2009 Championship League Darts
The 2009 Championship League Darts is the second edition of a darts competition—the Championship League Darts. The competition is organized and held by the Professional Darts Corporation and has a maximum prize fund of £189,000. The format of the tournament is similar to the Premier League Darts tournament, also organized by the PDC, except it is contested by a larger pool of players who are split up into a number of groups. Every match was watched on one of the ten bookmaker websites who broadcast the competition. The tournament was also available globally through  the internet, except in the United States of America where it wasn't shown for legal reasons. Format. The first group consisted of the top eight players from the PDC Order of Merit who were available for the competition. These eight players played each other over the course of a day and receive points for their performance. A win earned a player two points, unlike 2008 there was no draws. All matches were contested over 11 legs with a player winning the match when the reach 6 legs. When all players have played each other, the four players with the  most points progressed to the semi-finals with the winners of those matches progressing into the final. The winner of the final progressed to the winners group which took place at the end of the competition. The runner-up, losing semi-finalists and the players finishing fifth and sixth moved into group two, where they were joined by the next three players in the Order of Merit. The format of the second group was the same as the first group with players moving into the third group. In total there was 8 groups before the final group took place. This  format ensured that all players who do not win the group or finish in the last two positions had another chance to qualify for the winners group. Qualification. Players must have been in top 29 places in PDC Order of Merit following 2009 World Matchplay Darts in order to qualify. Thirty places used because of Raymond Van Barneveld withdrawing. PDC Order of Merit following 2008 World Matchplay Darts. 1. Phil Taylor | 2. James Wade | 3. Raymond van Barneveld | 4. John Part | 5. Terry Jenkins | 6. