2008 Grand Slam of Darts

The 2008 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15 to 23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England. As with 2007, the tournament included players from both the PDC and BDO organisations.

Phil Taylor successfully defended the title after defeating Terry Jenkins 18–9 in the final.

James Wade also hit the first nine-dart finish in the history of this tournament, during his second round defeat by Gary Anderson.

Prize Fund

The prize fund for the 2008 tournament was as follows:

Position (num. of players)		Prize money (Total: £356,000)
Winner	(1)	£100,000
Runner-up	(1)	£40,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£20,000
Quarter-finalists	(4)	£12,500
Last 16 (second round)	(8)	£7,500
Last 32 (group stage)	(16)	£4,000
Highest finish	(1)	£2,000

Qualifying

There were 15 tournaments that provided qualifying opportunities to players. Most tournaments offered a qualifying position for the winner and runner-up of the tournament, however the World Championships and the 2007 Grand Slam also offered a place in the tournament to the losing semi-finalists. There were also various other ways of qualifying for overseas players, including those from Australia and the United States, as well as a wildcard qualifying event open to any darts player.

Qualifying tournaments

PDC

Tournament	Year	Position	Player		Qualifiers
Grand Slam of Darts	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor		Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins Template:Flagicon John Part Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd Template:Flagicon Kevin Painter Template:Flagicon Wayne Mardle Template:Flagicon James Wade Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins Template:Flagicon Vincent van der Voort Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens Template:Flagicon Adrian Lewis
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton
		Semi-finalists	Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson
PDC World Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Semi-finalists	Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon John Part
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd
		Semi-finalists	Template:Flagicon Kevin Painter Template:Flagicon Wayne Mardle
World Matchplay	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon James Wade
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon James Wade
World Grand Prix	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon James Wade
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld
Las Vegas Desert Classic	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon James Wade
UK Open	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Vincent van der Voort
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon James Wade
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson
US Open	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd
Premier League Darts	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon James Wade
German Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens
European Championship	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Adrian Lewis
Championship League Darts	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

BDO

For the second year running, Martin Adams declined his invitation to take part in the competition.

Tournament	Year	Position	Player		Qualifiers
BDO World Darts Championship	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Martin Adams		Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter Template:Flagicon Mervyn King Template:Flagicon Mark Webster Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock Template:Flagicon Brian Woods Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon
		Semi-finalists	Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter Template:Flagicon Mervyn King
	2008	Winner	Template:Flagicon Mark Webster
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock
		Semi-finalists	Template:Flagicon Martin Adams Template:Flagicon Brian Woods
World Masters	2006	Winner	Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Martin Adams
	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Defunct Tournaments

Tournament	Year	Position	Player
International Darts League	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Mark Webster
World Darts Trophy	2007	Winner	Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson
		Runner-up	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Other qualifiers

Criteria	Player
PDC North America Order of Merit Leader	Template:Flagicon Darin Young
William Cross Pro-Am	Template:Flagicon Paul Nicholson
2008 BDO Women's World Darts Champion	Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova
ITV Wildcards	Template:Flagicon Wes Newton Template:Flagicon Colin McGarry Template:Flagicon Alan Tabern

Pro-Celebrity Challenge

As a curtain-raiser for the main Grand Slam of Darts, a competition involving eight celebrities and eight of the professionals taking part in the Grand Slam took place on the Friday before the tournament. The winners of the tournament collected a first prize of £8,000. In a closely fought final, James Wade and Steve Backley won a final-leg decider over Phil Taylor and Neil Ruddock, with Backley's double two checkout sealing the victory. Those involved were:

Template:Flagicon John Part Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova Template:Flagicon Wayne Mardle Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor Template:Flagicon James Wade Template:Flagicon Peter Manley Template:Flagicon Mark Webster

Template:Flagicon Barry McGuigan – former world boxing champion Template:Flagicon Phil Tufnell – former cricketer Template:Flagicon Steve Davis – six-time world snooker champion Template:Flagicon Michael Le Vell – actor Template:Flagicon Neil Ruddock – former footballer Template:Flagicon Steve Backley – former athlete Template:Flagicon Dave Ulliott – poker player Template:Flagicon Mike Tindall – rugby player

Draw and results

all matches first-to-3/best of 5.

Draw

Group stages

All matches first-to-5/best of 9.

NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; Q = Qualifier
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/- = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Average = 3-dart average; Pts = Points.

