2008 US Open Darts

The 2008 US Open is the second year of a darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). It will be played again at the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort, Connecticut, USA between May 16 and May 18.

Phil Taylor successfully defended his title.

Television coverage and format

The event was broadcast on Nuts TV in the UK from the last 16 onwards.

The tournament was open to PDPA members and citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The elimination tournament was played down to the last 16 on the Friday and the last 16 played off on Saturday. The quarter-finals onwards took place on Sunday.

In addition, the PDC also staged the $50,000 North American Darts Championship on the 16th and 17th of May.

Tournament Review

Friday 16th May

Five American players made it through to the last 16 as there were a series of shock results on the opening day of the event. The biggest shock was when Gary Mawson beat world number one and five-time former World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld in the last 32. Current World Champion, John Part went out in round two to Roger Carter who also progressed to the last 16. Bill Davis beat Tony Eccles to reach Saturday's main stage competition. David Fatum and Ray Carver completed the American line-up of five in the last 16.

World number four, Terry Jenkins also suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Paul Lim, the man who achieved the only ever World Championship nine darter in 1990. World number seven, Andy Hamilton, was beaten in the third round by Buddy Lessig. Number three seed, James Wade withdrew from the event due to illness. Out of the top 8 seeds, only two, Phil Taylor and Roland Scholten, made it to the last 16.

aturday 17th May

The fifth round action opened with David Fatum being the first player and first American to reach the quarter finals, beating out fellow countryman Bill Davis. Davis however did save some face with a 164 checkout, the highest of the night. Roger Carter was another American player to lose out, to Chris Mason. Mark Dudbridge also put on an impressive display in beating Dave Honey in straight sets.

Veteran Dennis Priestley moved into the quarters, dropping only one leg against Adrian Gray. Phil Taylor continued his imposing form, averaging 107 against Colin Osborne, who did take a set out of 'The Power'. American Gary Mawson, who had earlier knocked out the number one seed Raymond van Barneveld, lost 3-1 to Blackpool's Ronnie Baxter, and Colin Lloyd also looked to be in menacing form, not dropping a leg against world number eight Roland Scholten. The biggest shock of the night came with America's Ray Carver beating Wayne Mardle 3-1 in a high quality match including a 131 checkout from Carver.

Results

Total Prize Fund £126,000 (unchanged from 2007)

16TeamBracket-Compact | RD1=Fifth Round
losers £3,000
RD2=Quarter Finals
losers £4,000
RD3=Semi Finals
losers £5,000
RD4=Final
runner up £7,500
winner £12,500

score-width=30

RD1-seed01=flagicon|USA
RD1-team01=Gary Mawson 93.18
RD1-score01=1
RD1-seed02=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team02=Ronnie Baxter 90.33
RD1-score02=3

RD1-seed03=flagicon|NED
RD1-team03=Roland Scholten 83.77
RD1-score03=0
RD1-seed04=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team04=Colin Lloyd 95.94
RD1-score04=3

RD1-seed05=flagicon|USA
RD1-team05=David Fatum 86.14
RD1-score05=3
RD1-seed06=flagicon|USA
RD1-team06=Bill Davis 76.74
RD1-score06=0

RD1-seed07=flagicon|USA
RD1-team07=Roger Carter 85.79
RD1-score07=1
RD1-seed08=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team08=Chris Mason 90.94
RD1-score08=3

RD1-seed09=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team09=Phil Taylor 107.09
RD1-score09=3
RD1-seed10=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team10=Colin Osborne 93.49
RD1-score10=1

RD1-seed11=flagicon|USA
RD1-team11=Ray Carver 90.07
RD1-score11=3
RD1-seed12=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team12=Wayne Mardle 94.43
RD1-score12=1

RD1-seed13=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team13=Dave Honey 82.08
RD1-score13=0
RD1-seed14=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team14=Mark Dudbridge 87.78
RD1-score14=3

RD1-seed15=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team15=Adrian Gray 77.68
RD1-score15=0
RD1-seed16=flagicon|ENG
RD1-team16=Dennis Priestley 90.18
RD1-score16=3

RD2-seed01=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team01=Ronnie Baxter 95.17
RD2-score01=0
RD2-seed02=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team02=Colin Lloyd 101.07
RD2-score02=3

RD2-seed03=flagicon|USA
RD2-team03=David Fatum 84.69
RD2-score03=3
RD2-seed04=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team04=Chris Mason 83.72
RD2-score04=1

RD2-seed05=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team05=Phil Taylor 100.45
RD2-score05=3
RD2-seed06=flagicon|USA
RD2-team06=Ray Carver 93.83
RD2-score06=0

RD2-seed07=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team07=Mark Dudbridge 83.44
RD2-score07=0
RD2-seed08=flagicon|ENG
RD2-team08=Dennis Priestley 92.34
RD2-score08=3

RD3-seed01=flagicon|ENG
RD3-team01=Colin Lloyd 83.82
RD3-score01= 3
RD3-seed02=flagicon|USA
RD3-team02=David Fatum 76.08
RD3-score02= 2

RD3-seed03=flagicon|ENG
RD3-team03=Phil Taylor 111.35
RD3-score03= 3
RD3-seed04=flagicon|ENG
RD3-team04=Dennis Priestley 103.00
RD3-score04= 0

RD4-seed01=flagicon|ENG
RD4-team01=Colin Lloyd 91.48
RD4-score01=0
RD4-seed02=flagicon|ENG
RD4-team02=Phil Taylor 96.86
RD4-score02=3

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

Earlier Rounds

Preliminary Round

:Jerry Hall 3-0 Kurt Tyson:Joe Chaney 3-0 Michael Mitchell

First Round

Fourth Round

Losers £1,500

North American Darts Championship

For the first time the PDC staged a large tournament available only to citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The tournament was worth $50,000, with $15,000 going to the winner. It was played separately from the US Open on the 16th and 17th of May, though players could enter for both tournaments. Darin Young, who had been knocked out in the first round of the US Open, emerged the victor.

On the first night the main shock was the defeat of World Champion and number one seed John Part, who was beaten by Buddy Lessig in the third round. The number two seed, Gerry Convery, also lost in the second round to Paul Lim. Leading American and third seed Ray Carver was defeated in the fifth round by Brad Wethington and John Kuczynski was beaten in the quarters by Brian Blake.

The second night saw the semi-finals and final being played out. Number eight seed Darin Young beat out Bill Davis in a close 7-5 game in the first semi-final, while Brad Wethington just beat Chris White in a 7-6 affair. The final followed suit. Wethington missed a dart to win the title before Young came back to win 8-7 and claim the title. Young said it was 'the biggest win of [his] career'.

External links

* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/WorldSeriesDarts/0,,10180,00.html Planet Darts US Open news]

* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1314345,00.html North American Darts Championship Day 1]

* [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1314614,00.html North American Darts Championship Day 2]

References