wade
England Terry Jenkins
Canada John Part
Wales Barrie Bates
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort
England Adrian Lewis
Netherlands Roland Scholten
Runner-up England Peter Manley
Semi-finalists England Wayne Jones
England Wayne Mardle
2007 Winner Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-up England Phil Taylor
Semi-finalists England Andy Hamilton
England Andy Jenkins
World Matchplay 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up England James Wade
2007 Winner England James Wade
Runner-up England Terry Jenkins
World Grand Prix 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up England Terry Jenkins
2007 Winner England James Wade
Runner-up England Terry Jenkins
Las Vegas Desert Classic 2006 Winner Canada John Part
Runner-up Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
2007 Winner Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-up England Terry Jenkins
UK Open 2006 Winner Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-up Wales Barrie Bates
2007 Winner Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-up Netherlands Vincent van der Voort
World Series of Darts 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up England Adrian Lewis
US Open 2007 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Premier League Darts 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up Netherlands Roland Scholten
2007 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up England Terry Jenkins
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

BDO[edit]

Tournament Year Position Player Qualifiers
BDO World Darts Championship 2006 Winner Netherlands Jelle Klaasen Netherlands Jelle Klaasen
England Shaun Greatbatch
England Phill Nixon
England Mervyn King
Netherlands Niels de Ruiter
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Semi-finalists England Martin Adams
England Shaun Greatbatch
2007 Winner England Martin Adams
Runner-up England Phill Nixon
Semi-finalists England Mervyn King
Netherlands Niels de Ruiter
World Masters 2006 Winner Netherlands Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up England Martin Adams
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Defunct Tournaments[edit]

Tournament Year Position Player Qualifiers
International Darts League 2006 Winner Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld England Colin Lloyd
Scotland Gary Anderson
Wales Mark Webster
Runner-up England Colin Lloyd
2007 Winner Scotland Gary Anderson
Runner-up Wales Mark Webster
World Darts Trophy 2006 Winner England Phil Taylor
Runner-up England Martin Adams
2007 Winner Scotland Gary Anderson
Runner-up England Phil Taylor
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Other qualifiers[edit]

[5]

Criteria Player
Highest Ranked PDC Non-Qualifier England Dennis Priestley
Highest Ranked BDO Non-Qualifier England Scott Waites
Wildcard Qualifier England Chris Mason
England Kevin McDine
DPA Australia Open Winner Australia Pat Orreal
South African Open Winner South Africa Charles Losper
North American Order Of Merit Leader United States Gary Mawson
Late Entry Highest PDC Non-Qualifiers England Ronnie Baxter
England Kevin Painter

Draws[edit]

Group stages[edit]

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

NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; RQ = Ranking qualifier; 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

Knockout stages[edit]

Second round (best of 19 legs)
21–22 November 		Quarter-finals (best of 19 legs)
23 November 		Semi-finals (best of 25 legs)
24 November 		Final (best of 35 legs)
25 November
            
A1 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (1) 101.01 7
B2 England Terry Jenkins (8) 102.14 10
B2 England Terry Jenkins (8) 93.59 8
B1 England Andy Hamilton 98.24 10
B1 England Andy Hamilton 96.60 10
A2 England Adrian Lewis 96.08 8
B1 England Andy Hamilton 94.30 13
D2 England Kevin McDine (Q) 94.73 12
C1 England James Wade (4) 102.55 7
D2 England Kevin McDine (Q) 105.79 10
D2 England Kevin McDine (Q) 98.97 10
D1 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen (5) 91.90 3
D1 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen (5) 89.14 10
C2 Australia Pat Orreal (Q) 85.47 9
B1 England Andy Hamilton 100.97 11
E1 England Phil Taylor (2) 101.75 18
E1 England Phil Taylor (2) 103.17 10
F2 United States Gary Mawson (Q) 91.12 4
E1 England Phil Taylor (2) 99.28 10
F1 Canada John Part (7) 92.61 7
F1 Canada John Part (7) 96.18 10
E2 England Colin Lloyd 93.67 7
E1 England Phil Taylor (2) 96.86 13
G2 Scotland Gary Anderson (BDO, 3) 99.11 11
G1 England Kevin Painter (RQ) 97.27 10
H2 England Mervyn King 92.57 7
G1 England Kevin Painter (RQ) 91.74 7
G2 Scotland Gary Anderson (BDO, 3) 94.06 10
H1 Netherlands Roland Scholten 95.70 7
G2 Scotland Gary Anderson (BDO, 3) 98.35 10

