2008 PDC World Darts Championship

The televised stages featured 68 players. The top 32 players in the PDC Order of Merit on 12 November 2007 received an automatic place in the World Championship.^[2] They were joined by 16 PDPA members and 20 international qualifiers determined by the PDC and PDPA.

The 16 PDPA members were made up from the top eight players (who had not already qualified) in the PDC Pro Tour Events during 2007: Jelle Klaasen, Mark Walsh, Tony Eccles, Michael van Gerwen, Steve Brown, Dave Askew, Jason Clark and Matt Clark.^[3]

The final eight qualifiers were determined at a PDPA Qualifying event which was held on 17 November 2007 in Wolverhampton – prior to the Grand Slam of Darts tournament. The successful players were Steve Maish, Jan van der Rassel, Colin Monk, Steve Evans, Jamie Caven, Steve Hine, Kirk Shepherd and Jason Barry. Former world champions John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller and Richie Burnett all played in the qualifying rounds but failed to reach the televised stages.

The 2008 World Championship featured a prize fund of £589,000. The prize money for earlier round losers was increased, whilst the winner and runner-up prize money was unchanged.^[4]

(best of nine legs, played Wednesday 19 December and Thursday 20 December)

Av.	Player	Score	Player	Av.
68.85	Akihiro Nagakawa	2 – 5	Anthony Forde	69.83
68.58	Rizal Barellano	0 – 5	Miloslav Navrátil	74.96
60.38	Alan Bolton	0 – 5	Erwin Extercatte	63.15
72.03	Ashfaque Sayed	0 – 5	Shi Yongsheng	78.28

	Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 29 December					Semi-finals (best of 11 sets) 30 December					Final (best of 13 sets) 1 January
	1	Phil Taylor 92.32	4
	9	Wayne Mardle 92.20	5
						9	Wayne Mardle 92.36	4
							Kirk Shepherd 88.77	6
	5	Peter Manley 94.27	4
		Kirk Shepherd 89.70	5
												Kirk Shepherd 85.10	2
											11	John Part 92.86	7
	15	Kevin Painter 87.51	5
	7	Adrian Lewis 86.26	2
						15	Kevin Painter 91.94	2
						11	John Part 92.84	6
	11	John Part 94.81	5
	3	James Wade 91.48	4

