The 2008 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The prize money was increased by £75,000 compared to 2007. The overall fund was £340,000 with the eventual winner taking home £100,000.
Phil Taylor continued his dominance of this tournament by taking the title for the fourth year in a row despite losing for the first time in 44 matches, losing the opening game 8–6 to newcomer James Wade and going on to lose twice more in his first four matches. Taylor beat Wade 16–8 in the final.
Sky Sports secured television coverage of the event until 2010, and Whyte & Mackay sponsored the tournament for the same duration – taking over from Holsten who sponsored the event in 2006 and 2007.Whyte & Mackay sign three year sponsorship deal planetdarts.tv
Qualifiers The World Grand Prix in October 2007 was the cut-off point for automatic qualification for the event. The top six players in the World Rankings after the tournament received an automatic place in the Premier League. The qualifiers were thus:
Phil Taylor Raymond van Barneveld James Wade Terry Jenkins Peter Manley Adrian Lewis John Part (PDC wildcard) Wayne Mardle (Sky Sports wildcard)
Venues Fifteen venues were used for the 2008 Premier League, including a first trip to Northern Ireland for a night in Belfast.
Glasgow Plymouth Manchester Coventry Bournemouth SECC31 January Plymouth Pavilions7 February MEN Arena14 February Ricoh Arena21 February Bournemouth International Centre28 February Nottingham Sheffield Brighton Birmingham Aberdeen Trent FM Arena6 March Sheffield Arena13 March Brighton Centre20 March National Indoor Arena27 March AECC3 April Liverpool London Belfast Newcastle Cardiff Echo Arena Liverpool10 April Wembley Arena17 April Odyssey Arena24 April Metro Radio Arena1 May Cardiff International Arena26 May
Prize money The prize fund increases for 2008 – with the top prize of £100,000 matching the amount that the 2008 PDC World Champion received. The guaranteed prize for reaching the Premier League is now £20,000.
Stage Prize money Winner £100,000 Runner-up £50,000 Semi-finalists (x2) £40,000 5th place £27,500 6th place £25,000 7th place £22,500 8th place £20,000 High Checkout (per night) £1,000 Total £340,000
Results League stage
31 January – week 1 SECC, Glasgow
PlayerLegsPlayer 91.24 8 – 4 Wayne Mardle 90.91 Adrian Lewis 87.97 8 – 5 Terry Jenkins 86.76 Peter Manley 90.90 7 – 7 John Part 94.33 Phil Taylor 93.76 6 – 8 James Wade 94.77 High Checkout: John Part 157
7 February – week 2 Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth
PlayerLegsPlayer John Part 91.81 4 – 8 94.34 James Wade 88.29 8 – 6 Terry Jenkins 89.34 Phil Taylor 95.71 8 – 4 Adrian Lewis 96.79 Peter Manley 94.47 7 – 7 Wayne Mardle 96.12 High Checkout: Terry Jenkins 104
14 February – week 3 MEN Arena, Manchester
PlayerLegsPlayer Terry Jenkins 96.49 8 – 5 Phil Taylor 96.76 96.58 8 – 4 Peter Manley 91.56 Wayne Mardle 91.35 6 – 8 John Part 95.90 Adrian Lewis 93.81 7 – 7 James Wade 92.09 High Checkout: Adrian Lewis 146
21 February – Week 4 Ricoh Arena, Coventry
PlayerLegsPlayer John Part 88.57 4 – 8 James Wade 96.51 Wayne Mardle 84.92 6 – 8 Adrian Lewis 91.70 Peter Manley 102.02 8 – 3 Phil Taylor 94.96 Terry Jenkins 92.51 8 – 5 91.88 High Checkout: Terry Jenkins 156
28 February – Week 5 Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth
PlayerLegsPlayer Adrian Lewis 84.17 7 – 7 Peter Manley 85.70 Phil Taylor 96.97 8 – 0 Wayne Mardle 88.43 James Wade 89.54 6 – 8 91.09 John Part 95.66 2 – 8 Terry Jenkins 98.28 High Checkout: Peter Manley 160
