2007 PDC World Darts Championship
Encyclopedia
The 2007 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship was the 14th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation
since it separated from the British Darts Organisation
. The tournament began on Monday 18 December 2006 and the final was played on Monday 1 January 2007. The championship was once again held at the Circus Tavern
in Purfleet
, Essex
, where it has been staged since the first PDC World Championship in 1994. However it would turn out to be the last time the tournament would be held at the Tavern - in April 2007, the PDC announced that the event would be moving to the Alexandra Palace
from 2008.
Ladbrokes
were in the 5th year of their sponsorship deal, with the tournament prize fund now at a record £500,000. The organisers, the PDC introduced a bonus for a nine dart finish
at the World Matchplay of £5,000 and it rolls over to the next Premier tour event if not won. Having not been achieved at the Matchplay or the World Grand Prix, the bonus had reached £15,000. Having not been won, it goes up to £20,000 for the 2007 UK Open
in June.
Raymond van Barneveld
became the first player in the history of the sport to play in the BDO World final and the PDC World final in consecutive years after deciding to switch organisations after the 2006 Lakeside event.
Barneveld was close to defeat against Colin Lloyd in the second round, but then never dropped another set on the way to final - which was much anticipated between the best players of the current era. Barneveld and Phil Taylor had 17 World Championships between them and in one of the greatest matches in darts history, Barneveld battled from 3 sets to 0 down to win his first PDC Title and fifth world title overall 7-6 in the sudden-death leg.
Phil Taylor maintained his record of reaching every single PDC World Championship final to date, but his 21-match unbeaten run at the Circus Tavern came to an end as did his reign as World Champion, which went back to 2004.
The full list of the 16 players who made it to the Circus Tavern as an "International Qualifier" are
Bill Davis
- won a playoff of 4 American players in Las Vegas, Nevada
John Kuczynski
- best American player in World Series of Darts
Warren French
- won the New Zealand National Singles Championship
Mitchell Clegg
- won Oceanic Masters
Anthony Fleet
- won the Australian Grand Prix
Brian Cyr
Ron Miller
Gerry Convery
Wynand Havenga
- won South African Masters
Tetsuya Wada - won Japanese Qualifying Event
Shi Yongsheng
- won Chinese Qualifying Event
Per Laursen
- won Danish qualifying event
Rico Vonck
- via Dutch Darts Foundation (DDF) Rankings (finished second to Michael van Gerwen
who has opted to play in BDO version
)
Josephus Schenk
- SBS-6 Wildcard (third in DDF rankings)
Tomas Seyler
- D:SF Wildcard
Anton Pein
- won a 128 man play off comprising German, Austrian and Swiss players
Mitchell Clegg, from New South Wales
, Australia was the youngest ever qualifier for a World Darts Championship (BDO or PDC). In October 2006, he won the Oceanic Masters at the age of 15 to earn a place at the Circus Tavern in January. He celebrated his 16th birthday in November 2006. He lost to Raymond van Barneveld in the 1st round - ironically both players were making their Circus Tavern debuts despite their vastly different levels of experience.
, Birmingham for the qualifiers for the World Championship on 2 December 2006. They included four former World Champions, Eric Bristow
, John Lowe
, Richie Burnett
and Keith Deller
. Former World Matchplay winners Peter Evison
and Rod Harrington
also attempted to qualify alongside two-time World Grand Prix finalist Shayne Burgess
and former World finalist, Dave Whitcombe
They were all faced with a minimum of three matches (4 for Evison and Burnett) to qualify. Harrington and Evison both went at the first hurdle. Bristow, Lowe and Deller all managed to win their first matches, but then all fell in their second games (Lowe 4-5 to Ian Branks, Bristow 0-5 to Dennis Smith and Deller 4-5 to Dave Ladley). Burgess and Whitcombe also fell two matches short of qualification.
Richie Burnett managed to win four qualifying rounds to qualify for the first round proper at the Circus Tavern. He will be joined by Alan Green, Alan Tabern, Steve Smith, Wayne Atwood, Ian Branks, Adrian Gray Martin Burchell, Colin Osborne, Darren Webster, Alan Caves, Dave Ladley, Gary Welding, Dave Jowett, Mick McGowan and Mark Lawrence.
The draw for the Ladbrokes World Championship was made after the qualifiers were completed.
Winner: £100,000
Runner-Up: £50,000
Semi-Finals: £20,000
Quarter Finals: £12,500
Third Round losers: £8,500
Second Round losers: £5,000
First Round losers: £3,500
Nine-dart finish bonus: £15,000
32 matches with winners going into tournament bracket below.
Highest three-dart checkout: 170 Raymond van Barneveld (Final)
Tournament 180s scored: 503 in 1298 legs
Most 180s scored, individual : 51 (record) Raymond van Barneveld, 46 Andy Hamilton, 28 Phil Taylor, 25 Colin Osborne, 25 Adrian Lewis, 21 Andy Jenkins, 18 Dennis Priestley, 18 Mark Dudbridge, 18 Terry Jenkins, 18 Alan Tabern
The UK television ratings for the World Championship included the following highlights
The viewing figures for the final were 1,028,000. The Newcastle United v Manchester United game which immediately preceded the darts on Sky Sports 1 achieved viewing figures of 1,761,000 - (also known as the "lead-in" audience for the darts).
Dutch television audience
Phil Taylor opened the defence of his title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Austrian qualifier Anton Pein, without dropping a single leg during the match and only allowing Pein three darts on a double in the final leg of the final set. Number seven seed Peter Manley also had little trouble in despatching Dave Jowett with the loss of only one leg.
The big upset came when Ronnie Baxter, twice a finalist in the BDO World Championship went out in the first round for the second year running. He lost 2-3 to 25 year-old Sussex player, Adrian Gray who was never behind in the entire match.
Former World Champion, John Part struggled through to the second round against Merseyside debutant Alan Green 3-2, when the final set went right down to the wire. The Canadian only just avoided going down to a tie-break leg clinching the final set 6 legs to 4. Wynand Havenga, the first ever South African at the PDC World Darts Championship reached the second round by eliminating 26th seed Steve Maish.
Elsewhere, 6th seed Terry Jenkins dispatched Mark Lawrence 3-1, Mick McGowan defeated 31st seed Matt Clark who produced the highest checkout of the tournament thus far with a 161 finish, and Chris Mason cruised through against Wayne Atwood 3-0.
The afternoon session provided a series of shocks as three of the four seeded players in action were toppled. Bob Anderson lost to 38 year-old Darren Webster, from Norfolk 1-3. Anderson was always in trouble, having dropped the first five legs of the match. The Limestone Cowboy had been struggling with a trapped nerve in his neck, but battled back to win the third set, but Webster closed out the match with two 14-dart legs.
Canadian debutant, Bryan Cyr put out Barrie Bates, who had been an in-form player in 2006. Cyr took the first two sets before Bates fought back to level, but Cyr was strongest on the doubles to clinch the final set. Dutch teenager, Rico Vonck had earlier defeated world number 16 Mark Walsh, who it seemed may be struggling with dartitis
.
The evening session went more in favour of the seeds as world number 1, Colin Lloyd defeated Tomas Seyler, who missed ten darts to win the first set. Lloyd then went on to win the match comfortably. Raymond van Barneveld's debut match at the PDC World Championship was a successful one, beating 16 year-old Australian qualifier Mitchell Clegg 3-0. The 5th seed Adrian Lewis whitewashed the other Australian qualifier Anthony Fleet, who failed to win a single leg, and 9th seed Denis Ovens dropped only two legs in a 3-0 defeat of Steve Smith. Alan Warriner-Little was another seeded casualty, however, managing to win only one leg in his defeat by Alan Tabern.
Wayne Mardle became the highest seeded player to be toppled so far in the first round when he was knocked out by Alan Caves. Caves stormed into a two-set lead before Mardle started to show any signs of the form that took him to number eight in the world. Mardle pulled back to level the match and even missed two darts at his favourite double 18, and a further three at double 20 to win the match. Caves, who had never won a match on television held his nerve in the final set to win it 5 legs to 3.
Earlier in the afternoon session, the seeds continued to tumble as both Colin Monk and Lionel Sams suffered first round exits at the hands of Denmark's Per Laursen and Scunthorpe's Dave Ladley respectively. Last year's semi-finalist Wayne Jones defeated Ian Branks 3-0, and Andy Hamilton beat off Gary Welding, the man who knocked out world number 1 Colin Lloyd in the first round last year.
In the evening session, 1996 BDO World Champion Steve Beaton was untroubled as he beat Canadian Gerry Convery without dropping a single leg. In-form third seed Dennis Priestley beat Josephus Schenk in straight sets, and rising star James Wade defeated his opponent Warren French 3-1.
The first round came to an end with seven out of the eight seeded players in action progressing through to the last 32. The only seed to miss out was 2004 finalist, Kevin Painter who was beaten by Colin Osborne despite an average of 89.96. Osborne notched the tournament's first ten-dart finish and hit seven 180s during the win.
During the afternoon session, ill 25th seed Dave Askew beat off Martin Burchell 3-2, and 'The Pieman' and 21st seed Andy Smith cruised through in straight sets against Shi Yongsheng. 20th seed Wes Newton booked a second round clash with Colin Osborne with a convincing whitewash victory against Tetsuya Wada, and 12th seed Andy Jenkins won 3-1 against American Bill Davis, dedicating his victory to his late father Chris.
The opening match of the evening session saw 14th seed Mark Dudbridge take out top-rated American John Kuczynski 3-1, and 4th seed 'Tripod' Roland Scholten dropped only one leg in his defeat of Ron Miller. In the last match of the night and the first round, former BDO World Champion Richie Burnett, who had to qualify this year, managed to win only one leg against Alex Roy.
When the draw was made there was much anticipation for a possible clash between world number one, Colin Lloyd and four-time BDO World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld. They produced a dramatic match which went right down to a tie-break leg in the final set. Lloyd had opened a 3-0 set lead and looked to be on the way to victory, but missed the bullseye which would have given him a 4-1 victory. Lloyd missed another bullseye in the sixth set for the match and Barneveld took it the final set. Even in the deciding set Lloyd missed more chances to go through missing double top in eighth and tenth legs. The match went to a sudden-death 11th leg after they couldn't be separated at 5 legs all. Barneveld took advantage of throwing first to win the leg in 15 darts. After the match in an exclusive interview, Barneveld revealed that the recollection of an inspiring meeting with an exceptional fan by the name of Alex Schoelcher back in Holland at the cinema, was what kept him going despite being 3-0 down. He said the striking words said to him by this particular fan fuelled his drive to win. What was said exactly remains unknown, one of the great mysteries in the darts world today.