	First round (best of 5 sets) 17–22 December					Second round (best of 7 sets) 22–27 December					Third round (best of 7 sets) 27–28 December					Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 29 December
	1	Phil Taylor 91.11	3
		Michael van Gerwen 85.99	2
						1	Taylor 94.52	4
							Walsh 89.52	3
	32	Adrian Gray 88.01	2
		Mark Walsh 87.63	3
											1	Taylor 96.71	4
											17	Tabern 93.42	3
	16	Andy Jenkins 86.80	3
		Miloslav Navrátil 83.12	2
						16	A. Jenkins 80.04	0
						17	Tabern 86.04	4
	17	Alan Tabern 87.96	3
		Per Laursen 84.17	1
																1	Taylor 92.32	4
																9	Mardle 92.20	5
	8	Roland Scholten 94.25	3
		Matt Clark 93.88	2
						8	Scholten 93.10	4
						25	King 90.31	2
	25	Mervyn King 95.97	3
		Michael Rosenauer 86.60	2
											8	Scholten 91.86	3
											9	Mardle 89.28	4
	9	Wayne Mardle 91.13	3
		Ray Carver 90.30	2
						9	Mardle 89.61	4
							Caven 82.35	1
	24	Wes Newton 87.15	0
		Jamie Caven 89.36	3
	5	Peter Manley 90.09	3
		Toon Greebe 89.60	2
						5	Manley 88.96	4
						28	Warriner-Little 82.55	1
	28	Alan Warriner-Little 80.98	3
		Shi Yongsheng 76.38	1
											5	Manley 87.75	4
												van der Rassel 86.76	1
	12	Colin Lloyd 85.75	2
		Jan van der Rassel 90.66	3
							van der Rassel 90.99	4
						21	Ovens 90.22	1
	21	Denis Ovens 85.08	3
		Colin Monk 69.48	0
																5	Manley 94.27	4
																	Shepherd 89.70	5
	4	Terry Jenkins 83.62	2
		Kirk Shepherd 79.09	3
							Shepherd 87.18	4
						29	McGowan 85.09	3
	29	Mick McGowan 86.66	3
		Jason Barry 87.75	0
												Shepherd 85.86	4
											13	Bates 85.61	2
	13	Barrie Bates 82.99	3
		Gerry Convery 79.50	0
						13	Bates 82.36	4
							Extercatte 84.00	3
	20	Colin Osborne 90.33	1
		Erwin Extercatte 92.58	3
	2	Raymond van Barneveld 89.12	3
		Anthony Forde 81.84	0
						2	van Barneveld 92.31	4
							Clark 87.96	1
	31	Bob Anderson 91.07	2
		Jason Clark 89.70	3
											2	van Barneveld 90.75	2
											15	Painter 95.20	4
	15	Kevin Painter 96.45	3
		Gary Mawson 83.86	0
						15	Painter 92.04	4
						18	Mason 83.91	0
	18	Chris Mason 84.72	3
		Steve Brown 77.61	1
																15	Painter 87.51	5
																7	Lewis 86.26	2
	7	Adrian Lewis 96.79	3
		Dave Askew 90.46	1
						7	Lewis 91.81	4
						26	van der Voort 96.46	2
	26	Vincent van der Voort 86.94	3
		Jelle Klaasen 90.27	2
											7	Lewis 94.19	4
												Eccles 97.20	3
	10	Dennis Priestley 92.06	1
		Steve Maish 92.59	3
							Maish 87.29	3
							Eccles 91.08	4
	23	Wayne Jones 83.71	0
		Tony Eccles 91.17	3
	6	Andy Hamilton 90.20	3
		Leroy Kwadijk 74.17	1
						6	Hamilton 90.97	1
						27	Roy 91.33	4
	27	Alex Roy 86.41	3
		Warren Parry 83.56	2
											27	Roy 85.16	0
											11	Part 91.32	4
	11	John Part 94.08	3
		Charles Losper 85.21	1
						11	Part 99.06	4
							Suljović 91.26	1
	22	Andy Smith 81.11	2
		Mensur Suljović 83.26	3
																11	Part 94.81	5
																3	Wade 91.48	4
	3	James Wade 89.82	3
		Steve MacArthur 75.66	0
						3	Wade 90.92	4
						30	Beaton 87.80	3
	30	Steve Beaton 76.99	3
		Steve Evans 75.56	0
											3	Wade 84.54	4
											19	Dudbridge 84.96	2
	14	Ronnie Baxter 90.31	3
		Dan Olson 85.17	2
						14	Baxter 91.82	2
						19	Dudbridge 87.92	4
	19	Mark Dudbridge 85.46	3
		Steve Hine 83.07	1

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

• Highest Checkout: 170 ( Mervyn King, James Wade, Wayne Mardle)
• Total 180's scored: 478
• Highest Match Average: 99.06 ( John Part, second round vs Mensur Suljović)

