17 –
Phil Taylor wins his second tournament of the month by capturing the Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship in
Gibraltar. He picked up the £6,000 first prize by coming from 2–1 down, winning the last five legs consecutively to beat
Alan Tabern 6–2.
Mark Walsh also picked up a £1,600 prize for a nine-darter against
Jamie Caven, in a match he won 6–5.[8]
18 –
Phil Taylor completes the
Gibraltar double, by beating
Mark Dudbridge 6–1 in the final of the Stan James.com Players Championship.[9] In the BDO, Richard Marcotte wins the category B Quebec Open beating Martin Tremblay to pick up the $2400 first prize.
24 – Garrett Gray of the
Republic of Ireland wins the Gwynedd Open, defeating Derek Williams 5–3 in legs in the final. Also on the day, Jenni Tulley and Craig Baxter win the Scottish Mixed Pairs Championship in
Bannockburn, beating
Paul Hanvidge and Louise Hepburn 3–0 in the final.
25 – In the BDO,
Kevin Münch wins the men's German Gold Cup defeating
Jan Dekker 3 sets to 1 in the final. In the women's event,
Irina Armstrong beats
Karin Krappen 2–1 to retain the title. Elsewhere,
Wes Newton claims the men's Las Vegas Open title defeating Brian Blake 4 legs to 0 in the final and in the women's event,
Canada's Robin Curry wins 4–3 against American Cali West.
31 – Scott Mitchell wins the Eastbourne Classic, beating Steve Douglas 3–0 in legs, in the final. In the women's event,
Trina Gulliver beat Rhonda West 3–0 in legs.
8 –
Darryl Fitton wins the Dutch Open, in
Veldhoven beating
Willy van de Wiel by 3–2 in sets. In the women's event,
Trina Gulliver wins 5–3 in legs over
Wales'
Julie Gore. Meanwhile, in the pairs events, Holland's Gino Vos and Rico Dera beat
Brian Woods and Robbie Green 2–1 in sets to win the men's and in the women's, Gulliver teamed up with her good friend
Francis Hoenselaar to win 5–1 in legs over Gore and Welsh teammate Jan Robbins.
14 – Gino Vos wins the WDF-ranked Dortmund Open, beating Ronny Huybrechts three sets to one in the final. In the women's event, Michelle Sossong wins her first tournament, beating
Carla Molema by two sets to nil.
16 –
Roland Scholten has surgery on his injured shoulder which has seen his form dip and his ranking tumble outside the top 16.[15]
19 –
Mervyn King continued his impressive start to his maiden
Premier League Darts campaign, with an 8–2 win over
John Part as the Premier League circus moved to
Coventry's
Ricoh Arena for week three.[16] He has now won his first three matches dropping just four legs in the process. In the other matches,
Phil Taylor's 100% start was ended when he drew 7–7 with
Terry Jenkins – having been as far back as 6–4. James Wade averaged nearly 108 in beating
Raymond van Barneveld 8–4 in the second match on – a repeat of their semi-final meeting at the
2009 PDC World Darts Championship and
Wayne Mardle won a hard-fought match with
Jelle Klaasen 8–6, with Hawaii 5–0–1 picking up top checkout prize for the second week running.
21 –
2002 BDO World ChampionTony David was rushed to hospital for an emergency liver transplant. The operation was successful although he remains in an intensive care unit.
26 –
James Wade inflicted the first defeat of the 2009 season on
Phil Taylor with a fantastic 8–4 win over the fourteen-time world champion during week four's action at
Belfast's
Odyssey Arena in the Premier League.[17] Wade's victory was made even sweeter by his 138 finish – the
Deller checkout – to win the match. In the other matches,
Mervyn King continued his 100% start with an 8–4 win over
Jelle Klaasen,
John Part thrashed
Wayne Mardle 8–1 and
Raymond van Barneveld won his first match of the tournament, seeing off
Terry Jenkins 8–6 with an average of 106.51.
28 –
Phil Taylor wins his third Players Championship event in succession, winning the German Darts Classic in
Gladbeck. In the final, he saw off
Adrian Lewis by 6 legs to nil. Over his seven matches on Saturday, just six legs were dropped by The Power, on his way to picking up the £6,000 first prize. In other matches,
Mark Webster made his PDC debut but found life tough going, losing his very first match to
Ronnie Baxter 6–1.[18] Meanwhile,
Stephen Bunting and Francis Lawson win the men's and women's Tyne and Wear Open. Bunting beat Glen Durrant to pick up the £1,100 first prize, while Lawson surprised
Anastasia Dobromyslova to pick up the £200 first prize. In the youth competition, Leon Bailey saw off Lee Rump to claim victory.
March
1 – In a busy weekend of darts, it was four in a row for
Phil Taylor as he sealed the
Gladbeck Players Championship double. In a rematch of the previous day's final, Taylor beat
Adrian Lewis by six legs to one, to pick up yet another £6,000 first prize.[19] Elsewhere, the English team of
Martin Atkins,
Scott Waites,
John Walton,
Tony O'Shea and
Martin Adams won the Nations Cup with a 13–8 victory over the Dutch side of Daniel Brouwer,
Rick Hofstra, Kevin Vennik,
Willy van de Wiel and
Joey ten Berge. Waites' performance stood out as he won 5 of the English side's 13 legs.[20] Meanwhile,
Robert Wagner took advantage of the Nations Cup ruling out many top players, to win the Finnish Open beating Oskar Lukasiak 5–4 in a closely contested final. In the women's event, Tricia Wright won again, beating Kirsi Viinikainen 4–2 in the final. Wayne Brown also won the Essex Open, beating Jason Evans 4–1 in the final.
5 – Week five of the Premier League saw the competition move to the
Metro Radio Arena in
Newcastle for the highly anticipated clash between
Mervyn King and
Phil Taylor.[21] A 7–7 draw was the result, however there was some needle between the two players. During the seventh leg, Taylor after removing the darts from a 60 score, dropped one of them at the side of the oche. As Taylor retrieved it, King threw his first dart over Taylor, thus being deemed unsporting by the 14-time world champion.[22] In slightly less bad-tempered matches,
James Wade moved up to second in the table after an 8–6 win over
Jelle Klaasen, who still languishes at the bottom of the table;
Wayne Mardle and
Raymond van Barneveld shared a 7–7 draw and
John Part occupies the final play-off spot, after an 8–5 win over the winless
Terry Jenkins.
7 –
Robert Thornton wins his first major PDC title by clinching the Scottish Players Championship in
Irvine, North Ayrshire. In a repeat of the quarter-final of the
Players Championship Finals, the man from
Stevenston saw off
Dennis Priestley in a deciding leg. Also in the tournament, making his debut was
Gary Anderson. Under his new
sobriquet of The Flying Scotsman, Anderson made the fourth round before falling to Thornton 6–3.[23] In other darts-related news,
Tony David was released from his hospital after his liver transplant on February 21. He is said to be feeling "great but tired".
8 –
Robert Thornton became only the third player – after
Phil Taylor and
Adrian Lewis – to win both events of a
PDC Pro Tour weekend after conquering
Dennis Priestley again during the final of the
UK Open Scottish Regional. With his win, Thornton has now won over £84,000 in less than a year's competition on the PDC circuit, and is within range of the world's top sixteen. In only his fourth tournament since defecting from the BDO,
Mark Webster made his first Pro Tour semi-final, having survived a scare during his third round match. In a battle of the
2008 BDO World Darts Championship champions,
Anastasia Dobromyslova wasted eight match darts at 5–4, before Webster came back and won 6–5. Webby would eventually fall to Thornton 6–3.[24] Meanwhile, in a category four
World Darts Federation event, Troy Hanlon won the Halifax Open in
Canada. Hanlon beat Seymour Dixon in the final. In the women's event, Cindy Pardy beat Tammy Perry to pick up the trophy.
