2007 International Darts League

The 2007 Topic International Darts League is a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The tournament is sponsored by Topic - a Dutch-based electronics software and hardware manufacturer. Raymond van Barneveld entered the tournament as three-times and defending champion.

Darts history was made when the tournament became the first televised event to witness two nine dart finishes. On May 8, Phil Taylor hit his fourth perfect game on television against Raymond van Barneveld and the following night Tony O'Shea matched the effort against Adrian Lewis.

Despite the presence of current BDO and PDC World Champions and four other former world champions in the field, none progressed beyond the quarter-finals and Gary Anderson took the title with a 13-9 victory over fellow BDO/WDF player Mark Webster.

Prize fund

The total prize fund is €135,000 (plus €26,000 for a nine-dart finish)

:Winner €30,000:Runner-up €15,000:Semi-finalists €7,500:Quarter-finalists €4,500:2nd Group stage losers €3,000:1st Group stage losers €2,000:Preliminary round losers €1,000:Nine dart finish An Opel Tigra Twin Top valued at €26,000 - achieved by Phil Taylor on May 8 v Raymond van Barneveld. The sponsors presented Tony O'Shea with the same brand of car later in the tournament for his nine-darter on May 9, although originally there was only one bonus prize on offer.:Highest checkout €1,000 currently shared by Phil Taylor 170 & Adrian Lewis

2007 controversy

The staging of the 2007 IDL has been filled with controversy. There have been several format changes, disagreements and even court cases surrounding the event.

In 2006 the BDO secured an agreement for 28 of their players to participate in the event until 2010. However as the popularity of the PDC circuit grew in the Netherlands, the organisers decided to renege on the deal and invite only 12 BDO players. The remaining 20 players would qualify from the PDC including their top 12 ranked players plus four wildcards and four from a PDC/PDPA qualifying event.

This led to a threat from the BDO to take court action against the organisers who wanted their agreement upholding. [ [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~995810,00.html Agreement on increasing PDC players] Planetdarts ] A compromise was reached and the organisers introduced a preliminary round. The original 16 BDO/WDF players who believed they had missed out were to be joined by a further four automatic qualifiers from the PDC Order of Merit and a further four players from an already confirmed qualifying event in April. This expanded the field from 32 to 56 players.

However the sponsors of the four wildcard players (Michael van Gerwen, Mervyn King, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort) were upset that their players had been relegated to the preliminary round when they felt they had an agreement to be automatically into the televised stages. The BDO also felt that all 28 of their players should not have to face a preliminary round. The dispute was resolved on April 25 when a Dutch court rejected the claims of the four wildcard players. Three of the players managed to qualify from the preliminary round with only van der Voort missing out.

Results

Preliminary Round

Played Friday 4 May 2007

Group One - Winner: Mervyn King:Matt Clark 5-4 Albertino Essers:Mervyn King 5-1 Steve Farmer:Steve Farmer 5-4 Albertino Essers:Mervyn King 5-3 Matt Clark:Matt Clark 5-0 Steve Farmer:Mervyn King 5-1 Albertino Essers

Group Two - Winner: Gary Robson:Gary Robson 5-0 Alan Tabern:Edwin Max 5-2 Kevin Painter:Gary Robson 5-1 Edwin Max:Kevin Painter 5-2 Alan Tabern:Alan Tabern 5-3 Edwin Max:Kevin Painter 5-3 Gary Robson

Group Three - Winner: Michael van Gerwen:Brian Sorensen 5-0 Kevin McDine:Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Steve West:Steve West 5-4 Brian Sorensen:Michael van Gerwen 5-3 Kevin McDine:Michael van Gerwen 5-4 Brian Sorensen:Kevin McDine 5-3 Steve West

Group Four - Winner: Ross Montgomery:Ross Montgomery 5-4 Chris Mason:Dirk Hespeels 5-2 Vincent van der Voort:Ross Montgomery 5-4 Dirk Hespeels:Vincent van der Voort 5-3 Chris Mason:Dirk Hespeels 5-0 Chris Mason:Ross Montgomery 5-2 Vincent van der Voort

Group Five - Winner: Barrie Bates:Wayne Jones 5-2 Shane Tichowitsch:Barrie Bates 5-1 Phill Nixon:Phill Nixon 5-4 Shane Tichowitsch:Barrie Bates 5-1 Wayne Jones:Barrie Bates 5-3 Shane Tichowitsch:Phill Nixon 5-4 Wayne Jones