The hype surrounding the Lloyd-Barneveld match perhaps overshadowed some other great matches on the final day before the tournament's break for Christmas. Peter Manley, a three-time Purfleet finalist came back from 0-3 to level his match but then lost the final set in a major upset against South African qualifier, Wynand Havenga. Terry Jenkins (against former BDO World Champion, Steve Beaton) and Adrian Lewis had narrow 4-3 victories over former world champion Steve Beaton and last year's semi-finalist Wayne Jones respectively, while Chris Mason avenged his defeat from last year by John Part, beating the two-time World Champion 4-2.
Other matches included Dutch youngster Rico Vonck beating Canadian Brian Cyr 4-2 to set up a third round match with fellow countryman Barneveld, and the final match of the evening that went on until over midnight resulted in Darren Webster beating Adrian Gray 4-1 in a fairly lackluster match.
Play resumed after the Christmas break on Boxing Day evening with four second-round matches. Phil Taylor was forced to produce some of his best darts to beat Mick Mcgowan. In a high standard match, both players averaged over 100 - which was the first time its happened at this year's championship. McGowan won the first set and hit ten 180s in the match, including two legs where he opened with back-to-back maximums. Taylor produced a sensational average of 109 to win 4-1, which possibly doesn't reflect the quality of the match. Based on his average, McGowan would have beaten most if not all other players if he had faced them, but was unlucky to come up against Taylor.
Earlier in the evening, 9th seed Denis Ovens missed a dart at double twelve as Purfleet's first-ever nine-dart finish
remained elusive. His match against Alan Tabern went down to a sudden death 11th leg in the final set, which Tabern won. There were 24 maximum 180s in the match between Andy Hamilton and Mark Dudbridge, the 2005 finalist. Dudbridge came back from 1-3 to pull level, but Hamilton produced 11 and 13 dart legs in the final set to win the match 4-3. In the final match of the night, Dave Askew shot to a 3-0 lead over Alan Caves, who had beaten Wayne Mardle in the first round. Caves pulled the score back to 3-2 but Askew edged him out in the next set to secure a 4-2 win.
The last day of the second round opened with 11th seed James Wade beating 159th-ranked qualifier Dave Ladley. Wade led early on 2-1 and looked quite comfortable until Ladley took the lead by winning the next two sets (the last leg of which was won with a 156 finish). However Wade managed to dig deep and took the next set before winning by two clear legs 4-2 in the decider to go through 4-3. Another shock almost took place as third seed Dennis Priestley fell behind 0-2 to Dane, Per Laursen - who was also 3-1 up before Priestley produced an inspired comeback (despite Laursen having eight darts to win the match in the sixth set) to win 4-3. In the final match of the afternoon rising star Colin Osborne, who had beaten Kevin Painter in the first round, defeated 20th seed Wes Newton 4-2. Andy Jenkins opened the evening session by reaching the last 16 for the first time beating Andy Smith 4-2. The final second round game became the third match of the tournament to go down to a sudden-death 11th leg in the final set as Roland Scholten beat Alex Roy, despite trailing 2-3 in sets at one stage.
The third round got underway and Raymond van Barneveld had no trouble in dispatching fellow countryman, Rico Vonck. In complete contrast to his classic with Colin Lloyd, van Barneveld won all 12 legs for a whitewash 4-0 win. Barneveld averaged 102.48, which was his second highest average in a world championship match. His opponent in the quarter-finals will be unseeded Alan Tabern who beat Dave Askew 4-3 in the final match of the night.
South African Wynand Havenga's Purfleet adventure was brought to an end by 38-year-old Norwich qualifier, Darren Webster by 4 sets to 2. Havenga had knocked out Peter Manley in the second round, but found himself two sets sets behind before fighting back to level. Webster took three legs in a row to take the fifth set and dropped only one leg in the sixth set for the win.
Number four seed, Roland Scholten was toppled by another qualifier Colin Osborne. Osborne became the third player who made it through from the PDPA qualifying to reach the last eight and Scholten's surprise defeat left Raymond van Barneveld as the only non-English player left in the championship. The fifth seed Adrian Lewis was also defeated 4-3 by twelfth seed Andy Jenkins in a high-standard match, where at one point Jenkins had a 67% success rate in hitting checkout doubles.
In the evening, number six seed Terry Jenkins joined his namesake Andy in the quarter-finals by coming from 3-1 down to win 4-3 over eleventh seed James Wade, and the last match of the third round saw number three seed Dennis Priestley go down to nineteenth seed Andy Hamilton 4-1.
However, the main controversy of the night came as Phil Taylor faced Chris Mason. Before the match, the tabloids had hyped comments made by Mason about Taylor's supposed boasting and arrogance. As the match began the two barely made eye contact, Taylor seeming unperturbed as he came to a 4-0 win over Mason. At the end of the match Mason exchanged words with Taylor, who claimed Mason swore at him and he threatened to not continue playing if he kept on getting comments of that sort (Taylor is often a victim of criticism by many players). Despite this he played against Darren Webster in the quarter-finals and most, if not all of the hype surrounding the incident has now calmed down.
The tournament reached the quarter-final stage and the closest of the matches came in the afternoon session. Both games went to a deciding ninth set, first Andy Jenkins came from 1-3 and 3-4 behind to beat impressive qualifier Colin Osborne. Andy Hamilton went through to the semi-final hitting sixteen 180s against Terry Jenkins, who hit ten himself. Jenkins had fought back from 0-3 behind, but his comeback was in vain as Hamilton edged another thrilling match.
The propect of a Taylor v Barneveld final came ever closer as both players won their evening quarter-finals comfortably. Barneveld beat Alan Tabern 5-0, dropping only four legs in the match. Taylor also lost only four legs, but Darren Webster strung together three successive legs to clinch a consolation fifth set. Webster also hit the highest checkout of the tournament so far of 164, but despite an average of 95, the Norwich player lost 1-5 to the defending champion.