14 –
Dennis Priestley continues his current run of form by winning the North-West Players Championship at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in
Wigan. He defeated
Colin Lloyd 6–1 in the final to pick up the £6,000 prize. The star of the day's play however, was Louis Blundell, who surprised everyone by reaching the semi-finals to pick up £1,500. On the way, he beat former
UK Open runner-up
Gary Mawson, Peter Wright,
Steve Maish and
Mark Walsh before an incredible 6–0 whitewash of world number two
James Wade. The
Shevington native's luck was out though, as he would fall to Lloyd in a final leg decider.[26]
15 – Fresh from his whitewash humbling by Louis Blundell the previous day,
James Wade won his first tournament of 2009 after clinching the
UK Open North-West Regional. Wade beat
Kevin McDine 6–3 in the final, but again a lesser-known name made a mark. Durham's Paul Knighton reached his first
PDC Pro Tour quarter-final beating
Raymond van Barneveld 6–1 and
Barrie Bates 6–3 along the way. He fell to McDine in another final-leg decider but earned £800 which pushed him up the
PDC Order of Merit.[27] In the BDO,
Darryl Fitton won the prestigious Isle of Man Open, beating
Ted Hankey to pick up the £5,000 first prize. In the women's event,
Julie Gore saw off
Lisa Ashton to win the tournament.
20 – Martin Goodin won the
Torremolinos Open by beating Tim Jones 3–0 in the final. Jones was playing in his first tournament final, just two months after winning the John Smith's People's Darts Championship at the Lakeside. Namesake Linda Jones won the women's event, beating Carole Frison of France 3–0.
21 –
Phil Taylor wins yet another Players Championship event, with a win in the
Brentwood Players Championship. He defeated
Ronnie Baxter in the final by six legs to two.[30] Brad Wethington beat Lito Moises in the final to win the
Virginia Beach Darts Classic, while Robin Curry beat Paula Murphy to win the women's event. In
Gibraltar, John Ferrell beat Paul Harvey to win the Gibraltar Open. In the women's event, Carole Frison made her second final in two days, as she won the title, beating Paula Jacklin in the final.
22 – Yet another PDC Pro Tour weekend double for
Phil Taylor as he wins the
UK Open South-East Regional. He defeated
Terry Jenkins in the final by six legs to four. The tournament also saw a return to form for
Michael van Gerwen, who reached the semi-final before losing to Taylor.[31]
26 – Week eight of the Premier League at the
National Indoor Arena in
Birmingham ended with a third different table-topper in three weeks.
Phil Taylor returned to the top after an 8–2 win over
Raymond van Barneveld.
James Wade dropped to second behind The Power after he could only draw 7–7 with
John Part, who moved back into the playoff spots due to van Barneveld's misfortune. In the other two matches,
Mervyn King defeated
Wayne Mardle – and his new throwing action – 8–2 and
Jelle Klaasen earned his first win after edging out
Terry Jenkins 8–6.[32]
28 –
Mark Walsh stuns
Phil Taylor in the final of the Midlands Players Championship to win only his third
PDC Pro Tour title. Walshie led both 2–0 and 5–2 before going on to win 6–4 in
Coventry. Amazingly, that was only Taylor's second defeat of 2009, having only lost to
James Wade on February 26, at night four of the Premier League in
Belfast.[33]Mervyn King also recorded his first competition nine-darter during his match with Stuart Bousfield, to which he received £4,000 after the bonus had rolled over for ten Pro Tour events. In other events, Jyhan Artut won the first day of the German Darts Corporation event in
Niedernhausen. Artut beat Andree Welge 6–2 in the final.[34] Meanwhile, Down Under, Brian Roach wins the first day of the Gaels Club Open in
Penrith, New South Wales and took home the $800 first prize. He won a deciding leg against
Barry Jouannet, after Jouannet took the game from 5–2 to the deciding leg.[35]
29 –
Phil Taylor bounced back from his shock defeat to
Mark Walsh the day before by winning yet another
UK Open Regional title, by winning the
West Midlands qualifier in
Coventry. In the final, he beat
Wolverhampton's
Wayne Jones 6–5, after Jones had missed darts to win his first
PDC Pro Tour title.[36] For the second consecutive day, a nine-darter was recorded. This time it was
Raymond van Barneveld, who achieved this during his match against
Kirk Shepherd. Meanwhile, on day two in
Niedernhausen, Jyhan Artut completed the weekend double by beating
Tomas Seyler 6–4 in the final.[34] In
Penrith,
Barry Jouannet went one better than his result the previous day, by winning day two of the Gaels Club Open. He beat Jerry Weyman 7–4 in the final to win $800.[35]
April
2 – Week nine of the Premier League sees the players go back across the border for the second of three nights to be held in
Scotland, this time at
Glasgow's
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. In front of a partisan crowd,
Raymond van Barneveld returned to the top four after a crushing 8–1 win over
John Part. In match two,
Terry Jenkins beat
Wayne Mardle 8–2. Match three saw
Phil Taylor just edge past
Jelle Klaasen 8–6, although Taylor was booed constantly throughout the match, and after the match, the Englishman said that he had been hit by an apple.
Mervyn King, fresh from his nine-darter last weekend, won the final match 8–3 against
James Wade.[37]
4 –
Phil Taylor wins yet another Players Championship, by winning the first of the weekend's events in
Nuland. In the final, he beat
Scotland's
Gary Anderson – who was appearing in his first final since coming across to the PDC – by six legs to five. Anderson is known to be a formidable player when playing in the Netherlands, having won both the
International Darts League and the
World Darts Trophy. The players' averages were incredible, for an eleven-leg match. Anderson averaged 108.24, whereas Taylor recorded 116.04, in order to win the £6,000 first prize.[38]
5 – An eleventh tournament win of 2009 for
Phil Taylor as he beat
Gary Anderson once again, 6–2 in the final of the second Players Championship in Nuland. There was a fourth nine-darter of the year, with
Vincent van der Voort recording his first in open play against Mario Masurka.[39] The English team won the BDO British Internationals championship, after an 8–4 win over Wales.[40] In the women's event, Wales clinched their first title in a dozen years, winning 4–2 against England.[41]
7 – After coming down with a virus,
Wayne Mardle pulled out of week ten of the Premier League due to be played on April 9, in
Exeter.[42]John Part will play two matches, with Mardle due to make his games up on April 16 in
Nottingham.
11 –
Michael van Gerwen won his first major UK tournament, by winning the South-West Players Championship in
Taunton. The teenager beat his Dutch compatriot
Vincent van der Voort 6–3 in the final, to pick up the winner's cheque. With the win, van Gerwen moved up to 30th in the
PDC Order of Merit.[44]
12 –
Phil Taylor claimed yet another UK Open Regional title, by demolishing
Andy Hamilton 6–0 in the final of the South-West Regional in
Taunton. Over the six legs, Taylor's match average exceeded 120, finishing at 120.24, using just 75 darts.[45] Elsewhere, Eser Tekin won the Turkish Masters, beating Emre Toros to pick up the €100 first prize. In the women's event, Neslihan Algul beat Mine Aloglu; and in Greece, John Michael and Evi Nakka won their respective Greek Open titles.
15 –
Wayne Mardle is rushed into hospital, after contracting mumps. This ruled him out of the Week 11 matchups of the Premier League, in
Nottingham.[46] This left him with five matches to catch up over the last three weeks. This meant that
Mervyn King and
James Wade would play twice during week eleven, in a hastily rearranged fixture list.
