2007 Grand Slam of Darts
2007 PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts | |||
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Tournament information | |||
Dates | 17–25 November 2007 | ||
Venue | Wolverhampton Civic Hall | ||
Location | Wolverhampton | ||
Country | ![]() | ||
Organisation(s) | PDC | ||
Format | Legs | ||
Prize fund | £300,000 | ||
Winner's share | £80,000 | ||
High checkout | 170 ![]() | ||
Champion(s) | |||
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The 2007 PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts was the inaugural staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts, held by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament invited the best performing players from the PDC and its rival the British Darts Organisation. There had been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes. This tournament was the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom.
The 2007 tournament was staged at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England from 17–25 November 2007. Phil Taylor won the title, beating Andy Hamilton 18–11 in the final. In one of the early group matches which may not have stood out at the time, John Part narrowly beat Mark Webster 5–4 and less than two months later the two players became the World Champions of their respective organisations.
Format
The 32 players were split into eight groups of four players with the top two from each group qualifying for the last 16 knockout stages. Each player was therefore guaranteed three matches in the competition. Two points were awarded for a win. All group games were best of 9 legs, the second-round games were extended to best of 19 legs, the semi-finals best of 25 legs, and the final best of 35 legs.
Prize money
PartyPoker.net increased the prize fund for the event from the original announcement of £250,000 to £300,000 making it the second richest tournament in 2007 – ahead of both the Premier League and the BDO World Championship.[1]
Position (num. of players) | Prize money (Total: £300,000) | |
---|---|---|
Winner | (1) | £80,000 |
Runner-up | (1) | £35,000 |
Semi-finalists | (2) | £15,000 |
Quarter-finalists | (4) | £10,000 |
Last 16 (second round) | (8) | £6,000 |
Last 32 (group stage) | (16) | £4,000 |
Controversy
Controversy hit the tournament in May when it was confirmed by the BDO that the Winmau World Masters had been moved from its original dates of 26–28 October to a new date of 16–18 November,[2] clashing directly with the Grand Slam. This meant that players from the BDO were forced into a direct choice between competing at the Masters for valuable ranking points or taking their place at the Grand Slam for better prize money. BDO World Champion Martin Adams almost immediately confirmed that he would participate in the Masters, though he was the only BDO player to do so.[3] Adams went out in the quarter-finals of the World Masters meaning his pay cheque of £1,250 was significantly less than the £4,000 he would have received simply for turning up at the Grand Slam. Adams also declined the chance to compete in 2008, even though the two tournaments did not clash as the Masters was moved to December.
Qualifiers
The PDC Chairman Barry Hearn announced on 21 February 2007 that all major tournament finalists for the past two years from both the BDO and PDC will be invited to the event. Also World Championship semi-finalists from the same period would receive an invite.
The tournaments used for the qualifying criteria were the two World Championships, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Masters (2006 only), UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, Premier League, World Series of Darts, International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy with the field set at 32 players.
BDO players Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Shaun Greatbatch, Niels de Ruiter, Phill Nixon and Scott Waites all accepted invites to the event leaving Martin Adams (the BDO World Champion) as the only player to have rejected the opportunity to play.[4] He participated in the 2007 Winmau World Masters instead, losing at the quarter-final stage.
PDC
Tournament | Year | Position | Player | Qualifiers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PDC World Darts Championship | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Semi-finalists | ![]() ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Semi-finalists | ![]() ![]() | ||||
World Matchplay | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
World Grand Prix | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Las Vegas Desert Classic | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
UK Open | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
World Series of Darts | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
US Open | 2007 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Premier League Darts | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament. |
BDO
Tournament | Year | Position | Player | Qualifiers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BDO World Darts Championship | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Semi-finalists | ![]() ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Semi-finalists | ![]() ![]() | ||||
World Masters | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament. |
Defunct Tournaments
Tournament | Year | Position | Player | Qualifiers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
International Darts League | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
World Darts Trophy | 2006 | Winner | ![]() | ||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
2007 | Winner | ![]() | |||
Runner-up | ![]() | ||||
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament. |
Other qualifiers
[5]
Criteria | Player |
---|---|
Highest Ranked PDC Non-Qualifier | ![]() |
Highest Ranked BDO Non-Qualifier | ![]() |
Wildcard Qualifier | ![]() ![]() |
DPA Australia Open Winner | ![]() |
South African Open Winner | ![]() |
North American Order Of Merit Leader | ![]() |
Late Entry Highest PDC Non-Qualifiers | ![]() ![]() |
Draws
Group stages
All matches race-to-5/best of 9.
NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; RQ = Ranking qualifier; 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
17 November
18 November
19 November
| Group B
17 November
18 November
19 November
|
Group C
17 November
18 November
19 November
| Group D
17 November
18 November
19 November
|
Group E
17 November
18 November
20 November
| Group F
17 November
18 November
20 November
|
Group G
17 November
18 November
20 November
| Group H
17 November
18 November
20 November
|
Knockout stages
Second round (best of 19 legs) 21–22 November | Quarter-finals (best of 19 legs) 23 November | Semi-finals (best of 25 legs) 24 November | Final (best of 35 legs) 25 November | ||||||||||||||||
A1 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
B2 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
B2 | ![]() | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | ![]() | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | ![]() | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
D2 | ![]() | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
D2 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
D2 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
D1 | ![]() | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
D1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
C2 | ![]() | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | ![]() | 11 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | ![]() | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
F2 | ![]() | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
F1 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
F1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
E2 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | ![]() | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
G2 | ![]() | 11 | |||||||||||||||||
G1 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
H2 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
G1 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
G2 | ![]() | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
H1 | ![]() | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
G2 | ![]() | 10 |
Statistics
Player | Played | Legs Won | Legs Lost | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | High checkout | 3-dart average [6] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | 22 | 18 | 47 | 32 | 14 | 120 | 102.82 |
![]() | 4 | 21 | 19 | 60 | 25 | 6 | 150 | 96.44 |
![]() | 3 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 11 | 7 | 88 | 95.76 |
![]() | 3 | 7 | 15 | 33 | 6 | 4 | 157 | 86.62 |
![]() | 7 | 59 | 54 | 127 | 76 | 33 | 145 | 95.61 |
![]() | 3 | 10 | 11 | 22 | 20 | 3 | 96 | 92.16 |
![]() | 5 | 30 | 26 | 70 | 52 | 10 | 140 | 93.28 |
![]() | 3 | 6 | 15 | 25 | 14 | 1 | 68 | 85.83 |
![]() | 4 | 22 | 16 | 49 | 31 | 10 | 170 | 98.65 |
![]() | 3 | 13 | 10 | 31 | 13 | 4 | 116 | 83.49 |
![]() | 4 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 28 | 7 | 115 | 85.98 |
![]() | 3 | 2 | 15 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 98 | 79.15 |
![]() | 5 | 27 | 28 | 84 | 33 | 9 | 125 | 90.61 |
![]() | 6 | 45 | 31 | 114 | 45 | 23 | 161 | 97.68 |
![]() | 3 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 164 | 90.74 |
![]() | 3 | 8 | 14 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 76 | 87.40 |
![]() | 7 | 66 | 39 | 128 | 89 | 29 | 153 | 99.25 |
![]() | 3 | 8 | 12 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 65 | 86.57 |
![]() | 4 | 18 | 19 | 39 | 33 | 7 | 150 | 94.60 |
![]() | 3 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 13 | 4 | 134 | 86.48 |
![]() | 4 | 16 | 20 | 46 | 25 | 5 | 136 | 87.87 |
![]() | 3 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 141 | 90.84 |
![]() | 5 | 29 | 26 | 66 | 28 | 9 | 126 | 92.06 |
![]() | 3 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 17 | 2 | 117 | 95.81 |
![]() | 5 | 31 | 23 | 66 | 33 | 19 | 120 | 92.82 |
![]() | 6 | 42 | 33 | 99 | 67 | 22 | 158 | 97.50 |
![]() | 3 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 123 | 85.47 |
![]() | 3 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 21 | 2 | 81 | 89.57 |
![]() | 4 | 22 | 14 | 56 | 28 | 10 | 144 | 102.16 |
![]() | 4 | 20 | 20 | 57 | 30 | 8 | 78 | 96.14 |
![]() | 3 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 19 | 6 | 76 | 92.04 |
![]() | 3 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 96 | 87.77 |
Television coverage
The tournament was televised by ITV. The first afternoon session on 17 November, the Sunday afternoon session on 18 November, the semi-finals, and the final were all broadcast live on ITV1. The rest of the tournament was shown live on ITV4. It was ITV's first televised darts tournament since they ceased coverage of the Winmau World Masters in 1988 – although they did show the first Clash of Champions match between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 1999.[7]
The ITV Sport team consisted of lead presenter Matt Smith, analysts Steve Beaton and Alan Warriner-Little, and commentators John Rawling from ITV Boxing, Stuart Pyke from Sky Sports and Nigel Pearson of talkSPORT.
References
- ^ Sponsor confirmed Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
- ^ BDO confirm new date for the World Masters Archived 2007-08-06 at the Wayback Machine BDO
- ^ "Stuart Pyke website regarding Martin Adams withdrawal from event". Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ Anderson & Webster accept invites Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
- ^ Final two places to come from Order of Merit Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine Planet Darts
- ^ Tournament averages Darts Database
- ^ ITV agree to cover Grand Slam This is London
External links
- Announcement of tournament PlanetDarts.tv