2008 World Championship

The 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes, was the 15th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The 2008 event began on December 17, 2007 (a tradition for the event to begin in the previous calendar year) and the final was played on New Year’s Day for the second year in succession. There was no play on December 23, 24, 25 and 31st. [1]

John Part won his third World Championship, joining Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the only people to have won more than two world titles. He also became only one of two players to have won the PDC World Darts Championship more than once, along with Taylor. He beat the qualifier Kirk Shepherd 7-2 in the final.

Raymond van Barneveld was the defending champion having won the PDC World Championship at the first attempt in an epic final against Phil Taylor in 2007. He was knocked out in the third round with a 4-2 loss to Kevin Painter.

Phil Taylor failed to reach the final of the competition, for the first time in PDC World Championship history, after losing 5-4 to Wayne Mardle in the quarter-finals.

After being staged at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet for 14 years, the tournament moved to the Alexandra Palace in London.[2] The championships had been considered to have outgrown the Circus Tavern whose capacity of 800-900 spectators was considerably smaller than some Holsten Premier League darts events in 2007 which saw crowds reaching 5,000. The Alexandra Palace was the venue of the News of the World Darts Championship between 1963 and 1977 and boasts a capacity for 2008 of 2,500.

First Round

Phil Taylor 3-2 Michael van Gerwen
Adrian Gray 2-3 Mark Walsh
Andy Jenkins 3-2 Miloslav Navratil
Alan Tabern 3-1 Per Laursen
Roland Scholten 3-2 Matt Clark
Mervyn King 3-2 Michael Rosenauer
Wayne Mardle 3-2 Ray Carver
Wes Newton 0-3 Jamie Caven
Peter Manley 3-2 Toon Greebe
Alan Warriner-Little 3-1 Shi Yongsheng
Colin Lloyd 2-3 Jan van der Rassel
Denis Ovens 3-0 Colin Monk
Terry Jenkins 2-3 Kirk Shepherd
Mick McGowan 3-0 Jason Barry
Barrie Bates 3-0 Gerry Convery
Colin Osborne 1-3 Erwin Extercatte
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Anthony Forde
Bob Anderson 2-3 Jason Clark
Kevin Painter 3-0 Gary Mawson
Chris Mason 3-1 Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Dave Askew
Vincent van der Voort 3-2 Jelle Klaasen
Dennis Priestley 1-3 Steve Maish
Wayne Jones 0-3 Tony Eccles
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Leroy Kwadijk
Alex Roy 3-2 Warren Parry
John Part 3-1 Charles Losper
Andy Smith 2-3 Mensur Suljovic
James Wade 3-0 Steve MacArthur
Steve Beaton 3-0 Steve Evans
Ronnie Baxter 3-2 Dan Olson
Mark Dudbridge 3-1 Steve Hine

Second Round

Taylor 4 - 3 Walsh
A Jenkins 0 - 4 Tabern
Scholten 4 - 2 King
Mardle 4 - 1 Caven
Manley 4 - 1 Warriner-Little
v.d. Rassel 4 - 1 Ovens
Shepherd 4 - 1 McGowan
Bates 4 - 3 Extercatte
Barneveld 4 - 1 Clark
Painter 4 - 0 Mason
Lewis 4 - 2 v.d. Voort
Maish 3 - 4 Eccles
Hamilton 1 - 4 Roy
Part 4 - 1 Suljovic
Wade 4 - 3 Beaton
Baxter 2 - 4 Dudbridge

Third Round

Taylor 4 - 3 Tabern
Scholten 3 - 4 Mardle
Manley 4 - 1 v.d Rassel
Sheperd 4 - 2 Bates
Barneveld 2 - 4 Painter
Lewis 4 - 3 Eccles
Roy 0 - 4 Part
Wade 4 - 2 Dudbridge

Quarter Finals

Taylor 4 - 5 Mardle
Manley 4 - 5 Shepherd
Painter 5 - 2 Lewis
Part 5 - 4 Wade

Semi Finals

Mardle 4 - 6 Shepherd
Painter 2 - 6 Part

Final

Shepherd 2 - 7 Part
-wikipedia