Both semi-finals ended with whitewashes as Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor progressed to the final. Barneveld's semi-final against Andy Jenkins was the first match of the evening, and the Dutchman lost only four legs during the match. Jenkins only resilience came in the third set when he had two darts at double top to narrow the gap to 1-2, but he missed and Barneveld stepped in and then also took the next six legs to go 5-0 up. Jenkins said after the match, "After what I've been through in the last month, with my dad dying, I'm very happy to have reached the semi-finals."
Phil Taylor raced to a two-set lead against Andy Hamilton, winning the first six legs of the match. The third and fourth sets were much closer, both going to the deciding leg - but Taylor was the stronger in both with an 11-dart leg to win the third and added two more 11-darters in the fifth set. The defending champion lost only six legs in the match to set up a much anticipated final against Barneveld.
The final that had been much anticipated brought 13-time and defending champion, Phil Taylor against 4-time BDO World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld. The match more than lived up to the hype, as Taylor won the first eight legs of the match to lead 2-0 in sets and legs. Barneveld only had one dart at a double in that time, a missed bullseye for a 167 finish.
Barneveld hit a 14-dart finish to win the ninth leg of the match his first, but Taylor closed out the set to lead 3-0. Barneveld then started to turn the match around by winning all three legs in the fourth set, closing it out with the tournament's highest three-dart checkout, the maximum 170. He came from 2-1 down to win the fifth set in a decider and was now only one set behind.
Taylor took the sixth set, then Barneveld took the seventh to stay just one behind at 3-4. The game then started to turn in Barneveld's favour as he won six out of the next seven legs and led the match for the first time 5-4. Taylor drew level and looked to be heading for a 6-5 lead, but lost a two-leg advantage and Barneveld went 6-5 up instead. The 12th set also went to a deciding leg, this time Taylor hit double 16 in successive legs to take the match to the final set.
Barneveld 100, Taylor 180; B 180, T 40; B 105, T 133; B 76, T 58. Barneveld, now requiring double top with Taylor back on 90, hit the match winning dart with his first dart to take the leg and the title.
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
since it separated from the British Darts Organisation
British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....
. The tournament began on Monday 18 December 2006 and the final was played on Monday 1 January 2007. The championship was once again held at the Circus Tavern
Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. However, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship....
in Purfleet
Purfleet
Purfleet is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex, England. It is situated south of the A13 road on the River Thames and within the easterly bounds of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater London boundary. It was within the traditional Church of England parish of West Thurrock...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, where it has been staged since the first PDC World Championship in 1994. However it would turn out to be the last time the tournament would be held at the Tavern - in April 2007, the PDC announced that the event would be moving to the Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
from 2008.
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...
were in the 5th year of their sponsorship deal, with the tournament prize fund now at a record £500,000. The organisers, the PDC introduced a bonus for a nine dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
at the World Matchplay of £5,000 and it rolls over to the next Premier tour event if not won. Having not been achieved at the Matchplay or the World Grand Prix, the bonus had reached £15,000. Having not been won, it goes up to £20,000 for the 2007 UK Open
2007 UK Open Darts
The 2007 Blue Square UK Open was the fifth year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion...
in June.
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
became the first player in the history of the sport to play in the BDO World final and the PDC World final in consecutive years after deciding to switch organisations after the 2006 Lakeside event.
Barneveld was close to defeat against Colin Lloyd in the second round, but then never dropped another set on the way to final - which was much anticipated between the best players of the current era. Barneveld and Phil Taylor had 17 World Championships between them and in one of the greatest matches in darts history, Barneveld battled from 3 sets to 0 down to win his first PDC Title and fifth world title overall 7-6 in the sudden-death leg.
Phil Taylor maintained his record of reaching every single PDC World Championship final to date, but his 21-match unbeaten run at the Circus Tavern came to an end as did his reign as World Champion, which went back to 2004.
Qualifiers
In addition to the top 32 ranked PDC players, 32 places were awarded to qualifiers. 16 players progressed from a Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) qualifying event and 16 qualifiers were determined by the PDC in consultation with the PDPA. This involved various qualifying tournaments across the world in territories where television coverage of the PDC is broadcast, plus some wildcards awarded by international broadcasters and the PDC.The full list of the 16 players who made it to the Circus Tavern as an "International Qualifier" are
Bill Davis (darts player)
Bill Davis is an American darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation.Davis made his televised debut in the States, taking part in the World Series of Darts in 2006, losing in the first round to Denis Ovens in a tight game...
- won a playoff of 4 American players in Las Vegas, Nevada
John Kuczynski
John Kuczynski is an American darts player. He doesn't play the game professionally - his main career is as a self-employed sanitation engineer...
- best American player in World Series of Darts
Warren French
Warren French is a New Zealand darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches.French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world champion Tony David. He played in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 3-1 in the first round to James...
- won the New Zealand National Singles Championship
Mitchell Clegg
Mitchell Clegg is an Australian darts player. He lives in Newcastle, New South Wales. Clegg won the Oceanic Masters title at the age of just 15 years, 345 days. This meant he was the youngest player ever to qualify for the PDC World Darts Championship...
- won Oceanic Masters
Anthony Fleet
Anthony "Tony" Fleet is an Australian darts player who competes in the BDO/WDF system.-Darts career:Fleet qualified for the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, but was defeated 3-0 by Adrian Lewis in the first round....