16 – In the revised schedule of week eleven of the Premier League,
James Wade was the only winner on the night; an 8–1 thrashing of
Terry Jenkins. The other three matches (
Jelle Klaasen v
Mervyn King, King v
Raymond van Barneveld and
Phil Taylor v Wade) all ended up in 7–7 draws. This took Wade to the top of the standings with 17 points from 12 games, ahead of Taylor, who has 16 from 11 and King, who has 15 from 12.[47]
18 –
James Wade, fresh from returning to the top of the Premier League standings, won only his second title of 2009, by picking up the Players Championship event in
Derby. He defeated
Colin Lloyd 6–4 in the final, to pick up yet another £6,000 as he looks to keep within £300,000 of
Phil Taylor in the
PDC Order of Merit.
Gary Anderson achieved his first nine-darter in the PDC, during his match with Darren Latham. He would latterly fall to his former BDO companion
Mark Webster, but Anderson has now broken into the top 80 in the PDC, in just seven weeks.[48]John Henderson won the German Open, after beating
Stephen Bunting 3–2, while
Trina Gulliver held off the in-form Tricia Wright 2–1, to win the women's event. The youth events were won by Zoe Jones and Tim van de Hoek, with the pairs events won by Ron Meulenkamp/
Robert Wagner (men's) and Gulliver/
Francis Hoenselaar (women's).
19 –
Mark Walsh produced a sensational comeback to win the penultimate regional qualifier for the
UK Open, by winning the East Midlands Regional in
Derby. After being 4–0 down to Dutchman
Raymond van Barneveld, Walshie reeled off 5 consecutive legs, before taking a deciding leg. It was his second tournament win of 2009.[49] Ken Dobson caused a major surprise by reaching the semi-finals, before falling to Walsh 6–2. Elsewhere,
Darin Young won the WDF-sanctioned Charlotte Open, beating Canada's Shawn Brenneman in the final. In another USA v Canada final, Paula Murphy beat Robin Curry to win the women's event.
20 –
Wayne Mardle was given the all-clear to rejoin the Premier League circuit, for Thursday night's fixtures in
Aberdeen. The PDC also revealed the fixtures for the last three weeks, after Mardle's illness had led to the original fixtures being scrapped.[50]
23 – Week twelve of the Premier League in
Aberdeen began with one of the challenge matches arranged the day before.
James Wade took on
Robert Thornton in a race-to-7 match. Wade averaged in excess of 105 to beat the Scot 7–2. Regular Premier League matches completed the night, with
Terry Jenkins and
Mervyn King drawing 7–7,
Raymond van Barneveld beating
Jelle Klaasen 8–5, and
Phil Taylor thrashed
John Part 8–3. Taylor averaged 116.01 during the match, breaking his own record of 114.53, for the highest three-dart average recorded on television. King and van Barneveld confirmed their places in the play-offs, with Wade and Taylor confirmed to finish in the top two.[52]
25 – Sixteen players qualified for the
UK Open thanks to their performances during the Holsten Pub Qualifiers in
Batley and
Aylesbury. From the Batley event, Darren Weaver, Graham Usher, Chris Hornby, Stuart Monaghan, David Smurthwaite, Gary Stephens, Glen Durrant and Alan Davie all qualified, and from the Aylesbury event, Peter Green, Stuart Pickles, Coen Wiekamp, Adrian Genery, Steve Penney, Phil Currie, Steve Dolan and John McGuirk qualified.[53] Elsewhere,
John Henderson continued his good run, as he won the Scottish Singles Championship, beating
Brian Woods 3–2 in the final. In the women's event, teenager Lorraine Hyde saw off Linda Marshall 3–1. Also, the pairs events were held towards the Open Holland, with
Carla Molema winning the women's pairs and mixed pairs, with partners
Irina Armstrong and Pedro Heijnen. Molema and Armstrong beat Melissa Landkroon and Melanie Os 4–0,[54] while Molema and Heijnen beat
Karin Krappen and Daniel Brouwer 5–0.[55] The men's pairs were won by Hans Zeelenberg and Niels-Jan Stuiver, beating
Alan Norris and Stephan Gerritsen 5–2.[56]
26 – The sixteen remaining
UK Open spots were snapped up during the Holsten Pub Qualifiers in
Salford and
Birmingham. Salford saw Kevin Beare, Duane Garfield, Matthew Campbell, Andy Boulton, Harry Robinson, Ken Mather, Les Fitton and Derek Williams all qualified, and in Birmingham, Andy Roberts, Mark Layton, Paul Cook, Paul Rowley, Mark Cox, Johnny Haines, Mike Langley and Andy Pearce all qualified.[57] Meanwhile, the International Open Holland continued with the singles events.
Mareno Michels saw off Scotland's
Mark Barilli 3–2 to win the men's event.[58]Karin Krappen avenged her mixed pairs defeat by beating
Carla Molema 2–1 in the final of the women's event.[59] The youth events were won by Jeffrey Sparidaans and Mercedes Pieters.[60][61]
30 – The penultimate week of the Premier League saw play move to
Sheffield, where two challenge matches and two league matches. In the challenge matches,
Raymond van Barneveld saw off
Adrian Lewis 7–5, and
Phil Taylor saw off
Dennis Priestley 7–4. Priestley also provided some humour to the crowd by donning a hula shirt, something made famous by
Wayne Mardle whom Priestley had replaced due to his ill health. In the league,
Terry Jenkins made sure that he didn't finish bottom after an 8–3 win over
John Part, while
James Wade completed his matches with an 8–4 win over
Jelle Klaasen.[62]
May
2 –
Simon Whitlock returned in style to the DPA circuit, by winning the Saturday Goulburn Workers Club Open, in
New South Wales. He saw off Steve MacArthur 7–5 in the final, having been 4–0 up at one stage.[63]
3 – Another $1,000 went the way of
Simon Whitlock as he completed the Australian Grand Prix double, by winning the Sunday Goulburn Workers Club Open. This time, he saw off
Russell Stewart 7–2 in the final. Despite only competing in this weekend, Whitlock is up to fourth in the DPA Order of Merit, $800 behind leader
Paul Nicholson.[64]
7 – The regular season of the 2009 Premier League ended as the final week took place in
Cardiff, and just like the previous week, was made up of two challenge matches and two league matches. In a battle of former BDO world champions,
Jelle Klaasen saw off
Mark Webster 7–3, while
John Part was humbled 7–4 by
Gary Anderson; the Scot averaged 107.40 during the match. In the league matches,
Raymond van Barneveld clinched third after a 7–7 draw with
Terry Jenkins, who finished fifth, and
Phil Taylor sealed the number one spot after an 8–2 win over
Mervyn King. The semi-finals at
Wembley Arena on May 25, will see Taylor and King face each other once again, while van Barneveld will do battle with
James Wade.[65]
9 – The
PDC Pro Tour returned after a three-week break with the Welsh Players Championship in
Newport. After his superb win over
John Part the previous Thursday,
Gary Anderson clinched his first tournament win after beating
Mervyn King 6–2 in the final. Anderson moved into the world's top sixty after the win, while King moved into the world's top five.[66]
10 – In a weekend of firsts,
Jamie Caven won his first Pro Tour title, by winning the
UK Open Welsh Regional in
Newport. He edged out
Alan Tabern in a final leg decider to pick up the £6,000 first prize. What makes Caven's success even more special is the fact that he is blind in one eye. The Welsh Regional was the final qualifying event for the UK Open and will see 130 players take part at the tournament.[67] Elsewhere,
Simon Whitlock's great run continued, as he won his third successive tournament on the DPA circuit. Whitlock saw off Phil Hazell 7–5 in the final of the Clubs NZ Viva Las Vegas event, despite trailing 4–1. Both players receive airfare and accommodation for the PartyPoker.net
Las Vegas Desert Classic in July.[68]
31 – Scott Burnett won the North American Darts Championship in
Boxborough, Massachusetts after a 6–3 win over
Darin Young. With the win, Burnett earned a place at the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic at the start of July.[71]
13 –
Mark Walsh claimed his third tournament of the year with a 6–4 win over
Jamie Caven in the
Barnsley Players Championship. Caven's £3,000 earned also helps towards earning a place at the
2009 World Matchplay.[73]
14 – A week after reaching the UK Open final,
Colin Osborne wrapped up his first tournament title of 2009 with a 6–2 win over
Gary Anderson in Barnsley. Anderson's runner-up earnings pushed him towards the edge of the top 50 in the
PDC Order of Merit.[74] Colin Monk earned £2,000 for a
nine dart finish in a 6–1 win over Ray Farrell.
