2008 UK Open

Format

As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning were collated into the UK Order Of Merit. The top 128 players in the list, who played a minimum of three events (plus ties) won a place at the final stages.

The final UK Open Order of Merit qualifiers (146) were also joined by 32 Holsten qualifiers from pub tournaments throughout the UK. The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round

Schedule

Preliminary & First Round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): Holsten pub qualifiers and those lowest in the UK Open Order of Merit start the tournament here.

Second Round (Thursday, best of 11 legs): The players just outside the top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join Preliminary and First Round winners.

Third Round (Last 64) (Friday, best of 17 legs): Top 32 in UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 survivors from the first night's play.

Fourth Round (Last 32) (Saturday afternoon, best of 17 legs)

Fifth Round (Last 16) (Saturday evening, best of 17 legs)

Quarter Finals (Sunday afternoon, best of 19 legs)

Semi Finals (Sunday evening, best of 19 legs)

Final (Sunday evening, best of 21 legs)

2007-2008 UK Open Regional Finals

There were eight regional final events staged between September 2007 and March 2008 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:

September 23, 2007 (Wales): James Wade 8-7 Raymond van BarneveldOctober 7 (Ireland): Raymond van Barneveld 8-2 Kevin McDineOctober 21 (Scotland): James Wade 8-2 Ronnie BaxterJanuary 13, 2008 (North East): Colin Osborne 8-6 Denis OvensFebruary 10 South-West: Colin Lloyd 8-6 Andy HamiltonMarch 2, South: Colin Lloyd 8-6 Phil TaylorMarch 16, North-West: Phil Taylor 8-7 Adrian LewisMarch 30, Midlands: Phil Taylor 8-0 Brendan Dolan

Tournament review

The tournament has the nickname, the "FA Cup of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round. This provides no protection for the top players, who are usually seeded to avoid each other in early rounds. Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor, the top two in the PDC rankings respectively, met at the quarter-final stage for the third successive year, with the Dutchman coming out on top each occasion, this time 10-9. In addition, Adrian Lewis and Wayne Mardle - two players who played in the 2008 Premier League - played as early as the third Round, the last 64 stage.

Van Barneveld, who had won the tournament for the previous two years went out in the semi-finals to Gary Mawson, which was the Dutchman's first loss at the Reebok Stadium in the event. It also meant that Phil Taylor now overtook him to regain the top spot in the PDC Order of Merit/world rankings, as van Barneveld had failed to defend the £30,000 from the UK Open two years ago.

Earlier in the tournament, Phil Taylor threw his fourth nine dart leg in six years in the UK Open, during a 9-1 victory over Jamie Harvey in the fourth Round. In his Fifth Round match against Wesley Newton, Taylor achieved the highest televised 3 dart average (to date) of 114.53 surpassing Darryl Fitton's record (114.15) in the International Darts League 2004 against Davy Richardson.

The semi-final line-up contained only one player from the United Kingdom for the first time it the tournament's six-year history. That one player - James Wade, however went on to claim to the title.

Gary Mawson was the first American player to reach the UK Open final, and the first American since Larry Butler in 1994 to reach a major PDC final.

Prize money

Champion £35,000Runner-up £15,000Semi-finalists £10,000Quarter-finalists £5,000Last 16 £3,000Last 32 £2,000Last 64 £1,000Nine dart finish £25,000 won by Phil Taylor

Preliminary Round

Best of 11 legs

First Round

Best of 11 legs

Second Round

Best of 11 legs

Third Round

Best of 17 legs

Fourth Round

Best of 17 legs,

Final Stages

* Phil Taylor hits highest televised 3 dart average to date (114.53)

Random draws were made after each round up to the semi final stage. Draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively.