2008 Championship League Darts

The first group will consist of the top 8 players from the PDC Order of Merit who are available for the competition. These 8 players will play each other over the course of a day and receive points for their performance. A win will earn a player two points, whilst a draw will earn them 1 point. All matches will be contested over 10 legs with a player winning the match when the reach 6 legs or the match being declared a draw should the score reach 5–5. When all players have played each other, the four players with the most points will progress to the semi-finals with the winners of those matches progressing into the final.

The winner of the final will progress to the winners group which shall take place at the end of the competition. The runner-up, losing semi-finalists and the players finishing fifth and sixth will move into group two, where they will be joined by the next three players in the Order of Merit. The format of the second group will be the same as the first group with players moving into the third group. In total there will be 8 groups before the final group takes place.

This format ensures that all players who don't win the group or finish in the last two positions will have another chance to qualify for the winners group.

Players must have been in top 29 places in PDC Order of Merit following 2008 World Matchplay Darts in order to qualify. 31 places used because of Raymond Van Barneveld and John Part withdrawing.

PDC Order of Merit following 2008 World Matchplay Darts.

1. Phil Taylor | 2. Raymond van Barneveld | 3. James Wade | 4. John Part | 5. Terry Jenkins | 6. Wayne Mardle | 7. Adrian Lewis | 8. Andy Hamilton | 9. Colin Lloyd | 10. Roland Scholten | 11. Dennis Priestley | 12. Peter Manley | 13. Alan Tabern | 14. Ronnie Baxter | 15. Colin Osborne | 16. Kevin Painter | 17. Mervyn King | 18. Denis Ovens | 19. Mark Dudbridge | 20. Vincent van der Voort | 21. Chris Mason | 22. Kirk Shepherd | 23. Andy Jenkins | 24. Barrie Bates | 25. Andy Smith | 26. Mark Walsh | 27. Adrian Gray | 28. Wayne Jones | 29. Mick McGowan | 30. Alex Roy | 31. Wes Newton

Raymond van Barneveld, who is taking a two-month sabbatical from darts, and John Part, based in Canada, will not be competing in the tournament. Adrian Lewis will also enter in group 3, not group 1 as his ranking would suggest, because he has been suspended from playing in any PDC tournaments for two months following an altercation with Kevin Painter. Peter Manley is also entering the competition later than his ranking would suggest, for unknown reasons.

On 1 September it was announced that Dennis Priestley had withdrawn from group 2 due to his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer. As such he has been replaced in group 2 by Mervyn King. Subsequent group line-ups have also changed, with players from later groups being brought into earlier ones. Priestley hopes to return in time for group 7.^[2]

The prize money for the tournament is a unique concept with players winning a set amount of money for each leg that they win.

In groups 1 – 8 the prize money will be as follows:

• Group Matches – £50 per leg won
• Play-off Matches – £100 per leg won

In the winners group the prize money will be as follows:

• Group Matches – £100 per leg won
• Play-off Matches – £200 per leg won

In addition the winners group will have separate prizes for the winner, runner-up and losing semi-finalists. These prizes will breakdown as follows:

• Winner – £10,000 and a place in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts
• Runner-up – £5,000
• Losing Semi-finalists – £2,500 each

The following table shows the amount of prize money that has been won by each player.

Player	Group Legs won	Play-Off Legs won	Winners Group Legs won	Winners Play-Off Legs won	Final position money won*	Total money won
Phil Taylor	41	13	41	13	£10,000	£20,050
Mervyn King	72	18	31	11	£5,000	£15,700
Mark Walsh	111	25	38	5	£2,500	£15,350
Adrian Lewis	219	43	0	0	0	£15,250
Andy Hamilton	137	21	30	0	0	£11,950
Alan Tabern	70	18	33	4	£2,500	£11,900
Mark Dudbridge	142	16	27	0	0	£10,900
Colin Osborne	104	14	30	0	0	£9,600
Vincent van der Voort	102	22	21	0	0	£9,400
Kevin Painter	96	12	0	0	0	£6,000
Andy Smith	92	3	0	0	0	£4,900
James Wade	95	0	0	0	0	£4,750
Peter Manley	88	2	0	0	0	£4,600
Wayne Mardle	84	0	0	0	0	£4,200
Dennis Priestley	63	10	0	0	0	£4,150
Wayne Jones	65	4	0	0	0	£3,650
Barrie Bates	65	3	0	0	0	£3,550
Colin Lloyd	57	6	0	0	0	£3,450
Denis Ovens	45	4	0	0	0	£2,650
Kirk Shepherd	51	0	0	0	0	£2,550
Chris Mason	29	0	0	0	0	£1,450
Ronnie Baxter	28	0	0	0	0	£1,400
Alex Roy	28	0	0	0	0	£1,400
Wes Newton	27	0	0	0	0	£1,350
Mick McGowan	24	0	0	0	0	£1,200
Adrian Gray	22	0	0	0	0	£1,100
Terry Jenkins	19	0	0	0	0	£950
Andy Jenkins	18	0	0	0	0	£900
Roland Scholten	18	0	0	0	0	£900

*Final position money is awarded to the semi-finalists of the winners group (£2,500), the runner-up, (£5,000), and the overall winner (£10,000).

The tournament will take place over 9 days throughout September and October 2008. One group will be played on each day. The dates are as follows:

• Group 1 – Tuesday 2 September 2008
• Group 2 – Wednesday 3 September 2008
• Group 3 – Monday 22 September 2008
• Group 4 – Tuesday 23 September 2008
• Group 5 – Wednesday 24 September 2008
• Group 6 – Thursday 25 September 2008
• Group 7 – Tuesday 21 October 2008
• Group 8 – Wednesday 22 October 2008
• Winners Group – Thursday 23 October 2008

The tournament will take place at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex.

The groups are as follows:

Note: Bold indicates group winner, italics indicate the eliminated players. In groups 1–7, players are eliminated for finishing in the bottom two of the league, in group 8 and the Winners Group players are eliminated for failing to win outright.

Winners Group

• Phil Taylor
• Alan Tabern
• Mervyn King
• Andy Hamilton
• Colin Osborne
• Vincent van der Voort
• Mark Dudbridge
• Mark Walsh