- won the Australian Grand Prix
Brian Cyr
Brian Cyr is a Canadian darts player who represented Canada in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship. He beat Barrie Bates to reach the second round losing to Rico Vonck. He is a two-time winner of the Canadian National Championship in 1999 and 2006, the latter title earned him a spot in the PDC...
Gerry Convery
Gerry Convery is a Canadian darts player.Convery made his televised debut in the 2004 Las Vegas Desert Classic, beating Darren Webster in the first round before losing in the second round to Dennis Smith...
Wynand Havenga
Wynand Havenga is a South African darts player.He made his television debut at the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship as a qualifier, having beaten almost 100 players to win the South African Masters and thus earn his place at the Circus Tavern...
- won South African Masters
Shi Yongsheng
Shi Yongsheng is a Chinese darts player.He played in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, losing in the first round to Andy Smith. In November 2007, Yongsheng won the Chinese qualifiers to return to the World Championship for 2008, thus becoming the first Chinese player to play in two World...
- won Chinese Qualifying Event
Per Laursen
Per Laursen is a Danish darts player. He reached the final of the WDF World Cup in 2005 and won the Welsh Open earlier that year - performances which enabled him to qualify for the BDO World Darts Championship for the first time in 2006....
- won Danish qualifying event
Rico Vonck
Rico Vonck is a darts player, currently residing in Posterholt. He qualified for the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship having finished second in the DDF rankings...
- via Dutch Darts Foundation (DDF) Rankings (finished second to Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...
who has opted to play in BDO version
2007 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2007 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the 30th Championship and was held between January 6–14, 2007 at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey....
)
Josephus Schenk
Josephus Schenk is a Dutch darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation events.Schenk began playing in the Professional Darts Corporation made his PDC World Darts Championship debut in 2005 where he defeated American Darin Young in the first round and Alan Caves in the second round before...
- SBS-6 Wildcard (third in DDF rankings)
Tomas Seyler
Tomas Seyler is a German darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation events and previously played for the British Darts Organisation. His nickname is Shorty....
- D:SF Wildcard
Anton Pein
Anton Pein is an Austrian darts player, regarded one of the country's best players. He is a former Electronic-Darts World Champion and participated in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship where he began as a 5000/1 outsider. He met and was defeated by Phil Taylor in round 1.He qualified to...
- won a 128 man play off comprising German, Austrian and Swiss players
Mitchell Clegg, from New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia was the youngest ever qualifier for a World Darts Championship (BDO or PDC). In October 2006, he won the Oceanic Masters at the age of 15 to earn a place at the Circus Tavern in January. He celebrated his 16th birthday in November 2006. He lost to Raymond van Barneveld in the 1st round - ironically both players were making their Circus Tavern debuts despite their vastly different levels of experience.
PDPA Qualifying Tournament
172 players lined up at the Holte Suite, Villa ParkVilla Park
Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...
, Birmingham for the qualifiers for the World Championship on 2 December 2006. They included four former World Champions, Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
, John Lowe
John Lowe
John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...
, Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.-BDO career:...
and Keith Deller
Keith Deller
Keith Deller is an English darts player, who won the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship in 1983. He was the first qualifier ever to win the championship and remains one of the youngest champions in history...
. Former World Matchplay winners Peter Evison
Peter Evison
Peter Evison is a darts player who has enjoyed a long career in the game. His greatest achievements were to win the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. He has also come close to winning the World Championship on a number of occasions.Before appearing in a major tournament...
and Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington is a former English darts player. He used the nickname The Prince of Style for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoast for his games...
also attempted to qualify alongside two-time World Grand Prix finalist Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess is an English darts player who is one of the few examples of players that has switched from the British Darts Organisation to the Professional Darts Corporation and back - he announced his intention to return to the BDO in early 2007, but remains a competitor in the PDC...
and former World finalist, Dave Whitcombe
Dave Whitcombe
Dave Whitcombe is an English professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals. He had a long professional career between 1980 and 1992.-Biography:...
They were all faced with a minimum of three matches (4 for Evison and Burnett) to qualify. Harrington and Evison both went at the first hurdle. Bristow, Lowe and Deller all managed to win their first matches, but then all fell in their second games (Lowe 4-5 to Ian Branks, Bristow 0-5 to Dennis Smith and Deller 4-5 to Dave Ladley). Burgess and Whitcombe also fell two matches short of qualification.
Richie Burnett managed to win four qualifying rounds to qualify for the first round proper at the Circus Tavern. He will be joined by Alan Green, Alan Tabern, Steve Smith, Wayne Atwood, Ian Branks, Adrian Gray Martin Burchell, Colin Osborne, Darren Webster, Alan Caves, Dave Ladley, Gary Welding, Dave Jowett, Mick McGowan and Mark Lawrence.
The draw for the Ladbrokes World Championship was made after the qualifiers were completed.
Prize money
Total Prize fund for the 2007 World Championship is £500,000.Winner: £100,000
Runner-Up: £50,000
Semi-Finals: £20,000
Quarter Finals: £12,500
Third Round losers: £8,500
Second Round losers: £5,000
First Round losers: £3,500
Nine-dart finish bonus: £15,000
First round
Monday 18 December 2006 to Thursday 21 December.32 matches with winners going into tournament bracket below.