Player	Played	Sets Won	Sets Lost	Legs Won	Legs Lost	100+	140+	180s	High checkout	3-dart average[5]
John Part	6	29	10	98	68	202	112	34	160	94.42
Kirk Shepherd	6	24	23	104	101	237	120	33	160	83.92
Phil Taylor	4	15	13	66	59	162	70	19	137	93.67
Michael van Gerwen	1	2	3	11	13	29	15	1	106	85.99
Adrian Gray	1	2	3	10	12	28	18	3	104	88.01
Mark Walsh	2	6	6	23	24	52	38	10	156	88.58
Andy Jenkins	2	3	6	14	19	31	15	9	142	83.42
Rizal Barellano	1	0	0	0	5	4	3	0	–	68.58
Miloslav Navrátil	2	2	3	12	11	14	8	6	81	79.04
Alan Tabern	3	10	5	39	30	98	55	9	160	89.14
Per Laursen	1	1	3	8	10	30	10	2	68	84.17
Roland Scholten	3	10	8	36	40	103	56	19	140	93.07
Matt Clark	1	2	3	12	10	25	19	4	100	93.88
Mervyn King	2	5	6	26	24	57	47	10	170	93.14
Michael Rosenauer	1	2	3	11	13	29	18	3	116	86.60
Wayne Mardle	5	20	16	81	70	183	135	24	170	90.92
Ray Carver	1	2	3	8	11	26	7	7	110	90.30
Wes Newton	1	0	3	4	9	14	11	2	81	87.15
Jamie Caven	2	4	4	15	17	39	16	3	121	85.86
Peter Manley	4	15	9	57	49	167	80	14	156	90.27
Toon Greebe	1	2	3	9	12	22	17	4	94	89.60
Alan Warriner-Little	2	4	5	19	18	46	22	4	108	86.77
Ashfaque Sayed	1	0	0	0	5	4	2	0	–	72.03
Shi Yongsheng	2	1	3	10	11	23	13	0	119	77.33
Colin Lloyd	1	2	3	14	14	29	13	1	120	85.75
Jan van der Rassel	3	8	7	37	37	103	51	10	116	89.47
Denis Ovens	2	4	4	18	14	46	20	6	100	87.65
Colin Monk	1	0	3	0	9	4	4	0	–	69.48
Terry Jenkins	1	2	3	10	10	32	13	1	56	83.62
Mick McGowan	2	6	4	25	24	66	35	6	120	85.88
Jason Barry	1	0	3	5	9	13	13	1	64	87.75
Barrie Bates	3	9	7	36	28	101	34	6	120	83.66
Gerry Convery	1	0	3	1	9	10	4	2	82	79.50
Colin Osborne	1	1	3	8	9	14	6	10	144	90.33
Alan Bolton	1	0	0	0	5	3	0	0	–	60.38
Erwin Extercatte	3	6	5	27	24	61	18	5	147	79.91
Raymond van Barneveld	3	9	5	34	25	73	36	13	120	90.73
Akihiro Nagakawa	1	0	0	2	5	9	1	1	40	68.85
Anthony Forde	2	0	3	9	11	28	11	2	120	75.84
Bob Anderson	1	2	3	10	11	30	16	4	141	91.07
Jason Clark	2	4	6	19	24	53	32	9	104	88.83
Kevin Painter	5	18	10	69	45	159	77	24	137	92.23
Gary Mawson	1	0	3	2	9	14	4	2	96	83.86
Chris Mason	2	3	5	16	15	39	15	2	136	84.32
Steve Brown	1	1	3	3	11	20	7	0	67	77.61
Adrian Lewis	4	13	11	46	50	118	55	22	136	92.26
Dave Askew	1	1	3	8	10	25	11	3	62	90.46
Vincent van der Voort	2	5	6	27	28	71	32	19	124	91.70
Jelle Klaasen	1	2	3	15	15	36	19	6	104	90.27
Dennis Priestley	1	1	3	7	9	28	7	3	130	92.06
Steve Maish	2	6	5	25	24	68	17	7	110	89.94
Wayne Jones	1	0	3	3	9	22	7	0	42	83.71
Tony Eccles	3	10	7	41	33	96	55	10	156	93.15
Andy Hamilton	2	4	5	19	17	35	20	16	144	90.59
Leroy Kwadijk	1	1	3	3	11	10	6	0	160	74.17
Alex Roy	3	7	7	35	30	108	41	5	124	87.63
Warren Parry	1	2	3	11	16	41	13	1	91	83.56
Charles Losper	1	1	3	8	11	18	9	4	94	85.21
Andy Smith	1	2	3	11	12	34	16	2	88	81.11
Mensur Suljović	2	4	6	17	23	38	15	11	111	87.26
James Wade	4	15	6	59	46	134	72	17	170	89.19
Steve MacArthur	1	0	3	1	9	15	5	0	16	75.66
Steve Beaton	2	6	4	23	18	52	23	7	98	82.40
Steve Evans	1	0	3	1	9	13	9	1	20	75.56
Ronnie Baxter	2	5	6	23	25	71	25	9	137	91.07
Dan Olson	1	2	3	9	13	23	12	6	120	85.17
Mark Dudbridge	3	9	7	38	30	71	38	12	113	86.11
Steve Hine	1	1	3	5	11	17	8	2	100	83.07

