2007 Blue Square UK Open | |||
---|---|---|---|
Tournament information | |||
Dates | 7β10 June 2007 | ||
Venue | Reebok Stadium | ||
Location | Bolton | ||
Country | ![]() | ||
Organisation(s) | PDC | ||
Format | Legs Final β best of 31 | ||
Prize fund | Β£150,000 | ||
Winner's share | Β£30,000 | ||
Nine-dart finish | ![]() | ||
High checkout | 170 ![]() | ||
Champion(s) | |||
![]() | |||
|
The 2007 Blue Square UK Open was the: fifth year of theββPDC's UK Open darts tournament where, "following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain," players competed in a single elimination tournamentββto be, "crowned champion." The tournament took place at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England, between 7β10 June 2007. Blue Square took over as title sponsor after Budweiser's three-year deal expired.
There were two changes being introduced this year where a tournament bracket was introduced from the quarter-final stageββto prevent players being forced into playing long back-to-back matches. Previously there had been a random draw after each round. And the tournament had earned the nickname the "FA Cup of darts" as a result. The number of players was expanded from 128 to 168 for the "2007 tournament." But due to players tied on 168th position in the Order of Merit the starting field was 176 players.
Raymond van Barneveld defended his title, by, defeating fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort 16β8 in the final.
Prize moneyβ»
Stage (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: Β£150,000) | |
---|---|---|
Winner | (1) | Β£30,000 |
Runner-Up | (1) | Β£15,000 |
Semi-finalists | (2) | Β£8,500 |
Quarter-finalists | (4) | Β£4,000 |
Last 16 (fifth round) | (8) | Β£2,000 |
Last 32 (fourth round) | (16) | Β£1,500 |
Last 64 (third round) | (32) | Β£1,000 |
Last 96 (second round) | (32) | n/a |
Last 128 (first round) | (32) | n/a |
Last 160 (preliminary round) | (32) | n/a |
Nine-dart finish | (1) | Β£15,000 |
Formatβ»
Qualifying events are held at Punch Taverns pubs across the UK β winners from each pub event progress to one of four Regional Finals, to be staged in their relevant area. Players who reach the final eight in the Regional Finals will qualify for the televised stages of the UK Open in Bolton.
In addition there are eight UK Open Regional Finals for the "professional" players. All events are open to all darts players on payment of an entry fee β which means that players from both the PDC and BDO are eligible to enter. Players who enter through the Punch Taverns Qualifying round are not eligible to play in the regional qualifying events and "vice versa."
The results of the eight qualifiers are then collated into an Order of Merit table (winner Β£4000; runner-up Β£2000; 3β4 Β£1000; 5β8 Β£500; 9β16 Β£250; 17β32 Β£100; 33β64 Β£50). This was raised to winner Β£5000; runner-up Β£2500; 3β4 Β£1250; 5β8 Β£600; 9β16 Β£300; 17β32 Β£150; 33β64 Β£75 from January 2007. The top 128 players (plus ties) in this Order of Merit join the 32 Punch Taverns qualifiers at the televised stages in Bolton.
The format for the event changes in 2007 to allow the tournament to expand by an extra day. And increase the number of players in the field.
- Day 1, Preliminary round β best of 15 legs
16 Matches drawn from a pool of 32 Punch Taverns Qualifiers and the 31 players with Β£50/Β£75 in UK Open Order of Merit
- 1st round β best of 15 legs
32 Matches with 16 Preliminary round survivors, the remaining 31 players who were not drawn in Preliminary round and players ranked 97β113 in UK Open Order of Merit
- Day 2, 2nd round β best of 15 legs
Players ranked 65 to 96 join the first round winners.
- 3rd round β best of 15 legs
Players ranked 33 to 64 join the second round winners.
- Day 3, 4th round β best of 21 legs
Players ranked in the top 32 join the third round winners.
- 5th round β best of 21 legs
Last 32 of competition
- 6th round β best of 21 legs
Last 16 of competition followed by draw for quarter-finals in bracket form to avoid players being drawn in consecutive matches.
