The 2008 Stan James World Matchplay was the 15th annual staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament 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 Wor ...

. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, from 20–26 July 2008. World number three

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nine; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010. ...

went into the competition as the defending champion and managed to reach the final for the third year in a row, but was defeated by top seed Phil Taylor 18–9 who won his ninth World Matchplay championship.

Prize fund

A total of £300,000 was available for the players, divided based on the following performances:

Qualification

The qualification process for the World Matchplay differed this year. The top 16 in th
PDC Order of the Merit
after the

2008 UK Open The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC's UK Open darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tourna ...

qualified automatically as the 16 seeds. The other 16 places would be made up of the 16 highest ranked players (not already in the top 16) from th
2008 Players Championship Order of Merit
- decided by the various Player Championship events taking place on the

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

from January 2008 - the cutoff point was the Las Vegas Players Championship just before the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic. Thus, the participants were:

PDC Top 16

# Phil Taylor (winner) #

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he was ranked world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", he is a five-t ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

''(runner-up)'' #

John Part John Part (born 29 June 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator, who competes in World Seniors events. Nicknamed "Darth Maple", he is a three-time World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Champions ...

''(second round)'' #

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 a peak ranking of world number three in the darts world ranki ...

''(second round)'' #

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 turn ...

''(first round)'' #

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, West London. He was educa ...

''(first round)'' #

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. ...

''(first round)'' #

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English former professional darts player. He formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation events, where he was ranked world number one from April 2005 to January 2007 (except ...

''(first round)'' #

Wayne Mardle Wayne William Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He finished as the runner-up in three PDC majors, losing ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twice he ...

''(second round)'' #

Dennis Priestley Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He was ni ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

Alan Tabern Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is nicknamed "The Saint". Darts career A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

''(second round)'' #

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English former professional darts player who competes in World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. He competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments from 1992 to 2001, before switching to the Profession ...

''(first round)'' #

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won two ...

''(second round)''

PDPA Players Championship qualifiers

# Mervyn King ''(first round)'' # Chris Mason ''(first round)'' #

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) then Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is nicknamed the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used ...

''(first round)'' #

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957) is an English former professional darts player. He is nicknamed "The Heat" and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to c ...

''(first round)'' # Wayne Jones ''(first round)'' #

Mark Dudbridge Mark "Flash" Dudbridge (born 11 January 1973) is an English professional darts player. He appeared in the 2005 Premier League Darts after reaching the final of the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship. He also is a former World Master and has r ...

''(first round)'' # Andy Smith ''(first round)'' #

Kevin McDine Kevin McDine (born 23 May 1985) is an English professional darts player currently residing in Wallsend. Career In November 2004, McDine reached the last 16 of the JR & Vauxhall Holiday Park 128 Plus Classic. He improved on that performance b ...

''(quarter-finals)'' # Mark Walsh ''(second round)'' # Matt Clark ''(quarter-finals)'' #

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competes in World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. Nicknamed "the Bronzed Adonis", Beaton formerly formerly competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO), World Dart ...

''(first round)'' #

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...

''(second round)'' #

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player and convicted sex offender. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached t ...

''(second round)'' # Alex Roy ''(first round)'' #

Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executiv ...

''(first round)'' #

Adrian Gray Adrian Gray (born 28 February 1981) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Gray made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open. He only began playing darts at the age of 18, and within thr ...

Prize fund

Qualification

PDC Top 16

PDPA Players Championship qualifiers

Draw

Statistics

References