6 March – Week 6 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham
PlayerLegsPlayer Wayne Mardle 91.92 7 – 7 James Wade 92.61 Adrian Lewis 85.58 6 – 8 John Part 85.20 Terry Jenkins 93.28 7 – 7 Peter Manley 87.75 94.10 3 – 8 Phil Taylor 111.14 High Checkout: Phil Taylor 167
13 March – Week 7 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield
PlayerLegsPlayer Wayne Mardle 88.68 8 – 5 Terry Jenkins 91.08 James Wade 97.60 8 – 5 Peter Manley 91.53 93.42 8 – 2 Adrian Lewis 87.64 Phil Taylor 107.39 8 – 3 John Part 102.74 High Checkout: Phil Taylor 164
20 March – Week 8 Brighton Centre, Brighton
PlayerLegsPlayer Terry Jenkins 96.43 3 – 8 Adrian Lewis 101.81 Wayne Mardle 94.88 8 – 5 94.78 John Part 96.68 8 – 5 Peter Manley 90.88 James Wade 102.13 4 – 8 Phil Taylor 104.45 High Checkout: Phil Taylor 164
27 March – Week 9 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
PlayerLegsPlayer Terry Jenkins 88.63 4 – 8 James Wade 101.77 93.38 8 – 6 John Part 89.33 Wayne Mardle 89.30 8 – 5 Peter Manley 90.90 Phil Taylor 101.41 7 – 7 Terry Jenkins 92.46 High Checkout: Wayne Mardle 114 † = Terry Jenkins replaced Adrian Lewis on 27 March show against Phil Taylor because Lewis was too ill to play. The next week, Lewis played his match against Taylor and James Wade, giving Jenkins the night off.
3 April – week 10 AECC, Aberdeen
PlayerLegsPlayer Adrian Lewis 89.11 3 – 8 Phil Taylor 104.38 Peter Manley 88.99 8 – 6 93.40 John Part 94.89 5 – 8 Wayne Mardle 98.35 James Wade 103.15 8 – 1 Adrian Lewis 76.09 High Checkout: James Wade 121
10 April – week 11 Echo Arena, Liverpool
PlayerLegsPlayer James Wade 101.45 8 – 5 Wayne Mardle 97.57 John Part 92.33 2 – 8 Adrian Lewis 98.96 Peter Manley 102.96 8 – 5 Terry Jenkins 98.74 Phil Taylor 103.02 8 – 2 94.96 High Checkout: Adrian Lewis 170
17 April – week 12 Wembley Arena, London
PlayerLegsPlayer Terry Jenkins 83.84 7 – 7 Wayne Mardle 85.61 Peter Manley 89.67 6 – 8 James Wade 92.61 Adrian Lewis 96.25 4 – 8 92.59 John Part 103.66 3 – 8 Phil Taylor 111.74 High Checkout: Phil Taylor 139
24 April – week 13 Odyssey Arena, Belfast
PlayerLegsPlayer Peter Manley 89.79 7 – 7 Adrian Lewis 91.04 Wayne Mardle 85.54 1 – 8 Phil Taylor 107.21 98.81 8 – 6 James Wade 93.86 Terry Jenkins 93.13 5 – 8 John Part 92.50 High Checkout: Terry Jenkins 161
1 May – week 14 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
PlayerLegsPlayer James Wade 95.32 8 – 5 John Part 97.68 93.51 8 – 1 Terry Jenkins 81.16 Adrian Lewis 92.23 7 – 7 Wayne Mardle 87.75 Phil Taylor 107.21 8 – 1 Peter Manley 101.59 High Checkout: Phil Taylor 167
Play-offs – 26 May Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
Score Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) Phil Taylor 112.68 11 – 1 Adrian Lewis 97.33 James Wade 89.62 11 – 8 Raymond van Barneveld 90.65 Final (best of 31 legs) Phil Taylor 108.36 16 – 8 James Wade 100.14 High Checkout: n/a
Table and Streaks Table PosNamePldWDLPtsLFLA+/-LWAT100+140+180sAHC 1 Phil Taylor W 14 10 1 3 2110155 +46 31 20813346102.58167 2 James Wade RU 14 9 2 3 2010276 +26 40 2551454295.84161 3 14 9 0 5 189377 +16 37 2131113593.77157 4 Adrian Lewis 14 4 4 6 128092 −12 30 1971023890.94170 5 Wayne Mardle 14 4 4 6 128296 −14 31 2181393290.76123 6 Peter Manley 14 3 5 6 118597 −12 30 2881472192.84160 7 Terry Jenkins 14 3 3 8 97997 −18 23 2691092891.72161 8 John Part 14 4 1 9 973101 −28 28 1901163194.38157
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.