Statistics[edit]

Player Played Legs Won Legs Lost 100+ 140+ 180s High checkout 3-dart average [6]
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 4 22 18 47 32 14 120 102.82
England Adrian Lewis 4 21 19 60 25 6 150 96.44
England Dennis Priestley 3 11 14 42 11 7 88 95.76
England Chris Mason 3 7 15 33 6 4 157 86.62
England Andy Hamilton 7 59 54 127 76 33 145 95.61
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 3 10 11 22 20 3 96 92.16
England Terry Jenkins 5 30 26 70 52 10 140 93.28
South Africa Charles Losper 3 6 15 25 14 1 68 85.83
England James Wade 4 22 16 49 31 10 170 98.65
England Phill Nixon 3 13 10 31 13 4 116 83.49
Australia Pat Orreal 4 20 20 40 28 7 115 85.98
Netherlands Niels de Ruiter 3 2 15 20 6 1 98 79.15
Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 5 27 28 84 33 9 125 90.61
England Kevin McDine 6 45 31 114 45 23 161 97.68
England Shaun Greatbatch 3 7 11 25 14 3 164 90.74
England Peter Manley 3 8 14 34 15 2 76 87.40
England Phil Taylor 7 66 39 128 89 29 153 99.25
England Wayne Mardle 3 8 12 26 7 3 65 86.57
England Colin Lloyd 4 18 19 39 33 7 150 94.60
England Ronnie Baxter 3 7 15 25 13 4 134 86.48
United States Gary Mawson 4 16 20 46 25 5 136 87.87
England Andy Jenkins 3 8 11 25 15 2 141 90.84
Canada John Part 5 29 26 66 28 9 126 92.06
Wales Mark Webster 3 10 11 25 17 2 117 95.81
England Kevin Painter 5 31 23 66 33 19 120 92.82
Scotland Gary Anderson 6 42 33 99 67 22 158 97.50
Wales Barrie Bates 3 5 11 26 10 0 123 85.47
England Wayne Jones 3 7 14 27 21 2 81 89.57
Netherlands Roland Scholten 4 22 14 56 28 10 144 102.16
England Mervyn King 4 20 20 57 30 8 78 96.14
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 3 8 14 25 19 6 76 92.04
England Scott Waites 3 7 15 25 11 3 96 87.77

Television coverage[edit]

The tournament was televised by ITV. The first afternoon session on 17 November, the Sunday afternoon session on 18 November, the semi-finals, and the final were all broadcast live on ITV1. The rest of the tournament was shown live on ITV4. It was ITV's first televised darts tournament since they ceased coverage of the Winmau World Masters in 1988 – although they did show the first Clash of Champions match between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 1999.[7]

The ITV Sport team consisted of lead presenter Matt Smith, analysts Steve Beaton and Alan Warriner-Little, and commentators John Rawling from ITV Boxing, Stuart Pyke from Sky Sports and Nigel Pearson of talkSPORT.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sponsor confirmed Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
  2. ^ BDO confirm new date for the World Masters Archived 2007-08-06 at the Wayback Machine BDO
  3. ^ "Stuart Pyke website regarding Martin Adams withdrawal from event". Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  4. ^ Anderson & Webster accept invites Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
  5. ^ Final two places to come from Order of Merit Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
  6. ^ Tournament averages Darts Database
  7. ^ ITV agree to cover Grand Slam This is London

External links[edit]

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