20 – "Pieman"
Andy Smith claimed his first tournament win since October 2007 after winning the German Darts Trophy in
Dinslaken. Smith edged out
Colin Lloyd in a deciding leg to win the £6,000 first prize. Along the way, Smith also hit a
nine dart finish during a 6–5 victory over
Mark Walsh. Joe Cullen made his first semi-final since turning professional, losing 6–3 to Smith in the semi-finals.[75]
21 –
Mark Walsh picked up his fourth title of 2009 with a win in Dinslaken over
Andy Hamilton 6–5. Walsh, the highest ranked player on the Players Championship Order of Merit in the tournament also knocked out
Ronnie Baxter,
Gary Anderson and
Steve Beaton en route to the final.[76] Meanwhile, on the DPA circuit,
Simon Whitlock continued his good form by winning the Mittagong RSL Club Open in
Mittagong, New South Wales. He beat Kevin Luland 8–2 in the final to claim his eighth title of the year.[77]
30 –
Ronnie Baxter handed
Phil Taylor only his second Players Championship loss of the season, with a stunning 6–2 win over the world number one in the Las Vegas Players Championship at the
Mandalay Bay Resort. Baxter's win also takes him within a few pounds of the top six qualification places for the 2010 Premier League.
Wes Newton and
Larry Butler both hit
nine dart finishes against
Colin Osborne and
Jan van der Rassel respectively, sharing an £800 bonus prize. Their nine-darters didn't help them progress in the tournaments, as they lost against their respective opponents 6–3 and 6–2.[80]
Dutch Open at NH Hotel/Congress centre,
Veldhoven, February 8
Quarter-Finals (Losers €500, Best of 7 legs) Tony O'Shea 4–1 John Walton, Darryl Fitton 4–3 Magnus Caris, Brian Woods 4–3 Paul Hogan, Willy van de Wiel 4–2 Dennis te Kloese
Semi-Finals (Losers €1,250, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Darryl Fitton 2–1 Tony O'Shea, Willy van de Wiel 2–0 Brian Woods
Final (Winner €4,500 Runner-up €2,250, Best of 5 sets, 5 legs per set) Darryl Fitton 3–2 Willy van de Wiel
Scottish Open at Normandy Cosmopolitan Hotel,
Renfrew, February 22
Quarter-Finals (Losers £100, Best of 5 legs) Tony O'Shea 3–2 Ian White, Martin Phillips 3–1 Garrett Gray, Martin Atkins 3–1 Martin Adams, Andy Roberts 3–1 Alan Norris
Semi-Finals (Losers £300, Best of 7 legs) Tony O'Shea 4–2 Martin Phillips, Martin Atkins 4–2 Andy Roberts
Final (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £800, Best of 9 legs) Tony O Shea 5–4 Martin Atkins
German Open in
Bochum, April 18. Matches played in
sets, three legs per set.
Quarter-Finals (Losers €240) John Henderson 2–0 Martin Adams, Robbie Green 2–0 Garry Thompson, Robert Wagner 2–1 Steve West, Stephen Bunting 2–0 Ian White
Semi-Finals (Losers €480) John Henderson 2–1 Robbie Green, Stephen Bunting 2–0 Robert Wagner
Final (Winner €2,400 Runner-up €1,200) John Henderson 3–2 Stephen Bunting
Welsh Open at
Pontins in
Prestatyn, May 17. Matches played in
sets, five legs per set.
Quarter-Finals (Losers £250) Ross Montgomery 3–1 Martin Atkins, Dougie Smith 3–0 Wayne Brown, Stuart Kellet 3–1 Brian Derbyshire, Mark Barilli 3–0 Steve West
Semi-Finals (Losers £600) Ross Montgomery 2–1 Dougie Smith, Mark Barilli 2–1 Stuart Kellet
Final (Winner £2,500 Runner-up £1,200) Ross Montgomery 3–0 Mark Barilli
Quarter-Finals (Losers £150, Best of 5 legs) Colin Fowler 3–2 Martin Adams, Dave Chisnall 3–1 Alan Norris, Paul Hanvidge 3–2 Daryl Gurney, Martin Atkins 3–1 John Henderson
Semi-Finals (Losers £400, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Dave Chisnall 2–1 Colin Fowler, Martin Atkins 2–1 Paul Hanvidge
Final (Winner ££3,000 Runner-up £1,000, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Dave Chisnall 2–0 Martin Atkins
WDF Category 2 Events
German Gold Cup, January 25 (Winner €840, Runner-up €420) Kevin Munch 3–1 Jan Dekker
England Classic, February 1 Scott Mitchell 3–0 Steve Douglas
Dortmund Open, February 15 Gino Vos 3–1 Ronny Huybrechts
Isle of Man Open, March 15 (Winner £5,000) Darryl Fitton beat Ted Hankey
Virginia Beach Dart Classic, March 21 (Winner $1,200, Runner-up $600) Brad Wethington beat Joselito Moises
Open Holland, April 26 (Winner €2,500, Runner-up €1,000) Mareno Michels 3–2 Mark Barilli
Antwerp Open, May 24 (Winner €2,500, Runner-up €1,000) Ian White 3–0 Ted Hankey
BDO International Open, June 14 (Winner £2,000, Runner-up £600) Tony O'Shea 4–0 Ted Hankey
Canadian Open, June 26 (Winner C$1000, Runner-up C$500) Jerry Hull beat Rodney Spencer
England Open, June 28 (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £1,000) Ted Hankey 5–0 Tony O'Shea
Malaysian Open, July 4 (Winner
RM2,000 Runner-up
RM1,000) Clarines Joseph beat Mohd Latif Sapup
Australian Grand Masters, July 5 (Winner A$2,900 Runner-up $1,400) Anthony Fleet 5–3 Shane Tichowitsch
England Masters, July 19 (Winner £1,200 Runner-up £600) Brian Woods 5–0 Dave Chisnall
British Classic, July 25 (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £500) Stephen Bunting 2–1 Scott Waites
Pacific Masters, July 25 (Winner A$1,100 Runner-up A$600) Anthony Fleet 6–2 Neil Hembrow
New Zealand Open, August 5 Koha Kokiri 5–0 Eddie Toms
Belgium Open, August 9 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,200) John Henderson 2–0 John Walton
Didam Open, August 23 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) John Henderson 3–0 Tony West
Tops of Holland, October 25 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) Brian Woods 3–2 Steve West
Northern Ireland Open, November 8 (Winner £1,600 Runner-up £750) Martin Atkins 2–0 Willy van de Wiel
Flanders Open, November 15 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) John Walton 3–1 Steve West
Center Parcs Masters, November 29 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) Martin Adams 3–1 Frans Harmsen
17 –
Phil Taylor wins his second tournament of the month by capturing the Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship in
Gibraltar. He picked up the £6,000 first prize by coming from 2–1 down, winning the last five legs consecutively to beat
Alan Tabern 6–2.
