2008 European Championship Darts

The 2008 European Championship will be the inaugural edition of the PDC tournament, the European Championship, which allows the top European players to compete against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The tournament will take place from Thursday October 30^th to Sunday November 2^nd, featuring a field of 32 players and £200,000 in prize money, with £50,000 to the winner. It will be held in the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt, Germany. [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1363760,00.html PDC website report - European Championship Details Confirmed] from the Professional Darts Corporation obtained 12-08-2008]

Format

First round - best of nine legs
Second round - best of seventeen legs
Quarter-finals - best of seventeen legs
Semi-finals - best of twenty-one legs
Final - best of twenty-one legs

Each game must be won by two clear legs. A game will go to a sudden death leg if a further six legs cannot separate the players (e.g. a first round match going to 7-7).

Prize money

A total of £200,000 will be available to the players, divided based on the following performances:

Champion - £50,000
Runner-up - £25,000
Semi-finalists - £12,500
Quarter-finalists - £8,500
Second round losers - £4,000
First round losers - £2,000

Nine-dart jackpot - Unknown

Qualification

The top 16 players from the [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180,00.html PDC Order of Merit] after the 2008 Sky Poker World Grand Prix will automatically qualify for the event. Then the top 8 non-qualified players from the [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180~1221390,00.html 2008 Players Championship Order of Merit] after the October Players Championship in Dinslaken, Germany will join them to make a field of 24.

The main European contingent will then come from the following: the leading 4 non-qualified players from the [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180~1289942,00.html 2008 Continental Europe Order of Merit] following the October Dinslaken Players Championship, the top two non-qualified players from the German Darts Corporation rankings at October 25^th, and the last two places from a qualifier event held in Dinslaken on October 26^th - this last event is open to any player.

PDC Top 16

PDPA Players Championship qualifiers

Continental Europe Order of Merit qualifiers

German Darts Corporation qualifiers

Dinslaken qualifiers

Draw

32TeamBracket-Compact
RD1=1^st Round, October 30-31,
b.o.9, losers £2,000
RD2=2^nd Round, November 1,
b.o.17, losers £4,000
RD3=Quarter Finals, November 2,
b.o.17, losers £8,500
RD4=Semi Finals, November 2,
b.o.21, losers £12,500
RD5=Final, November 2, b.o.21
£50,000 / £25,000

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

All games must be won by 2 clear legs, if after six more legs the players cannot be separated, a sudden death leg will take place to decide the winner.

Television coverage

The PDC announced on the 12^th of August 2008 that ITV4 will broadcast the entire event live. This is the second PDC darts tournament that ITV4 has broadcast, after the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts - after its rating success ITV has chosen to broadcast this event as well as the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts.

References

External links

* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180,00.html Official PDC Order of Merit]
* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180~1289942,00.html Official PDC Continental Europe Order of Merit 2008]
* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/OrderofMerit/0,,10180~1221390,00.html Official PDC Players Championship Order of Merit 2008]