This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship, the total number including the preliminary round.

	ENG	NED	SCO	WAL	IRL	CAN	GER	AUT	NZL	AUS	USA	RSA	DEN	CHN	BAR	CZE	JPN	PHI	IND	Total
Final	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Semis	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Quarters	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
Round 3	11	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16
Round 2	22	5	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32
Round 1	36	9	1	2	2	3	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	64
Prelim.	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
Total	36	9	1	2	2	3	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	68

Alan Tabern 3–1 Per Laursen

Mark Walsh 0–3 Adrian Gray

Wayne Mardle 3–0 Ray Carver

Jan van der Rassel 3–2 Colin Lloyd

Roland Scholten 3–0 Matt Clark

Peter Manley 3–0 Toon Greebe

Phil Taylor 3–2 Michael Van Gerwen

Mervyn King 3–1 Michael Rosenauer

Jamie Caven 2–3 Wes Newton

Denis Ovens 3–1 Colin Monk

Mick Mcgowan 3–0 Jason Barry

Barrie Bates 3–0 Gerry Convery

Jason Clark 3–2 Bob Anderson

Kirk Shepherd 3–1 Terry Jenkins

Chris Mason 3–1 Steve Brown

Kevin Painter 3–0 Gary Mawson

Andy Jenkins 3–1 Miloslav Navrátil

Tony Eccles 1–3 Wayne Jones

Andy Hamilton 3–1 Leroy Kwadijk

Alex Roy 3–0 Warren Parry

Steve Maish 3–1 Dennis Priestley

Adrian Lewis 3–1 Dave Askew

Raymond Van Barneveld 3–0 Anthony Forde

Vincent Van Der Voort 3–2 Jelle Klaasen

Day five, Friday 21 December

Alan Warriner-Little 2–3 Shi Yongsheng

Erwin Extercatte 0–3 Colin Osborne

Mensur Suljovic 3–2 Andy Smith

Steve Beaton 3–0 Steve Evans

Ronnie Baxter 3–2 Dan Olson

James Wade 3–0 Steve Macarthur

John Part 3-1 Charles Losper

Mark Dudbridge 3–1 Steve Hine

Alan Tabern 4–0 Andy Jenkins (3–1 3–1 3–1 3–0)

Jan Van Der Rassel 0–4 Denis Ovens (1–3 1–3 2–3 0–3)

Peter Manley 4–2 Shi Yongsheng ( 3–0 3–0 1–3 3–2 0–3 3–1)

Roland Scholten 0–4 Mervyn King ( 0–3 0–3 0–3 1–3)

Phil Taylor 4–1 Adrian Gray ( 1–3 3–0 3–2 3–2 3–0)

Wayne Mardle 4–2 Wes Newton (3–0 1–3 2–3 3–2 3–2 3–1)

The tournament went into hiatus for the Christmas period.