Group Six - Winner: Mark Dudbridge:Mark Dudbridge 5-4 Goran Klemme:Andy Jenkins 5-1 Andy Murray:Andy Jenkins 5-4 Mark Dudbridge:Goran Klemme 5-1 Andy Murray:Goran Klemme 5-4 Andy Jenkins:Mark Dudbridge 5-0 Andy Murray

Group Seven - Winner: Jelle Klaasen:Robbie Green 5-2 Robert Hughes:Jelle Klaasen 5-1 Mark Barilli:Mark Barilli 5-0 Robert Hughes:Jelle Klaasen 5-2 Robbie Green:Jelle Klaasen 5-1 Robert Hughes:Robbie Green 5-2 Mark Barilli

Group Eight - Winner: Ronnie Baxter:Ron Meulenkamp 5-3 Richie Burnett:Ronnie Baxter 5-1 Paul Hogan:Ron Meulenkamp 5-2 Paul Hogan:Richie Burnett 5-4 Ronnie Baxter:Ronnie Baxter 5-2 Ron Meulenkamp:Richie Burnett 5-1 Paul Hogan

First Round

Played Saturday 5 May to Monday 7 May

econd Round

Played Tuesday 8 May to Thursday 10 May

Knockout stages

8TeamBracket | RD1=Quarter Finals
Best of 11 sets
best of three legs per set
May 10
RD2=Semi Finals
Best of 17 sets
best of three legs per set
May 11
RD3=Final
Best of 25 sets
best of three legs per set
May 12
score-width=100
team-width=200
RD1-seed1=WDF
RD1-team1=flagicon|SCO Gary Anderson 107.97
RD1-score1=6
RD1-seed2=PDC
RD1-team2=flagicon|ENG James Wade 106.05
RD1-score2=3
RD1-seed3=PDC
RD1-team3=flagicon|ENG Adrian Lewis 94.23
RD1-score3=6
RD1-seed4=WDF
RD1-team4=flagicon|ENG Darryl Fitton 96.63
RD1-score4=2
RD1-seed5=WDF
RD1-team5=flagicon|ENG Tony O'Shea 96.03
RD1-score5=6
RD1-seed6=PDC
RD1-team6=flagicon|NED Raymond van Barneveld 96.36
RD1-score6=4
RD1-seed7=WDF
RD1-team7=flagicon|WAL Mark Webster 90.60
RD1-score7=6
RD1-seed8=WDF
RD1-team8=flagicon|ENG Gary Robson 83.37
RD1-score8=2
RD2-seed1=WDF
RD2-team1=flagicon|SCO Gary Anderson 97.47
RD2-score1=9
RD2-seed2=PDC
RD2-team2=flagicon|ENG Adrian Lewis 87.66
RD2-score2=1
RD2-seed3=WDF
RD2-team3=flagicon|ENG Tony O'Shea 84.42
RD2-score3=1
RD2-seed4=WDF
RD2-team4=flagicon|WAL Mark Webster 96.84
RD2-score4=9
RD3-seed1=WDF
RD3-team1=flagicon|SCO Gary Anderson 95.85
RD3-score1=13
RD3-seed2=WDF
RD3-team2=flagicon|WAL Mark Webster 94.54
RD3-score2=9

2007 format

The field was scheduled to contain 56 players with 12 automatically from each organisation going into the group stages. Some players from the BDO withdrew citing the uncertainty over the staging of the event as their reason.

A preliminary round will now consist of:
* The BDO/WDF players ranked 13 to 28 at the cut-off date (Mario Robbe, Scott Waites, Gary Robson, Brian Sørensen, Albertino Essers, Ross Montgomery, Ron Meulenkamp, Shane Tichowitsch, Robert Hughes, Göran Klemme, Steve West, Mark Barilli, Phill Nixon, Steve Farmer, Paul Hogan, Edwin Max) Dirk Hespeels and Andy Murray were added to the field to replace the withdrawn players
* The PDC players ranked 13 to 16 at the cut-off date (Ronnie Baxter, Andy Jenkins, Barrie Bates, Kevin Painter)
* Eight qualifiers from a PDPA qualifying tournament at Villa Park, Birmingham on April 21 (Chris Mason, Wayne Jones, Richie Burnett, Alan Tabern, Mark Dudbridge, Matt Clark, Kevin McDine and Robbie Green)
* Wildcards flagicon|NED Michael van Gerwen, flagicon|NED Jelle Klaasen, flagicon|ENG Mervyn King and flagicon|NED Vincent van der Voort.Eight players from the preliminary round will go through to join the 24 automatic qualifiers in the group stages.

References