Mark Walsh also picked up a £1,600 prize for a nine-darter against
Jamie Caven, in a match he won 6–5.[8]
18 –
Phil Taylor completes the
Gibraltar double, by beating
Mark Dudbridge 6–1 in the final of the Stan James.com Players Championship.[9] In the BDO, Richard Marcotte wins the category B Quebec Open beating Martin Tremblay to pick up the $2400 first prize.
24 – Garrett Gray of the
Republic of Ireland wins the Gwynedd Open, defeating Derek Williams 5–3 in legs in the final. Also on the day, Jenni Tulley and Craig Baxter win the Scottish Mixed Pairs Championship in
Bannockburn, beating
Paul Hanvidge and Louise Hepburn 3–0 in the final.
25 – In the BDO,
Kevin Münch wins the men's German Gold Cup defeating
Jan Dekker 3 sets to 1 in the final. In the women's event,
Irina Armstrong beats
Karin Krappen 2–1 to retain the title. Elsewhere,
Wes Newton claims the men's Las Vegas Open title defeating Brian Blake 4 legs to 0 in the final and in the women's event,
Canada's Robin Curry wins 4–3 against American Cali West.
31 – Scott Mitchell wins the Eastbourne Classic, beating Steve Douglas 3–0 in legs, in the final. In the women's event,
Trina Gulliver beat Rhonda West 3–0 in legs.
8 –
Darryl Fitton wins the Dutch Open, in
Veldhoven beating
Willy van de Wiel by 3–2 in sets. In the women's event,
Trina Gulliver wins 5–3 in legs over
Wales'
Julie Gore. Meanwhile, in the pairs events, Holland's Gino Vos and Rico Dera beat
Brian Woods and Robbie Green 2–1 in sets to win the men's and in the women's, Gulliver teamed up with her good friend
Francis Hoenselaar to win 5–1 in legs over Gore and Welsh teammate Jan Robbins.
14 – Gino Vos wins the WDF-ranked Dortmund Open, beating Ronny Huybrechts three sets to one in the final. In the women's event, Michelle Sossong wins her first tournament, beating
Carla Molema by two sets to nil.
16 –
Roland Scholten has surgery on his injured shoulder which has seen his form dip and his ranking tumble outside the top 16.[15]
19 –
Mervyn King continued his impressive start to his maiden
Premier League Darts campaign, with an 8–2 win over
John Part as the Premier League circus moved to
Coventry's
Ricoh Arena for week three.[16] He has now won his first three matches dropping just four legs in the process. In the other matches,
Phil Taylor's 100% start was ended when he drew 7–7 with
Terry Jenkins – having been as far back as 6–4. James Wade averaged nearly 108 in beating
Raymond van Barneveld 8–4 in the second match on – a repeat of their semi-final meeting at the
2009 PDC World Darts Championship and
Wayne Mardle won a hard-fought match with
Jelle Klaasen 8–6, with Hawaii 5–0–1 picking up top checkout prize for the second week running.
21 –
2002 BDO World ChampionTony David was rushed to hospital for an emergency liver transplant. The operation was successful although he remains in an intensive care unit.
26 –
James Wade inflicted the first defeat of the 2009 season on
Phil Taylor with a fantastic 8–4 win over the fourteen-time world champion during week four's action at
Belfast's
Odyssey Arena in the Premier League.[17] Wade's victory was made even sweeter by his 138 finish – the
Deller checkout – to win the match. In the other matches,
Mervyn King continued his 100% start with an 8–4 win over
Jelle Klaasen,
John Part thrashed
Wayne Mardle 8–1 and
Raymond van Barneveld won his first match of the tournament, seeing off
Terry Jenkins 8–6 with an average of 106.51.
28 –
Phil Taylor wins his third Players Championship event in succession, winning the German Darts Classic in
Gladbeck. In the final, he saw off
Adrian Lewis by 6 legs to nil. Over his seven matches on Saturday, just six legs were dropped by The Power, on his way to picking up the £6,000 first prize. In other matches,
Mark Webster made his PDC debut but found life tough going, losing his very first match to
Ronnie Baxter 6–1.[18] Meanwhile,
Stephen Bunting and Francis Lawson win the men's and women's Tyne and Wear Open. Bunting beat Glen Durrant to pick up the £1,100 first prize, while Lawson surprised
Anastasia Dobromyslova to pick up the £200 first prize. In the youth competition, Leon Bailey saw off Lee Rump to claim victory.
March
1 – In a busy weekend of darts, it was four in a row for
Phil Taylor as he sealed the
Gladbeck Players Championship double. In a rematch of the previous day's final, Taylor beat
Adrian Lewis by six legs to one, to pick up yet another £6,000 first prize.[19] Elsewhere, the English team of
Martin Atkins,
Scott Waites,
John Walton,
Tony O'Shea and
Martin Adams won the Nations Cup with a 13–8 victory over the Dutch side of Daniel Brouwer,
Rick Hofstra, Kevin Vennik,
Willy van de Wiel and
Joey ten Berge. Waites' performance stood out as he won 5 of the English side's 13 legs.[20] Meanwhile,
Robert Wagner took advantage of the Nations Cup ruling out many top players, to win the Finnish Open beating Oskar Lukasiak 5–4 in a closely contested final. In the women's event, Tricia Wright won again, beating Kirsi Viinikainen 4–2 in the final. Wayne Brown also won the Essex Open, beating Jason Evans 4–1 in the final.
5 – Week five of the Premier League saw the competition move to the
Metro Radio Arena in
Newcastle for the highly anticipated clash between
Mervyn King and
Phil Taylor.[21] A 7–7 draw was the result, however there was some needle between the two players. During the seventh leg, Taylor after removing the darts from a 60 score, dropped one of them at the side of the oche. As Taylor retrieved it, King threw his first dart over Taylor, thus being deemed unsporting by the 14-time world champion.[22] In slightly less bad-tempered matches,
James Wade moved up to second in the table after an 8–6 win over
Jelle Klaasen, who still languishes at the bottom of the table;
Wayne Mardle and
Raymond van Barneveld shared a 7–7 draw and
John Part occupies the final play-off spot, after an 8–5 win over the winless
Terry Jenkins.
7 –
Robert Thornton wins his first major PDC title by clinching the Scottish Players Championship in
Irvine, North Ayrshire. In a repeat of the quarter-final of the
Players Championship Finals, the man from
Stevenston saw off
Dennis Priestley in a deciding leg. Also in the tournament, making his debut was
Gary Anderson. Under his new
sobriquet of The Flying Scotsman, Anderson made the fourth round before falling to Thornton 6–3.[23] In other darts-related news,
Tony David was released from his hospital after his liver transplant on February 21. He is said to be feeling "great but tired".
8 –
Robert Thornton became only the third player – after
Phil Taylor and
Adrian Lewis – to win both events of a
PDC Pro Tour weekend after conquering
Dennis Priestley again during the final of the
UK Open Scottish Regional. With his win, Thornton has now won over £84,000 in less than a year's competition on the PDC circuit, and is within range of the world's top sixteen. In only his fourth tournament since defecting from the BDO,
Mark Webster made his first Pro Tour semi-final, having survived a scare during his third round match. In a battle of the
2008 BDO World Darts Championship champions,
Anastasia Dobromyslova wasted eight match darts at 5–4, before Webster came back and won 6–5. Webby would eventually fall to Thornton 6–3.[24] Meanwhile, in a category four
World Darts Federation event, Troy Hanlon won the Halifax Open in
Canada. Hanlon beat Seymour Dixon in the final. In the women's event, Cindy Pardy beat Tammy Perry to pick up the trophy.