Last 32 to Final
Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)Highest three-dart checkout: 170 Raymond van Barneveld (Final)
Tournament 180s scored: 503 in 1298 legs
Most 180s scored, individual : 51 (record) Raymond van Barneveld, 46 Andy Hamilton, 28 Phil Taylor, 25 Colin Osborne, 25 Adrian Lewis, 21 Andy Jenkins, 18 Dennis Priestley, 18 Mark Dudbridge, 18 Terry Jenkins, 18 Alan Tabern
Television Coverage
The following television stations broadcasted the 2007 PDC World Championships.- Sky Sports in the UK
- SBS6 in the Netherlands
- Sports 1 in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Hungary
- DSF in Germany
- Supersport in South Africa
- Ten Sports in India (quarter finals onwards)
The UK television ratings for the World Championship included the following highlights
- 409,000 viewers Thursday 28 December (Taylor v Mason QF) 6th highest rated programme on Sky Sports 1 that week.
- 354,000 viewers Saturday 30 December (Semi Finals) highest rated programme on Sky Sports 2 that week.
The viewing figures for the final were 1,028,000. The Newcastle United v Manchester United game which immediately preceded the darts on Sky Sports 1 achieved viewing figures of 1,761,000 - (also known as the "lead-in" audience for the darts).
Dutch television audience
- 1,339,000 viewers watched the final on Monday 1 January on the Dutch SBS6 channel
Tournament Review
- Day One - Monday 18 December
Phil Taylor opened the defence of his title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Austrian qualifier Anton Pein, without dropping a single leg during the match and only allowing Pein three darts on a double in the final leg of the final set. Number seven seed Peter Manley also had little trouble in despatching Dave Jowett with the loss of only one leg.
The big upset came when Ronnie Baxter, twice a finalist in the BDO World Championship went out in the first round for the second year running. He lost 2-3 to 25 year-old Sussex player, Adrian Gray who was never behind in the entire match.
Former World Champion, John Part struggled through to the second round against Merseyside debutant Alan Green 3-2, when the final set went right down to the wire. The Canadian only just avoided going down to a tie-break leg clinching the final set 6 legs to 4. Wynand Havenga, the first ever South African at the PDC World Darts Championship reached the second round by eliminating 26th seed Steve Maish.
Elsewhere, 6th seed Terry Jenkins dispatched Mark Lawrence 3-1, Mick McGowan defeated 31st seed Matt Clark who produced the highest checkout of the tournament thus far with a 161 finish, and Chris Mason cruised through against Wayne Atwood 3-0.
- Day Two - Tuesday 19 December
The afternoon session provided a series of shocks as three of the four seeded players in action were toppled. Bob Anderson lost to 38 year-old Darren Webster, from Norfolk 1-3. Anderson was always in trouble, having dropped the first five legs of the match. The Limestone Cowboy had been struggling with a trapped nerve in his neck, but battled back to win the third set, but Webster closed out the match with two 14-dart legs.
Canadian debutant, Bryan Cyr put out Barrie Bates, who had been an in-form player in 2006. Cyr took the first two sets before Bates fought back to level, but Cyr was strongest on the doubles to clinch the final set. Dutch teenager, Rico Vonck had earlier defeated world number 16 Mark Walsh, who it seemed may be struggling with dartitis
Dartitis
Dartitis is a condition which can affect dart players, and severely damage their performance and results. It can be compared to the 'yips', an expression used to describe apparent loss of fine motor skills without any explanation...
.
The evening session went more in favour of the seeds as world number 1, Colin Lloyd defeated Tomas Seyler, who missed ten darts to win the first set. Lloyd then went on to win the match comfortably. Raymond van Barneveld's debut match at the PDC World Championship was a successful one, beating 16 year-old Australian qualifier Mitchell Clegg 3-0. The 5th seed Adrian Lewis whitewashed the other Australian qualifier Anthony Fleet, who failed to win a single leg, and 9th seed Denis Ovens dropped only two legs in a 3-0 defeat of Steve Smith. Alan Warriner-Little was another seeded casualty, however, managing to win only one leg in his defeat by Alan Tabern.
- Day Three - Wednesday 20 December
Wayne Mardle became the highest seeded player to be toppled so far in the first round when he was knocked out by Alan Caves. Caves stormed into a two-set lead before Mardle started to show any signs of the form that took him to number eight in the world. Mardle pulled back to level the match and even missed two darts at his favourite double 18, and a further three at double 20 to win the match. Caves, who had never won a match on television held his nerve in the final set to win it 5 legs to 3.
Earlier in the afternoon session, the seeds continued to tumble as both Colin Monk and Lionel Sams suffered first round exits at the hands of Denmark's Per Laursen and Scunthorpe's Dave Ladley respectively. Last year's semi-finalist Wayne Jones defeated Ian Branks 3-0, and Andy Hamilton beat off Gary Welding, the man who knocked out world number 1 Colin Lloyd in the first round last year.
In the evening session, 1996 BDO World Champion Steve Beaton was untroubled as he beat Canadian Gerry Convery without dropping a single leg. In-form third seed Dennis Priestley beat Josephus Schenk in straight sets, and rising star James Wade defeated his opponent Warren French 3-1.
- Day Four - Thursday 20 December
The first round came to an end with seven out of the eight seeded players in action progressing through to the last 32. The only seed to miss out was 2004 finalist, Kevin Painter who was beaten by Colin Osborne despite an average of 89.96. Osborne notched the tournament's first ten-dart finish and hit seven 180s during the win.
During the afternoon session, ill 25th seed Dave Askew beat off Martin Burchell 3-2, and 'The Pieman' and 21st seed Andy Smith cruised through in straight sets against Shi Yongsheng. 20th seed Wes Newton booked a second round clash with Colin Osborne with a convincing whitewash victory against Tetsuya Wada, and 12th seed Andy Jenkins won 3-1 against American Bill Davis, dedicating his victory to his late father Chris.