Group A

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor (1)	3	2	1	14	6	+8	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins	3	2	1	13	13	0	4
3	Template:Flagicon Vincent van der Voort	3	1	2	10	11	−1	2	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon (BDO)	3	1	2	6	13	−7	2

15 November

107.36 Phil Taylor Template:Flagicon	5 – 0	Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon 92.91
85.30 Vincent van der Voort Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins 85.39

16 November

99.98 Vincent van der Voort Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon 85.33
102.94 Phil Taylor Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins 96.89

17 November

85.05 Andy Jenkins Template:Flagicon	3 – 5	Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon 87.79
92.21 Vincent van der Voort Template:Flagicon	1 – 5	Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor 104.51

Group B

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock (BDO)	3	2	1	13	6	+7	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton (8)	3	2	1	11	9	+2	4	Nine Dart Shootout
2	Template:Flagicon Alan Tabern (Q)	3	2	1	11	9	+2	4
4	Template:Flagicon Brian Woods (BDO)	3	0	3	4	15	−11	0	Eliminated

15 November

105.64 Andy Hamilton Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Brian Woods 88.67
91.21 Alan Tabern Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock 89.73

16 November

82.83 Brian Woods Template:Flagicon	0 – 5	Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock 84.44
95.94 Andy Hamilton Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Alan Tabern 94.57

17 November

90.61 Alan Tabern Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Brian Woods 73.63
98.86 Simon Whitlock Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton 103.04

Nine-dart shootout

With Andy Hamilton and Alan Tabern finishing level on points and leg difference, a piece of history was made, with a nine-dart shootout between the two to see who would play Phil Taylor in the second round. The match took place after the conclusion of Tuesday's second round matches.

POS	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts	Status
2	Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton	60	60	5	60	20	60	–	–	–	265	Advance to the last 16
3	Template:Flagicon Alan Tabern	60	20	5	20	1	20	3	20	20	169	Eliminated

Group C

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Mervyn King	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Mark Webster (BDO, 4)	3	1	2	12	10	+2	2
3	Template:Flagicon Colin McGarry (Q)	3	1	2	9	14	−5	2	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen	3	1	2	6	11	−5	2

15 November

85.80 Mark Webster Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Colin McGarry 80.14
92.93 Mervyn King Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen 86.74

16 November

93.93 Mark Webster Template:Flagicon	5 – 0	Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen 75.62
80.23 Colin McGarry Template:Flagicon	3 – 5	Template:Flagicon Mervyn King 89.81

17 November

84.51 Michael van Gerwen Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Colin McGarry 76.55
97.14 Mervyn King Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Mark Webster 92.21

Group D

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon John Part (5)	3	2	1	13	7	+6	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine	3	2	1	11	7	+4	4
3	Template:Flagicon Wayne Mardle	3	2	1	10	12	−2	4	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova (BDO)	3	0	3	7	15	−8	0

15 November

78.22 John Part Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova 75.91
91.21 Wayne Mardle Template:Flagicon	0 – 5	Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine 89.73

16 November

79.28 Wayne Mardle Template:Flagicon	5 – 4	Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova 86.07
92.11 John Part Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine 80.10

17 November

95.44 Wayne Mardle Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon John Part 94.47
92.44 Kevin McDine Template:Flagicon	5 – 2	Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova 80.30

Group E

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld (2)	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton	3	2	1	13	12	+1	4
3	Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson	3	1	2	11	10	+1	2	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd	3	0	3	5	15	−10	0

15 November

84.02 Robert Thornton Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson 81.72
100.38 Raymond van Barneveld Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd 82.73

16 November

81.68 Gary Mawson Template:Flagicon	5 – 0	Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd 74.90
101.38 Raymond van Barneveld Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton 97.82

18 November

93.25 Raymond van Barneveld Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson 94.63
89.66 Kirk Shepherd Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton 93.49

Group F

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins (7)	3	2	1	14	8	+6	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Darin Young (Q)	3	2	1	13	11	+2	4
3	Template:Flagicon Wes Newton (Q)	3	2	1	10	12	−2	4	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd	3	0	3	9	15	−6	0

15 November

92.95 Terry Jenkins Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Darin Young 92.43
83.38 Colin Lloyd Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Wes Newton 79.51

16 November

85.61 Terry Jenkins Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd 84.38
85.30 Darin Young Template:Flagicon	3 – 5	Template:Flagicon Wes Newton 82.38

18 November

80.83 Wes Newton Template:Flagicon	0 – 5	Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins 98.88
88.15 Darin Young Template:Flagicon	5 – 2	Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd 82.25

Group G

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon James Wade (3)	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens	3	2	1	13	7	+6	4
3	Template:Flagicon Adrian Lewis	3	1	2	10	10	0	2	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter (BDO)	3	0	3	1	15	−14	0

15 November

83.40 Adrian Lewis Template:Flagicon	2 – 5	Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens 89.48
86.10 James Wade Template:Flagicon	5 – 1	Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter 74.91

16 November

89.46 Adrian Lewis Template:Flagicon	5 – 0	Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter 84.36
95.83 Denis Ovens Template:Flagicon	3 – 5	Template:Flagicon James Wade 111.03