14 –
Dennis Priestley continues his current run of form by winning the North-West Players Championship at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in
Wigan. He defeated
Colin Lloyd 6–1 in the final to pick up the £6,000 prize. The star of the day's play however, was Louis Blundell, who surprised everyone by reaching the semi-finals to pick up £1,500. On the way, he beat former
UK Open runner-up
Gary Mawson, Peter Wright,
Steve Maish and
Mark Walsh before an incredible 6–0 whitewash of world number two
James Wade. The
Shevington native's luck was out though, as he would fall to Lloyd in a final leg decider.[26]
15 – Fresh from his whitewash humbling by Louis Blundell the previous day,
James Wade won his first tournament of 2009 after clinching the
UK Open North-West Regional. Wade beat
Kevin McDine 6–3 in the final, but again a lesser-known name made a mark. Durham's Paul Knighton reached his first
PDC Pro Tour quarter-final beating
Raymond van Barneveld 6–1 and
Barrie Bates 6–3 along the way. He fell to McDine in another final-leg decider but earned £800 which pushed him up the
PDC Order of Merit.[27] In the BDO,
Darryl Fitton won the prestigious Isle of Man Open, beating
Ted Hankey to pick up the £5,000 first prize. In the women's event,
Julie Gore saw off
Lisa Ashton to win the tournament.
20 – Martin Goodin won the
Torremolinos Open by beating Tim Jones 3–0 in the final. Jones was playing in his first tournament final, just two months after winning the John Smith's People's Darts Championship at the Lakeside. Namesake Linda Jones won the women's event, beating Carole Frison of France 3–0.
21 –
Phil Taylor wins yet another Players Championship event, with a win in the
Brentwood Players Championship. He defeated
Ronnie Baxter in the final by six legs to two.[30] Brad Wethington beat Lito Moises in the final to win the
Virginia Beach Darts Classic, while Robin Curry beat Paula Murphy to win the women's event. In
Gibraltar, John Ferrell beat Paul Harvey to win the Gibraltar Open. In the women's event, Carole Frison made her second final in two days, as she won the title, beating Paula Jacklin in the final.
22 – Yet another PDC Pro Tour weekend double for
Phil Taylor as he wins the
UK Open South-East Regional. He defeated
Terry Jenkins in the final by six legs to four. The tournament also saw a return to form for
Michael van Gerwen, who reached the semi-final before losing to Taylor.[31]
26 – Week eight of the Premier League at the
National Indoor Arena in
Birmingham ended with a third different table-topper in three weeks.
Phil Taylor returned to the top after an 8–2 win over
Raymond van Barneveld.
James Wade dropped to second behind The Power after he could only draw 7–7 with
John Part, who moved back into the playoff spots due to van Barneveld's misfortune. In the other two matches,
Mervyn King defeated
Wayne Mardle – and his new throwing action – 8–2 and
Jelle Klaasen earned his first win after edging out
Terry Jenkins 8–6.[32]
28 –
Mark Walsh stuns
Phil Taylor in the final of the Midlands Players Championship to win only his third
PDC Pro Tour title. Walshie led both 2–0 and 5–2 before going on to win 6–4 in
Coventry. Amazingly, that was only Taylor's second defeat of 2009, having only lost to
James Wade on February 26, at night four of the Premier League in
Belfast.[33]Mervyn King also recorded his first competition nine-darter during his match with Stuart Bousfield, to which he received £4,000 after the bonus had rolled over for ten Pro Tour events. In other events, Jyhan Artut won the first day of the German Darts Corporation event in
Niedernhausen. Artut beat Andree Welge 6–2 in the final.[34] Meanwhile, Down Under, Brian Roach wins the first day of the Gaels Club Open in
Penrith, New South Wales and took home the $800 first prize. He won a deciding leg against
Barry Jouannet, after Jouannet took the game from 5–2 to the deciding leg.[35]
29 –
Phil Taylor bounced back from his shock defeat to
Mark Walsh the day before by winning yet another
UK Open Regional title, by winning the
West Midlands qualifier in
Coventry. In the final, he beat
Wolverhampton's
Wayne Jones 6–5, after Jones had missed darts to win his first
PDC Pro Tour title.[36] For the second consecutive day, a nine-darter was recorded. This time it was
Raymond van Barneveld, who achieved this during his match against
Kirk Shepherd. Meanwhile, on day two in
Niedernhausen, Jyhan Artut completed the weekend double by beating
Tomas Seyler 6–4 in the final.[34] In
Penrith,
Barry Jouannet went one better than his result the previous day, by winning day two of the Gaels Club Open. He beat Jerry Weyman 7–4 in the final to win $800.[35]
April
2 – Week nine of the Premier League sees the players go back across the border for the second of three nights to be held in
Scotland, this time at
Glasgow's
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. In front of a partisan crowd,
Raymond van Barneveld returned to the top four after a crushing 8–1 win over
John Part. In match two,
Terry Jenkins beat
Wayne Mardle 8–2. Match three saw
Phil Taylor just edge past
Jelle Klaasen 8–6, although Taylor was booed constantly throughout the match, and after the match, the Englishman said that he had been hit by an apple.
Mervyn King, fresh from his nine-darter last weekend, won the final match 8–3 against
James Wade.[37]
4 –
Phil Taylor wins yet another Players Championship, by winning the first of the weekend's events in
Nuland. In the final, he beat
Scotland's
Gary Anderson – who was appearing in his first final since coming across to the PDC – by six legs to five. Anderson is known to be a formidable player when playing in the Netherlands, having won both the
International Darts League and the
World Darts Trophy. The players' averages were incredible, for an eleven-leg match. Anderson averaged 108.24, whereas Taylor recorded 116.04, in order to win the £6,000 first prize.[38]
5 – An eleventh tournament win of 2009 for
Phil Taylor as he beat
Gary Anderson once again, 6–2 in the final of the second Players Championship in Nuland. There was a fourth nine-darter of the year, with
Vincent van der Voort recording his first in open play against Mario Masurka.[39] The English team won the BDO British Internationals championship, after an 8–4 win over Wales.[40] In the women's event, Wales clinched their first title in a dozen years, winning 4–2 against England.[41]
7 – After coming down with a virus,
Wayne Mardle pulled out of week ten of the Premier League due to be played on April 9, in
Exeter.[42]John Part will play two matches, with Mardle due to make his games up on April 16 in
Nottingham.
11 –
Michael van Gerwen won his first major UK tournament, by winning the South-West Players Championship in
Taunton. The teenager beat his Dutch compatriot
Vincent van der Voort 6–3 in the final, to pick up the winner's cheque. With the win, van Gerwen moved up to 30th in the
PDC Order of Merit.[44]
12 –
Phil Taylor claimed yet another UK Open Regional title, by demolishing
Andy Hamilton 6–0 in the final of the South-West Regional in
Taunton. Over the six legs, Taylor's match average exceeded 120, finishing at 120.24, using just 75 darts.[45] Elsewhere, Eser Tekin won the Turkish Masters, beating Emre Toros to pick up the €100 first prize. In the women's event, Neslihan Algul beat Mine Aloglu; and in Greece, John Michael and Evi Nakka won their respective Greek Open titles.
15 –
Wayne Mardle is rushed into hospital, after contracting mumps. This ruled him out of the Week 11 matchups of the Premier League, in
Nottingham.[46] This left him with five matches to catch up over the last three weeks. This meant that
Mervyn King and
James Wade would play twice during week eleven, in a hastily rearranged fixture list.