Streaks Player Week Play-offs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 SF F colspan =2 colspan =2 James Wade colspan =2 colspan =2 Raymond van Barneveld colspan =2 colspan =2 rowspan=2 Adrian Lewis colspan=2 Wayne Mardle colspan =2 colspan =2 rowspan=4 colspan=2 Peter Manley colspan =2 colspan =2 Terry Jenkins colspan=2 John Part colspan =2 colspan =2 NB: W = Won D = Drawn L = Lost N/A = Did Not Play
Player statistics The following statistics are for the league stage only. Playoffs are not included.
Phil Taylor Longest unbeaten run: 10 Most consecutive wins: 5 Most consecutive draws: 1 Most consecutive losses: 2 Longest without a win: 2 Biggest victory: 8-0 (v. Wayne Mardle) Biggest defeat: 3-8 (v. Peter Manley)
James Wade Longest unbeaten run: 4 Most consecutive wins: 4 Most consecutive draws: 1 Most consecutive losses: 1 Longest without a win: 2 Biggest victory: 8-1 (v. Adrian Lewis) Biggest defeat: 4-8 (v. Phil Taylor)
Raymond van Barneveld Longest unbeaten run: 3 Most consecutive wins: 3 Most consecutive draws: 0 Most consecutive losses: 2 Longest without a win: 2 Biggest victory: 8-1 (v. Terry Jenkins) Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Phil Taylor)
Adrian Lewis Longest unbeaten run: 3 Most consecutive wins: 1 Most consecutive draws: 2 Most consecutive losses: 2 Longest without a win: 3 Biggest victory: 8-2 (v. John Part) Biggest defeat: 1-8 (v. James Wade)
Wayne Mardle Longest unbeaten run: 5 Most consecutive wins: 4 Most consecutive draws: 1 Most consecutive losses: 3 Longest without a win: 6 Biggest victory: 8-5 (v. Terry Jenkins, v. Raymond van Barneveld, v. Peter Manley and v. John Part) Biggest defeat: 0-8 (v. Phil Taylor)
Peter Manley Longest unbeaten run: 3 Most consecutive wins: 2 Most consecutive draws: 2 Most consecutive losses: 3 Longest without a win: 5 Biggest victory: 8-3 (v. Phil Taylor) Biggest defeat: 1-8 (v. Phil Taylor)
Terry Jenkins Longest unbeaten run: 4 Most consecutive wins: 3 Most consecutive draws: 1 Most consecutive losses: 3 Longest without a win: 9 Biggest victory: 8-2 (v. John Part) Biggest defeat: 1-8 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)
John Part Longest unbeaten run: 1 Most consecutive wins: 1 Most consecutive draws: 1 Most consecutive losses: 4 Longest without a win: 4 Biggest victory: 8-5 (v. Peter Manley and v. Terry Jenkins) Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Terry Jenkins and v. Adrian Lewis)
References
External links PDC confirm 2008 – 2010 Premier League Fixtures 2008 planetdarts