- Day 4, Quarter-finals β best of 21 legs
- Semi-finals β best of 21 legs
- Final β best of 31 legs
UK Open Regional Final resultsβ»
The UK Open Order of Merit was based on the results of the eight qualifying events across the UK. The eight final results were:-
- 24 September 2006 (Wales) Phil Taylor 2β1 Adrian Lewis
- 22 October (Ireland) Raymond van Barneveld 2β1 Colin Lloyd
- 5 November (Scotland) Raymond van Barneveld 2β0 Barrie Bates
- 6 January 2007 (North-East) Raymond van Barneveld 2β0 Roland Scholten
- 11 February (South-West) Dennis Priestley 2β0 James Wade
- 4 March (South) Phil Taylor 2β0 Wayne Mardle
- 18 March (North-West) James Wade 2β0 Terry Jenkins
- 1 April (Midlands) Andy Hamilton 2β0 James Wade
Resultsβ»
Collated results from later stages:-
Fourth roundβ»
- Board One
Chris Mason 4β11 Mervyn King
Tony Eccles 8β11 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Manley 3β11 Phil Taylor
John MaGowan 1β11 Raymond van Barneveld
- Board Two
Barrie Bates 9β11 Adrian Lewis
Roland Scholten 5β11 James Wade
Dennis Smith 4β11 Colin Lloyd
Wayne Mardle 7β11 Denis Ovens
- Board Three
Kevin Painter 11β6 Nigel Birch
Kevin McDine 7β11 Alan Green
Wayne Jones 11β4 Gary Spedding
Darren Johnson 6β11 Brendan Dolan
- Board Four
John Part 11-7 Garrett Gray
Steve Hine 11β1 Alan Tabern
Richie Burnett 11β9 Jelle Klaasen
Colin Osborne 11β10 Steve Maish
- Board Five
Terry Jenkins 11β8 Andy Roberts
Andy Smith 11β9 Robbie Green
Dennis Priestley 11β5 Mick McGowan
Mark Dudbridge 11β8 Simon Whatley
- Board Six
Sam Rooney 11β6 Gary Welding
Wayne Atwood 7β11 Andy Callaby
Owen Caffrey 11β6 Jason Clark
Vincent van der Voort 11β5 John Kuczynski
- Board Seven
Steve Beaton 7β11 Adrian Gray
Mark Holden 11β8 Andy Jenkins
Alex Roy 11β5 Lee Palfreyman
Andy Hamilton 7β11 Darren Webster
- Board Eight
Colin Monk 11β8 Tony Randell
Steve Smith 11β8 Alan Reynolds
David Platt 11β7 Mark Lawrence
Wes Newton 11β8 Jimmy Mann
5th Round best of 21 legs losers Β£1,500 | 6th Round best of 21 legs losers Β£2,000 | Quarter-finals best of 21 legs losers Β£4,000 | Semi-finals best of 21 legs losers Β£8,500 | Final best of 31 legs winner Β£30,000 Runner-up Β£15,000 | |||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 3 | v der Voort | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Burnett | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 6 | v der Voort 80.68 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | T. Jenkins 86.25 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 3 | T. Jenkins | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Dudbridge | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | v der Voort 89.17 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Osborne 89.19 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | Osborne | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | King | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 5 | Osborne 89.86 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | A. Green 85.39 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | A. Green | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Webster | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | Vincent van der Voort 88.76 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Raymond van Barneveld 94.99 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | v Barneveld | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | W. Jones | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 6 | v Barneveld 96.08 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Taylor 97.14 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 5 | Taylor | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Priestley | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | v Barneveld 102.82 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Lloyd 95.23 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | Lloyd | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Painter | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | Lloyd 94.90 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Hine 84.82 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 6 | Hine | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | Monk | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 |
Random draws were made after each round up to the quarter-final stage; draw bracket has been compiled retrospectively.
Tournament Reviewβ»
Day One β Thursday 7 June 2007β»
The first round was played on Thursday and featured 81 players competing for a place in the second round. Winmau World Masters champion Michael van Gerwen, playing his first match on Sky Television in the UK, beat 37-year-old Chris McTernan a pub qualifier from Bacup. Former World Champion Richie Burnett and Cliff Lazarenko also played on the opening day β both progressing to the second round.
Day Two β Friday 8 June 2007β»
There were very few shocks on day two of the tournament, although former world champions Bob Anderson and Keith Deller, who were both struggling for form, were both knocked out. Cliff Lazarenko's run in the event ended in the third round. The draw for the fourth round, featuring the top 32 players in the world was staged at the end of Friday's play.
Day Three β Saturday 9 June 2007β»
64 players remained when matches got underway on Saturday afternoon, after a late night on Friday. Raymond Barneveld would book a place in Round 5 with an 11β1 win over John "Mr. Magoo" MaGowan, who he defeated 11β7 in the Semi-finals twelve months ago. It was a different story against John Part with less doubles hit for Barney (compared to 80% against MaGowan). Part led 10β9, but van Barneveld squeezed through to hit double 16 and edge a great match 11β10.
Phil Taylor achieved his third nine dart finish at Bolton in the fifth round against Wes Newton β it is: also his fifth televised perfect game. Taylor was playing on the second main stage and whilst his match was in progress Colin Osborne was on his way to an 11β7 victory against Michael van Gerwen, including 170 finish within moments of Taylor hitting the nine-darter. Osborne also saw off Mervyn King 11β10 β his second deciding leg victory of the day to reach the quarter-finals. Kevin Painter came within one dart of matching Phil Taylor's nine-darter missing double 12 for the finish which would have been the first time that a tournament had witnessed two nine-darters on the same day.
The draw for the final day's matches took place at the end of Saturday's play and the quarter-final line-up featured a repeat of the previous year's quarter-final between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld.
Day Four β Sunday 10 June 2007β»
The tournament reached the quarter-finals stage and the first match on the main board saw Vincent van der Voort come from 0β5 behind to edge out Premier League finalist Terry Jenkins 11β10 to reach his first PDC semi-final. Colin Osborne beat Alan Green 11β6 on board two. Colin Lloyd followed on board two with another comeback, having been 0β4 behind he beat Steve Hine 11β6.
The clash between the world's top two ranked players ended with a convincing victory for Raymond van Barneveld against Phil Taylor. Van Barneveld won four successive legs from 3β2 up and then further extended his lead to 9β3. Taylor took the 13th leg when he took out 182 with a usual combination of a maximum 180 and double one on his next visit. But van Barneveld won the next leg to win 11β4 and give Taylor one of his heaviest defeats on television.
Vincent van der Voort produced a second successive 11β10 win to reach the final by beating Colin Osborne in the semi-final whilst defending champion Raymond van Barneveld had a more comfortable win 11β4 over Colin Lloyd β meaning he'd beaten his two rivals in the top three of the world rankings on the same day. In the final, van Barneveld raced to a 4β0 win hitting his double on the first attempt each time before van der Voort managed to get two legs on the scoreboard. Van Barneveld then took the next four legs, then further extended his lead to 13β5. Van der Voort tried to stay with van Barneveld and took three of the next five legs. But a double top in the 24th leg sealed a second successive UK Open title for van Barneveld.
Referencesβ»
- ^ "2007 UK Open Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "UK Open 2007 β Bracket". Mastercaller. Retrieved 6 February 2024.