16 – In the revised schedule of week eleven of the Premier League,
James Wade was the only winner on the night; an 8–1 thrashing of
Terry Jenkins. The other three matches (
Jelle Klaasen v
Mervyn King, King v
Raymond van Barneveld and
Phil Taylor v Wade) all ended up in 7–7 draws. This took Wade to the top of the standings with 17 points from 12 games, ahead of Taylor, who has 16 from 11 and King, who has 15 from 12.[47]
18 –
James Wade, fresh from returning to the top of the Premier League standings, won only his second title of 2009, by picking up the Players Championship event in
Derby. He defeated
Colin Lloyd 6–4 in the final, to pick up yet another £6,000 as he looks to keep within £300,000 of
Phil Taylor in the
PDC Order of Merit.
Gary Anderson achieved his first nine-darter in the PDC, during his match with Darren Latham. He would latterly fall to his former BDO companion
Mark Webster, but Anderson has now broken into the top 80 in the PDC, in just seven weeks.[48]John Henderson won the German Open, after beating
Stephen Bunting 3–2, while
Trina Gulliver held off the in-form Tricia Wright 2–1, to win the women's event. The youth events were won by Zoe Jones and Tim van de Hoek, with the pairs events won by Ron Meulenkamp/
Robert Wagner (men's) and Gulliver/
Francis Hoenselaar (women's).
19 –
Mark Walsh produced a sensational comeback to win the penultimate regional qualifier for the
UK Open, by winning the East Midlands Regional in
Derby. After being 4–0 down to Dutchman
Raymond van Barneveld, Walshie reeled off 5 consecutive legs, before taking a deciding leg. It was his second tournament win of 2009.[49] Ken Dobson caused a major surprise by reaching the semi-finals, before falling to Walsh 6–2. Elsewhere,
Darin Young won the WDF-sanctioned Charlotte Open, beating Canada's Shawn Brenneman in the final. In another USA v Canada final, Paula Murphy beat Robin Curry to win the women's event.
20 –
Wayne Mardle was given the all-clear to rejoin the Premier League circuit, for Thursday night's fixtures in
Aberdeen. The PDC also revealed the fixtures for the last three weeks, after Mardle's illness had led to the original fixtures being scrapped.[50]
23 – Week twelve of the Premier League in
Aberdeen began with one of the challenge matches arranged the day before.
James Wade took on
Robert Thornton in a race-to-7 match. Wade averaged in excess of 105 to beat the Scot 7–2. Regular Premier League matches completed the night, with
Terry Jenkins and
Mervyn King drawing 7–7,
Raymond van Barneveld beating
Jelle Klaasen 8–5, and
Phil Taylor thrashed
John Part 8–3. Taylor averaged 116.01 during the match, breaking his own record of 114.53, for the highest three-dart average recorded on television. King and van Barneveld confirmed their places in the play-offs, with Wade and Taylor confirmed to finish in the top two.[52]
25 – Sixteen players qualified for the
UK Open thanks to their performances during the Holsten Pub Qualifiers in
Batley and
Aylesbury. From the Batley event, Darren Weaver, Graham Usher, Chris Hornby, Stuart Monaghan, David Smurthwaite, Gary Stephens, Glen Durrant and Alan Davie all qualified, and from the Aylesbury event, Peter Green, Stuart Pickles, Coen Wiekamp, Adrian Genery, Steve Penney, Phil Currie, Steve Dolan and John McGuirk qualified.[53] Elsewhere,
John Henderson continued his good run, as he won the Scottish Singles Championship, beating
Brian Woods 3–2 in the final. In the women's event, teenager Lorraine Hyde saw off Linda Marshall 3–1. Also, the pairs events were held towards the Open Holland, with
Carla Molema winning the women's pairs and mixed pairs, with partners
Irina Armstrong and Pedro Heijnen. Molema and Armstrong beat Melissa Landkroon and Melanie Os 4–0,[54] while Molema and Heijnen beat
Karin Krappen and Daniel Brouwer 5–0.[55] The men's pairs were won by Hans Zeelenberg and Niels-Jan Stuiver, beating
Alan Norris and Stephan Gerritsen 5–2.[56]
26 – The sixteen remaining
UK Open spots were snapped up during the Holsten Pub Qualifiers in
Salford and
Birmingham. Salford saw Kevin Beare, Duane Garfield, Matthew Campbell, Andy Boulton, Harry Robinson, Ken Mather, Les Fitton and Derek Williams all qualified, and in Birmingham, Andy Roberts, Mark Layton, Paul Cook, Paul Rowley, Mark Cox, Johnny Haines, Mike Langley and Andy Pearce all qualified.[57] Meanwhile, the International Open Holland continued with the singles events.
Mareno Michels saw off Scotland's
Mark Barilli 3–2 to win the men's event.[58]Karin Krappen avenged her mixed pairs defeat by beating
Carla Molema 2–1 in the final of the women's event.[59] The youth events were won by Jeffrey Sparidaans and Mercedes Pieters.[60][61]
30 – The penultimate week of the Premier League saw play move to
Sheffield, where two challenge matches and two league matches. In the challenge matches,
Raymond van Barneveld saw off
Adrian Lewis 7–5, and
Phil Taylor saw off
Dennis Priestley 7–4. Priestley also provided some humour to the crowd by donning a hula shirt, something made famous by
Wayne Mardle whom Priestley had replaced due to his ill health. In the league,
Terry Jenkins made sure that he didn't finish bottom after an 8–3 win over
John Part, while
James Wade completed his matches with an 8–4 win over
Jelle Klaasen.[62]
May
2 –
Simon Whitlock returned in style to the DPA circuit, by winning the Saturday Goulburn Workers Club Open, in
New South Wales. He saw off Steve MacArthur 7–5 in the final, having been 4–0 up at one stage.[63]
3 – Another $1,000 went the way of
Simon Whitlock as he completed the Australian Grand Prix double, by winning the Sunday Goulburn Workers Club Open. This time, he saw off
Russell Stewart 7–2 in the final. Despite only competing in this weekend, Whitlock is up to fourth in the DPA Order of Merit, $800 behind leader
Paul Nicholson.[64]
7 – The regular season of the 2009 Premier League ended as the final week took place in
Cardiff, and just like the previous week, was made up of two challenge matches and two league matches. In a battle of former BDO world champions,
Jelle Klaasen saw off
Mark Webster 7–3, while
John Part was humbled 7–4 by
Gary Anderson; the Scot averaged 107.40 during the match. In the league matches,
Raymond van Barneveld clinched third after a 7–7 draw with
Terry Jenkins, who finished fifth, and
Phil Taylor sealed the number one spot after an 8–2 win over
Mervyn King. The semi-finals at
Wembley Arena on May 25, will see Taylor and King face each other once again, while van Barneveld will do battle with
James Wade.[65]
9 – The
PDC Pro Tour returned after a three-week break with the Welsh Players Championship in
Newport. After his superb win over
John Part the previous Thursday,
Gary Anderson clinched his first tournament win after beating
Mervyn King 6–2 in the final. Anderson moved into the world's top sixty after the win, while King moved into the world's top five.[66]
10 – In a weekend of firsts,
Jamie Caven won his first Pro Tour title, by winning the
UK Open Welsh Regional in
Newport. He edged out
Alan Tabern in a final leg decider to pick up the £6,000 first prize. What makes Caven's success even more special is the fact that he is blind in one eye. The Welsh Regional was the final qualifying event for the UK Open and will see 130 players take part at the tournament.[67] Elsewhere,
Simon Whitlock's great run continued, as he won his third successive tournament on the DPA circuit. Whitlock saw off Phil Hazell 7–5 in the final of the Clubs NZ Viva Las Vegas event, despite trailing 4–1. Both players receive airfare and accommodation for the PartyPoker.net
Las Vegas Desert Classic in July.[68]
31 – Scott Burnett won the North American Darts Championship in
Boxborough, Massachusetts after a 6–3 win over
Darin Young. With the win, Burnett earned a place at the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic at the start of July.[71]
13 –
Mark Walsh claimed his third tournament of the year with a 6–4 win over
Jamie Caven in the
Barnsley Players Championship. Caven's £3,000 earned also helps towards earning a place at the
2009 World Matchplay.[73]
14 – A week after reaching the UK Open final,
Colin Osborne wrapped up his first tournament title of 2009 with a 6–2 win over
Gary Anderson in Barnsley. Anderson's runner-up earnings pushed him towards the edge of the top 50 in the
PDC Order of Merit.[74] Colin Monk earned £2,000 for a
nine dart finish in a 6–1 win over Ray Farrell.
