The 2008 US Open is the second year of a darts tournament, organized by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC). It was played at the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort, Connecticut,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

between May 16 and May 18, 2008. Phil Taylor successfully defended his title.

Television coverage and format

The event was broadcast on Nuts TV in the UK from the last 16 onwards. The tournament was open to

PDPA PDPA can refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan – a communist party * Personal Data Protection Act 2012 – a Singapore law governing the use and protection of personal data *Professional Dart Players Association – a trade associ ...

members and citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The elimination tournament was played down to the last 16 on the Friday and the last 16 played off on Saturday. The quarter-finals onwards took place on Sunday. In addition, the PDC also staged the $50,000 North American Darts Championship on the 16th and 17 May.

Tournament Review

Friday 16th May

Five American players made it through to the last 16 as there were a series of shock results on the opening day of the event. The biggest shock was when

Gary Mawson Gary Mawson (born May 17, 1963) is a Canadian-born American professional darts player. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. Mawson played darts for the USA in 2004 and the years immediately following, having previously pl ...

beat world number one and five-time former World Champion,

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

in the last 32. Current World Champion, John Part went out in round two to Roger Carter who also progressed to the last 16. Bill Davis beat

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

to reach Saturday's main stage competition.

David Fatum David "Dave" Fatum (born August 4, 1968, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia) is a Canadian-American professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Scorpion. He is not a full-time professional an ...

and Ray Carver completed the American line-up of five in the last 16. World number four,

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

also suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of

Paul Lim Paul Lim Leong Hwa (born 25 January 1954) is a Singaporean professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect nine-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round ...

, the man who achieved the first ever World Championship nine darter in 1990. World number seven, Andy Hamilton, was beaten in the third round by Buddy Lessig. Number three seed,

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

withdrew from the event due to illness. Out of the top 8 seeds, only two, Phil Taylor and

Roland Scholten Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turne ...

, made it to the last 16.

Saturday 17th May

The fifth round action opened with

being the first player and first American to reach the quarter finals, beating out fellow countryman Bill Davis. Davis however did save some face with a 164 checkout, the highest of the night. Roger Carter was another American player to lose out, to Chris Mason. Mark Dudbridge also put on an impressive display in beating Dave Honey in straight sets. Veteran Dennis Priestley moved into the quarters, dropping only one leg against Adrian Gray. Phil Taylor continued his imposing form, averaging 107 against Colin Osborne, who did take a set out of 'The Power'. American

, who had earlier knocked out the number one seed

, lost 3–1 to Blackpool's Ronnie Baxter, and

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English retired professional darts player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the ...

also looked to be in menacing form, not dropping a leg against world number eight

. The biggest shock of the night came with America's Ray Carver beating Wayne Mardle 3–1 in a high quality match including a 131 checkout from Carver.

Results

Total Prize Fund £126,000 (unchanged from 2007) Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

Earlier rounds

Preliminary round

: Jerry Hall 3–0 Kurt Tyson :

Joe Chaney Joe Chaney is an American darts player playing mainly in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Career In 2017, Chaney reached the Last 80 of the World Masters and Last 32 of the BDO World Trophy. He qualified for the 2018 BDO World Darts ...

3–0 Michael Mitchell

First round

Second round

Third round

Losers £1,000

Fourth round

Losers £1,500

North American Darts Championship

For the first time the PDC staged a large tournament available only to citizens and Green Card holders from the USA and Canada. The tournament was worth $50,000, with $15,000 going to the winner. It was played separately from the US Open on the 16th and 17 May, though players could enter for both tournaments. Darin Young, who had been knocked out in the first round of the US Open, emerged the victor. On the first night the main shock was the defeat of World Champion and number one seed John Part, who was beaten by Buddy Lessig in the third round. The number two seed, Gerry Convery, also lost in the second round to

. Leading American and third seed Ray Carver was defeated in the fifth round by

Brad Wethington Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

and

John Kuczynski John Kuczynski (born October 16, 1973 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania) is a former American professional darts player. He currently resides in Zion Grove, Pennsylvania and used the nickname Johnny K for his matches. Career For five years running ...

was beaten in the quarters by

Brian Blake Brian Ernest Blake (born August 26, 1960) is an American logger, forester, and politician who served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing the 19th district from 2002 to 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Part ...

. The second night saw the semi-finals and final being played out. Number eight seed Darin Young beat out Bill Davis in a close 7–5 game in the first semi-final, while

just beat Chris White in a 7–6 affair. The final followed suit. Wethington missed a dart to win the title before Young came back to win 8–7 and claim the title. Young said it was 'the biggest win of iscareer'. That moment was dubbed the 'most interesting' part of the Championship.

References

External links

Planet Darts US Open news
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Us Open Darts US Open (darts)

US Open Darts The US Open was a United States darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which launched in May 2007. It replaced the World Series of Darts which ran for one year and was cancelled as a result of poor television rat ...