Barrie Bates 2–4 Colin Osborne 3–1 2–3 2–3 1–3 3–1 0–3

Kevin Painter 4–0 Chris Mason 3–0 3–0 3–0 3–2

Terry Jenkins 4–0 Mick Mcgowan 3–0 3–1 3–1 3–0

Adrian Lewis 4–3 Vincent Van Der Voort 3–0 3–1 3–0 1–3 1–3 1–3 5–3

John Part 4-1 Mensur Suljovic 3–1 3–1 1–3 3–1 3–1

James Wade 4–0 Steve Beaton 3–2 3–2 3–0 3–0

Wayne Jones 4–0 Steve Maish 3–1 3–0 3–0 3–2

Alex Roy 1–4 Andy Hamilton 3–0 1–3 0–3 2–3 2–3

Mark Dudbridge 2–4 Ronnie Baxter 2–3 2–3 3–1 1–3 3–0 0–3

Raymond Van Barneveld 4–0 Jason Clark 3–0 3–0 3–0 1–3 3–1

Third round (Last 16)

Phil Taylor 4–2 Alan Tabern 0–3 2–3 3–1 3–1 3–0 3–2

Wayne Mardle 4–1 Mervyn King 1–3 3–1 3–2 3–2 3–2

Raymond van Barneveld's reign as PDC World Championship was ended by Kevin Painter in a thrilling match which Painter finished off with a ten-dart leg to clinch the match 4–2. Painter hit seven consecutive treble 20s, en route to a possible nine dart leg before missing a treble 19 before completing a remarkable ten darter to go through to the quarter-finals.

Earlier, James Wade overcame flu and Mark Dudbridge 4–2 to go through to his first World quarter-final and Kirk Shepherd defeated Barrie Bates 4–2 to be the surprise quarter-finalist. Peter Manley and John Part both had comfortable wins in their last 16 matches.

The talking point of the day may have been the Adrian Lewis v Tony Eccles clash. Eccles started in sensational fashion winning the first eight legs, but couldn't close out the third set. He missed two darts at a double for a 3–0 sets lead and then Lewis started a fightback winning the next three sets to lead 3–2. Eccles fought back himself to level the match, but controversy came in the final set when the scores were level at 2 legs each. Lewis took an unscheduled comfort break just minutes after a scheduled one and when he came back he found his rhythm to win the next two legs and make the quarter-finals.

Kirk Shepherd 4–2 Barrie Bates (3–0, 1–3, 3–2, 1–3, 3–2, 3–1)

Adrian Lewis 4–3 Tony Eccles (0–3, 0–3, 3–2, 3–0, 3–2, 1–3, 4–2)

James Wade 4–2 Mark Dudbridge (2–3, 3–1, 3–0, 3–2, 1–3, 3–2)

Peter Manley 4–1 Jan Van Der Rassel (2–3, 3–1, 3–2, 3–2, 3–1)

Kevin Painter 4–2 Raymond Van Barneveld (1–3, 3–0, 3–1, 0–3, 3–2, 3–2)

John Part 4-0 Alex Roy (3–1, 3–2, 3–1, 3–1)

For the first time in the 15-year history of the event, Phil Taylor failed to make it to the final after losing to Wayne Mardle. Taylor took an early 3–0 lead, but after winning a set Mardle's confidence increased and with the crowd behind him brought it back to 3–3. With the sets tied 4–4 the legs went with throw until 4–4 when Mardle broke Taylor with tops after Taylor missed double sixteen when the dart went the wrong side of the wire. Wayne closed out the match on his own darts with 140 and double 18 to win the final set 6–4 and a 5–4 win. Mardle immediately broke down into tears after the win. After the match Mardle said "it's not being in the semis that's important... it's beating that guy there (Taylor); he didn't play well, but I still had to play at my best to beat him"

Taylor said "When I was 3 sets to nil up, I thought I'm going to beat him 5–0... If he gets his game together now he's got the biggest chance of his life to win it".

World Matchplay champion James Wade also went out in the quarter-finals to two-time former World Champion John Part. It was a close match, but Part always stayed in front after establishing a 2–0 set lead. Wade did fight back from 1–3 to level the match.

Kirk Shepherd continued his amazing run and for the third time in the tournament survived his opponent having darts to win the match. Peter Manley had two darts to win the final set 3–0, but Shepherd came back to win the final set 4–2. After sharing the first four sets, Kevin Painter beat Adrian Lewis 5–2.