18 November

86.12 Niels de Ruiter Template:Flagicon	0 – 5	Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens 90.54
97.39 James Wade Template:Flagicon	5 – 3	Template:Flagicon Adrian Lewis 97.83

Group H

POS	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/-	Pts	Status
1	Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton (BDO)	3	2	1	14	9	+5	4	Advance to the last 16
2	Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson (BDO, 6)	3	2	1	14	11	+3	4
3	Template:Flagicon Paul Nicholson (Q)	3	1	2	11	14	−3	2	Eliminated
4	Template:Flagicon Kevin Painter	3	1	2	9	14	−5	2

15 November

84.50 Kevin Painter Template:Flagicon	2 – 5	Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton 86.08
92.32 Gary Anderson Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Paul Nicholson 86.91

16 November

85.40 Kevin Painter Template:Flagicon	2 – 5	Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson 96.40
96.92 Darryl Fitton Template:Flagicon	5 – 2	Template:Flagicon Paul Nicholson 93.90

18 November

90.72 Gary Anderson Template:Flagicon	5 – 4	Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton 84.08
87.11 Paul Nicholson Template:Flagicon	4 – 5	Template:Flagicon Kevin Painter 98.05

Statistics

Player	Played	Legs Won	Legs Lost	100+	140+	180s	High checkout	3-dart average
Template:Flagicon Phil Taylor	7	68	40	126	99	32	151	104.10
Template:Flagicon Andy Hamilton	4	19	19	53	33	9	136	100.22
Template:Flagicon Gary Anderson	6	48	41	101	74	30	170	98.65
Template:Flagicon Raymond van Barneveld	5	34	21	73	33	19	121	98.15
Template:Flagicon Terry Jenkins	7	59	57	144	99	36	164	97.63
Template:Flagicon James Wade	4	23	17	54	34	10	141	95.09
Template:Flagicon Mervyn King	6	45	40	108	61	24	161	94.70
Template:Flagicon Simon Whitlock	5	30	24	72	32	14	109	92.84
Template:Flagicon Robert Thornton	4	21	22	56	30	12	126	92.71
Template:Flagicon Denis Ovens	4	21	17	63	25	3	122	92.10
Template:Flagicon Alan Tabern	3	11	9	26	19	4	71	92.04
Template:Flagicon Vincent van der Voort	3	10	11	30	14	5	146	91.47
Template:Flagicon Adrian Lewis	3	10	10	26	11	5	127	90.69
Template:Flagicon Darryl Fitton	5	30	27	56	44	13	117	90.58
Template:Flagicon Kevin Painter	3	9	14	25	19	5	91	90.08
Template:Flagicon Mark Webster	5	30	22	70	26	9	158	89.98
Template:Flagicon Paul Nicholson	3	11	14	29	23	5	140	88.93
Template:Flagicon Phill Nixon	3	6	13	24	15	1	68	88.36
Template:Flagicon Kevin McDine	4	20	17	40	15	10	107	88.14
Template:Flagicon Andy Jenkins	4	21	23	56	24	7	104	87.87
Template:Flagicon Darin Young	4	17	21	48	24	8	86	87.25
Template:Flagicon John Part	4	15	17	33	12	4	135	86.93
Template:Flagicon Gary Mawson	3	11	10	27	9	4	152	86.63
Template:Flagicon Kirk Shepherd	3	5	15	22	11	1	70	83.89
Template:Flagicon Colin Lloyd	3	9	15	33	13	2	90	83.38
Template:Flagicon Wayne Mardle	3	10	12	27	8	2	158	83.23
Template:Flagicon Michael van Gerwen	3	6	11	20	7	3	52	82.68
Template:Flagicon Brian Woods	3	4	15	16	9	6	120	82.19
Template:Flagicon Anastasia Dobromyslova	3	7	15	42	10	0	120	81.46
Template:Flagicon Niels de Ruiter	3	1	15	25	5	2	73	81.37
Template:Flagicon Wes Newton	3	10	12	27	10	1	100	80.85
Template:Flagicon Colin McGarry	3	9	14	32	14	0	100	79.23

Television coverage

ITV Sport again broadcast coverage throughout the championship, in the UK. Again, Matt Smith presented the coverage on ITV4, with analysis from Chris Mason and Alan Warriner-Little, commentary from Peter Drury, Stuart Pyke and John Rawling and reports from Ned Boulting and Janie Omorogbe.

Match fixing allegations

Five days after the tournament concluded, the PDC revealed that the organisation had received complaints concerning the Group H match between Darryl Fitton and Gary Anderson, and forwarded those complaints to the Darts Regulation Authority. On 26 January 2009 it was announced that there was no evidence of player collusion in the arranging of match outcomes.