The opening match of the evening session saw 14th seed Mark Dudbridge take out top-rated American John Kuczynski 3-1, and 4th seed 'Tripod' Roland Scholten dropped only one leg in his defeat of Ron Miller. In the last match of the night and the first round, former BDO World Champion Richie Burnett, who had to qualify this year, managed to win only one leg against Alex Roy.
- Day Five - Friday 21 December
When the draw was made there was much anticipation for a possible clash between world number one, Colin Lloyd and four-time BDO World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld. They produced a dramatic match which went right down to a tie-break leg in the final set. Lloyd had opened a 3-0 set lead and looked to be on the way to victory, but missed the bullseye which would have given him a 4-1 victory. Lloyd missed another bullseye in the sixth set for the match and Barneveld took it the final set. Even in the deciding set Lloyd missed more chances to go through missing double top in eighth and tenth legs. The match went to a sudden-death 11th leg after they couldn't be separated at 5 legs all. Barneveld took advantage of throwing first to win the leg in 15 darts. After the match in an exclusive interview, Barneveld revealed that the recollection of an inspiring meeting with an exceptional fan by the name of Alex Schoelcher back in Holland at the cinema, was what kept him going despite being 3-0 down. He said the striking words said to him by this particular fan fuelled his drive to win. What was said exactly remains unknown, one of the great mysteries in the darts world today.
The hype surrounding the Lloyd-Barneveld match perhaps overshadowed some other great matches on the final day before the tournament's break for Christmas. Peter Manley, a three-time Purfleet finalist came back from 0-3 to level his match but then lost the final set in a major upset against South African qualifier, Wynand Havenga. Terry Jenkins (against former BDO World Champion, Steve Beaton) and Adrian Lewis had narrow 4-3 victories over former world champion Steve Beaton and last year's semi-finalist Wayne Jones respectively, while Chris Mason avenged his defeat from last year by John Part, beating the two-time World Champion 4-2.
Other matches included Dutch youngster Rico Vonck beating Canadian Brian Cyr 4-2 to set up a third round match with fellow countryman Barneveld, and the final match of the evening that went on until over midnight resulted in Darren Webster beating Adrian Gray 4-1 in a fairly lackluster match.
- Day Six - Boxing Day
Play resumed after the Christmas break on Boxing Day evening with four second-round matches. Phil Taylor was forced to produce some of his best darts to beat Mick Mcgowan. In a high standard match, both players averaged over 100 - which was the first time its happened at this year's championship. McGowan won the first set and hit ten 180s in the match, including two legs where he opened with back-to-back maximums. Taylor produced a sensational average of 109 to win 4-1, which possibly doesn't reflect the quality of the match. Based on his average, McGowan would have beaten most if not all other players if he had faced them, but was unlucky to come up against Taylor.
Earlier in the evening, 9th seed Denis Ovens missed a dart at double twelve as Purfleet's first-ever nine-dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
remained elusive. His match against Alan Tabern went down to a sudden death 11th leg in the final set, which Tabern won. There were 24 maximum 180s in the match between Andy Hamilton and Mark Dudbridge, the 2005 finalist. Dudbridge came back from 1-3 to pull level, but Hamilton produced 11 and 13 dart legs in the final set to win the match 4-3. In the final match of the night, Dave Askew shot to a 3-0 lead over Alan Caves, who had beaten Wayne Mardle in the first round. Caves pulled the score back to 3-2 but Askew edged him out in the next set to secure a 4-2 win.
- Day Seven - Wednesday 27 December
The last day of the second round opened with 11th seed James Wade beating 159th-ranked qualifier Dave Ladley. Wade led early on 2-1 and looked quite comfortable until Ladley took the lead by winning the next two sets (the last leg of which was won with a 156 finish). However Wade managed to dig deep and took the next set before winning by two clear legs 4-2 in the decider to go through 4-3. Another shock almost took place as third seed Dennis Priestley fell behind 0-2 to Dane, Per Laursen - who was also 3-1 up before Priestley produced an inspired comeback (despite Laursen having eight darts to win the match in the sixth set) to win 4-3. In the final match of the afternoon rising star Colin Osborne, who had beaten Kevin Painter in the first round, defeated 20th seed Wes Newton 4-2. Andy Jenkins opened the evening session by reaching the last 16 for the first time beating Andy Smith 4-2. The final second round game became the third match of the tournament to go down to a sudden-death 11th leg in the final set as Roland Scholten beat Alex Roy, despite trailing 2-3 in sets at one stage.
The third round got underway and Raymond van Barneveld had no trouble in dispatching fellow countryman, Rico Vonck. In complete contrast to his classic with Colin Lloyd, van Barneveld won all 12 legs for a whitewash 4-0 win. Barneveld averaged 102.48, which was his second highest average in a world championship match. His opponent in the quarter-finals will be unseeded Alan Tabern who beat Dave Askew 4-3 in the final match of the night.
- Day Eight - Thursday 28 December
South African Wynand Havenga's Purfleet adventure was brought to an end by 38-year-old Norwich qualifier, Darren Webster by 4 sets to 2. Havenga had knocked out Peter Manley in the second round, but found himself two sets sets behind before fighting back to level. Webster took three legs in a row to take the fifth set and dropped only one leg in the sixth set for the win.
Number four seed, Roland Scholten was toppled by another qualifier Colin Osborne. Osborne became the third player who made it through from the PDPA qualifying to reach the last eight and Scholten's surprise defeat left Raymond van Barneveld as the only non-English player left in the championship. The fifth seed Adrian Lewis was also defeated 4-3 by twelfth seed Andy Jenkins in a high-standard match, where at one point Jenkins had a 67% success rate in hitting checkout doubles.
