# 2008 Premier League Darts

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.

## 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 |
| SECC 31 January | Plymouth Pavilions 7 February | MEN Arena 14 February | Ricoh Arena 21 February | Bournemouth International Centre 28 February |
| Nottingham | Sheffield | Brighton | Birmingham | Aberdeen |
| Trent FM Arena 6 March | Sheffield Arena 13 March | Brighton Centre 20 March | National Indoor Arena 27 March | AECC 3 April |
| Liverpool | London | Belfast | Newcastle | Cardiff |
| Echo Arena Liverpool 10 April | Wembley Arena 17 April | Odyssey Arena 24 April | Metro Radio Arena 1 May | Cardiff International Arena 26 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
### 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

| Pos | Name | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | LF | LA | +/- | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | A | HC |
| 1 | Phil Taylor W | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 101 | 55 | +46 | 31 | 208 | 133 | 46 | 102.58 | 167 |
| 2 | James Wade RU | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 102 | 76 | +26 | 40 | 255 | 145 | 42 | 95.84 | 161 |
| 3 | Raymond van Barneveld | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 93 | 77 | +16 | 37 | 213 | 111 | 35 | 93.77 | 157 |
| 4 | Adrian Lewis | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 80 | 92 | −12 | 30 | 197 | 102 | 38 | 90.94 | 170 |
| 5 | Wayne Mardle | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 82 | 96 | −14 | 31 | 218 | 139 | 32 | 90.76 | 123 |
| 6 | Peter Manley | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 85 | 97 | −12 | 30 | 288 | 147 | 21 | 92.84 | 160 |
| 7 | Terry Jenkins | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 79 | 97 | −18 | 23 | 269 | 109 | 28 | 91.72 | 161 |
| 8 | John Part | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 73 | 101 | −28 | 28 | 190 | 116 | 31 | 94.38 | 157 |
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

### Streaks

| Player | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | SF | F |
| Phil Taylor | L | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| James Wade | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | L |
| Raymond van Barneveld | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | — |
| Adrian Lewis | W | L | D | W | D | L | L | W | — | — | L | L | W | L | D | D | L | — |
| Wayne Mardle | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | D | — | — |
| Peter Manley | D | D | L | W | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | D | L | — | — |
| Terry Jenkins | L | L | W | W | W | D | L | L | L | D | — | — | L | D | L | L | — | — |
| John Part | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | — | — |
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)