20 – "Pieman"
Andy Smith claimed his first tournament win since October 2007 after winning the German Darts Trophy in
Dinslaken. Smith edged out
Colin Lloyd in a deciding leg to win the £6,000 first prize. Along the way, Smith also hit a
nine dart finish during a 6–5 victory over
Mark Walsh. Joe Cullen made his first semi-final since turning professional, losing 6–3 to Smith in the semi-finals.[75]
21 –
Mark Walsh picked up his fourth title of 2009 with a win in Dinslaken over
Andy Hamilton 6–5. Walsh, the highest ranked player on the Players Championship Order of Merit in the tournament also knocked out
Ronnie Baxter,
Gary Anderson and
Steve Beaton en route to the final.[76] Meanwhile, on the DPA circuit,
Simon Whitlock continued his good form by winning the Mittagong RSL Club Open in
Mittagong, New South Wales. He beat Kevin Luland 8–2 in the final to claim his eighth title of the year.[77]
30 –
Ronnie Baxter handed
Phil Taylor only his second Players Championship loss of the season, with a stunning 6–2 win over the world number one in the Las Vegas Players Championship at the
Mandalay Bay Resort. Baxter's win also takes him within a few pounds of the top six qualification places for the 2010 Premier League.
Wes Newton and
Larry Butler both hit
nine dart finishes against
Colin Osborne and
Jan van der Rassel respectively, sharing an £800 bonus prize. Their nine-darters didn't help them progress in the tournaments, as they lost against their respective opponents 6–3 and 6–2.[80]
Dutch Open at NH Hotel/Congress centre,
Veldhoven, February 8
Quarter-Finals (Losers €500, Best of 7 legs) Tony O'Shea 4–1 John Walton, Darryl Fitton 4–3 Magnus Caris, Brian Woods 4–3 Paul Hogan, Willy van de Wiel 4–2 Dennis te Kloese
Semi-Finals (Losers €1,250, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Darryl Fitton 2–1 Tony O'Shea, Willy van de Wiel 2–0 Brian Woods
Final (Winner €4,500 Runner-up €2,250, Best of 5 sets, 5 legs per set) Darryl Fitton 3–2 Willy van de Wiel
Scottish Open at Normandy Cosmopolitan Hotel,
Renfrew, February 22
Quarter-Finals (Losers £100, Best of 5 legs) Tony O'Shea 3–2 Ian White, Martin Phillips 3–1 Garrett Gray, Martin Atkins 3–1 Martin Adams, Andy Roberts 3–1 Alan Norris
Semi-Finals (Losers £300, Best of 7 legs) Tony O'Shea 4–2 Martin Phillips, Martin Atkins 4–2 Andy Roberts
Final (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £800, Best of 9 legs) Tony O Shea 5–4 Martin Atkins
German Open in
Bochum, April 18. Matches played in
sets, three legs per set.
Quarter-Finals (Losers €240) John Henderson 2–0 Martin Adams, Robbie Green 2–0 Garry Thompson, Robert Wagner 2–1 Steve West, Stephen Bunting 2–0 Ian White
Semi-Finals (Losers €480) John Henderson 2–1 Robbie Green, Stephen Bunting 2–0 Robert Wagner
Final (Winner €2,400 Runner-up €1,200) John Henderson 3–2 Stephen Bunting
Welsh Open at
Pontins in
Prestatyn, May 17. Matches played in
sets, five legs per set.
Quarter-Finals (Losers £250) Ross Montgomery 3–1 Martin Atkins, Dougie Smith 3–0 Wayne Brown, Stuart Kellet 3–1 Brian Derbyshire, Mark Barilli 3–0 Steve West
Semi-Finals (Losers £600) Ross Montgomery 2–1 Dougie Smith, Mark Barilli 2–1 Stuart Kellet
Final (Winner £2,500 Runner-up £1,200) Ross Montgomery 3–0 Mark Barilli
Quarter-Finals (Losers £150, Best of 5 legs) Colin Fowler 3–2 Martin Adams, Dave Chisnall 3–1 Alan Norris, Paul Hanvidge 3–2 Daryl Gurney, Martin Atkins 3–1 John Henderson
Semi-Finals (Losers £400, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Dave Chisnall 2–1 Colin Fowler, Martin Atkins 2–1 Paul Hanvidge
Final (Winner ££3,000 Runner-up £1,000, Best of 3 sets, 5 legs per set) Dave Chisnall 2–0 Martin Atkins
WDF Category 2 Events
German Gold Cup, January 25 (Winner €840, Runner-up €420) Kevin Munch 3–1 Jan Dekker
England Classic, February 1 Scott Mitchell 3–0 Steve Douglas
Dortmund Open, February 15 Gino Vos 3–1 Ronny Huybrechts
Isle of Man Open, March 15 (Winner £5,000) Darryl Fitton beat Ted Hankey
Virginia Beach Dart Classic, March 21 (Winner $1,200, Runner-up $600) Brad Wethington beat Joselito Moises
Open Holland, April 26 (Winner €2,500, Runner-up €1,000) Mareno Michels 3–2 Mark Barilli
Antwerp Open, May 24 (Winner €2,500, Runner-up €1,000) Ian White 3–0 Ted Hankey
BDO International Open, June 14 (Winner £2,000, Runner-up £600) Tony O'Shea 4–0 Ted Hankey
Canadian Open, June 26 (Winner C$1000, Runner-up C$500) Jerry Hull beat Rodney Spencer
England Open, June 28 (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £1,000) Ted Hankey 5–0 Tony O'Shea
Malaysian Open, July 4 (Winner
RM2,000 Runner-up
RM1,000) Clarines Joseph beat Mohd Latif Sapup
Australian Grand Masters, July 5 (Winner A$2,900 Runner-up $1,400) Anthony Fleet 5–3 Shane Tichowitsch
England Masters, July 19 (Winner £1,200 Runner-up £600) Brian Woods 5–0 Dave Chisnall
British Classic, July 25 (Winner £2,000 Runner-up £500) Stephen Bunting 2–1 Scott Waites
Pacific Masters, July 25 (Winner A$1,100 Runner-up A$600) Anthony Fleet 6–2 Neil Hembrow
New Zealand Open, August 5 Koha Kokiri 5–0 Eddie Toms
Belgium Open, August 9 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,200) John Henderson 2–0 John Walton
Didam Open, August 23 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) John Henderson 3–0 Tony West
Tops of Holland, October 25 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) Brian Woods 3–2 Steve West
Northern Ireland Open, November 8 (Winner £1,600 Runner-up £750) Martin Atkins 2–0 Willy van de Wiel
Flanders Open, November 15 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) John Walton 3–1 Steve West
Center Parcs Masters, November 29 (Winner €2,500 Runner-up €1,000) Martin Adams 3–1 Frans Harmsen