In the evening, number six seed Terry Jenkins joined his namesake Andy in the quarter-finals by coming from 3-1 down to win 4-3 over eleventh seed James Wade, and the last match of the third round saw number three seed Dennis Priestley go down to nineteenth seed Andy Hamilton 4-1.
However, the main controversy of the night came as Phil Taylor faced Chris Mason. Before the match, the tabloids had hyped comments made by Mason about Taylor's supposed boasting and arrogance. As the match began the two barely made eye contact, Taylor seeming unperturbed as he came to a 4-0 win over Mason. At the end of the match Mason exchanged words with Taylor, who claimed Mason swore at him and he threatened to not continue playing if he kept on getting comments of that sort (Taylor is often a victim of criticism by many players). Despite this he played against Darren Webster in the quarter-finals and most, if not all of the hype surrounding the incident has now calmed down.
- Day Nine - Friday 29 December
The tournament reached the quarter-final stage and the closest of the matches came in the afternoon session. Both games went to a deciding ninth set, first Andy Jenkins came from 1-3 and 3-4 behind to beat impressive qualifier Colin Osborne. Andy Hamilton went through to the semi-final hitting sixteen 180s against Terry Jenkins, who hit ten himself. Jenkins had fought back from 0-3 behind, but his comeback was in vain as Hamilton edged another thrilling match.
The propect of a Taylor v Barneveld final came ever closer as both players won their evening quarter-finals comfortably. Barneveld beat Alan Tabern 5-0, dropping only four legs in the match. Taylor also lost only four legs, but Darren Webster strung together three successive legs to clinch a consolation fifth set. Webster also hit the highest checkout of the tournament so far of 164, but despite an average of 95, the Norwich player lost 1-5 to the defending champion.
- Day Ten - Saturday 30 December
Both semi-finals ended with whitewashes as Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor progressed to the final. Barneveld's semi-final against Andy Jenkins was the first match of the evening, and the Dutchman lost only four legs during the match. Jenkins only resilience came in the third set when he had two darts at double top to narrow the gap to 1-2, but he missed and Barneveld stepped in and then also took the next six legs to go 5-0 up. Jenkins said after the match, "After what I've been through in the last month, with my dad dying, I'm very happy to have reached the semi-finals."
Phil Taylor raced to a two-set lead against Andy Hamilton, winning the first six legs of the match. The third and fourth sets were much closer, both going to the deciding leg - but Taylor was the stronger in both with an 11-dart leg to win the third and added two more 11-darters in the fifth set. The defending champion lost only six legs in the match to set up a much anticipated final against Barneveld.
- Day Eleven - Monday 1 January
The final that had been much anticipated brought 13-time and defending champion, Phil Taylor against 4-time BDO World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld. The match more than lived up to the hype, as Taylor won the first eight legs of the match to lead 2-0 in sets and legs. Barneveld only had one dart at a double in that time, a missed bullseye for a 167 finish.
Barneveld hit a 14-dart finish to win the ninth leg of the match his first, but Taylor closed out the set to lead 3-0. Barneveld then started to turn the match around by winning all three legs in the fourth set, closing it out with the tournament's highest three-dart checkout, the maximum 170. He came from 2-1 down to win the fifth set in a decider and was now only one set behind.
Taylor took the sixth set, then Barneveld took the seventh to stay just one behind at 3-4. The game then started to turn in Barneveld's favour as he won six out of the next seven legs and led the match for the first time 5-4. Taylor drew level and looked to be heading for a 6-5 lead, but lost a two-leg advantage and Barneveld went 6-5 up instead. The 12th set also went to a deciding leg, this time Taylor hit double 16 in successive legs to take the match to the final set.
- Final set, 1st leg: Barneveld won with a 12-dart finish (1-0 Barneveld)
- 2nd leg: Taylor hits double 16 to level (1-1)
- 3rd leg: Barneveld back in front with double 4 (2-1 Barneveld)
- 4th leg: Barneveld missed 120 Shanghai and bends the wire on double top for the title, Taylor levels with double top and it's now a tie-break, players must win by two clear legs (2-2)
- 5th leg: Barneveld edges back in front (3-2 Barneveld)
- 6th leg: Barneveld misses two darts at double top and one at double ten for the title, Taylor this time hits double 8 to square it up again (3-3)
- 7th leg: Barneveld starts with a 180 and cleans up double 8 to retake the lead (4-3 Barneveld)
- 8th leg: Taylor hits double 4 with his last dart as Barneveld waits on his favourite double 18 to win it (4-4)
- 9th leg: Both players notch 180s, but Barneveld holds his throw with double 10 (5-4 Barneveld)
- 10th leg: Taylor throws another superb leg to level and take the match to a deciding leg (5-5)
- Sudden death leg: Taylor threw first for the bull and hit 25, he left his dart in for Barneveld's throw (Taylor did not have to do this). Taylors dart, being below the bull, was in a good position and deflected Barnevelds dart into the bull. The final leg went as follows:
Barneveld 100, Taylor 180; B 180, T 40; B 105, T 133; B 76, T 58. Barneveld, now requiring double top with Taylor back on 90, hit the match winning dart with his first dart to take the leg and the title.
- Raymond van Barneveld 7-6 Phil Taylor
- (set scores: 0-3, 0-3, 1-3, 3-0, 3-2, 0-3, 3-0, 2-3, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 6-5)