Kirk Shepherd 5–4 Peter Manley (3–0, 2–3, 3–2, 2–3, 1–3, 3–1, 2–3, 3–1, 4–2)

John Part 5-4 James Wade (3–2, 3–0, 1–3, 3–1, 2–3, 1–3, 3–1, 0–3, 4–2)

Wayne Mardle 5–4 Phil Taylor (0–3, 1–3, 0–3, 3–0, 3–1, 3–2, 2–3, 3–1, 6–4)

Kevin Painter 5–2 Adrian Lewis (3–0, 2–3, 3–0, 1–3, 3–0, 3–1, 3–2)

Kirk Shepherd's sensational run in the tournament continued as he beat Wayne Mardle in the semi-final to reach the final. Shepherd, the 21-year-old qualifier built up a 3–1 set lead and missed five darts to go 4–1 up only to see Mardle come back to take the lead 4–3. Mardle, who had beaten Phil Taylor the previous night in the quarter-finals looked to be on his way to his first world final before Shepherd fought back again to take the next three sets and become the first qualifier to reach the PDC World final.

The other semi-final was a more clinical performance as John Part returned to the final always having the edge over 2004 finalist Kevin Painter. The fourth set was potential decisive as Painter missed darts to take a 2–0 leg lead. Part then took out the next two legs and a 13-darter in the fourth leg gave him a 3–1 set lead. Painter missed a dart at bullseye to bring the score back to 2–3, leaving Part a 44 finish to go 4–1 up – then also missed a chance to take the sixth set. Part took the match with a classy 130 finish for a 6–2 win.

Kirk Shepherd 6–4 Wayne Mardle (0–3, 3–0, 3–2, 3–2, 2–3, 1–3, 2–3, 3–2, 3–1, 3–2)

John Part 6-2 Kevin Painter (3–2, 3–2, 0–3, 3–1, 3–2, 3–2, 0–3, 3–2)

John Part became World Champion for the third time with a ruthless 7–2 victory over qualifier Kirk Shepherd. Shepherd had beaten world number four Terry Jenkins, three time world finalist Peter Manley and Phil Taylor's conqueror Wayne Mardle to become the first qualifier to reach the PDC World final – but he had no answer to Part's experience in the final. The early stages of the match were close with both of the first two sets going down to a deciding leg. Part just edged the first set and in the deciding leg of the second started with 140, 180 and a 15-dart leg for a 2–0 lead. Part then ran off the next six legs to find himself 4–0 in front and missed a bullseye for a 5–0 lead before Shepherd took his first set. The sixth set again went to last leg with Part re-establishing a four set lead but Shepherd continued to battle away and took the seventh set with a brilliant 160 finish. Part opened the eighth set with a 139 finish, then Shepherd hit an 88 to level it before checkouts of 52 and 80 from Part took him one set away from victory at 6–2. The Canadian closed out victory in the ninth set with a double ten in the fifth leg.

John Part 7-2 Kirk Shepherd (3–2, 3–2, 3–0, 3–0, 2–3, 3–2, 2–3, 3–1, 3–2)

• Kirk Shepherd became the youngest player to ever reach a Darts World Championship (PDC or BDO) final. His record was broken on 2 January 2024 when Luke Littler advanced into the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship at the age of 16 years and 348 days.^[6]
• No one in the tournament achieved a match average of over 100, for the first time since 1995.
• As a result of Phil Taylor not advancing past the quarter-final stages, Raymond van Barneveld became the world number one.
• The tournament saw the first ever PDC World Championship final without the presence of Phil Taylor.
• None of the 4 semi-finalists from this tournament, the first at Alexandra Palace, have played at World Championship since the 2019 edition with Mardle not having qualified since 2010, Shepherd since 2011, champion Part since 2015, and Painter who failed to qualify in 2019 for the first time since 2001.
• John Part became the first player to win the world championship in three different venues – having won the 1994 BDO World Championship at the Lakeside, the 2003 PDC title at the Circus Tavern and in 2008 at Alexandra Palace.

• Article on Hearn's future plans BBC London
• Qualifying for the 2008 World Championships Darts Database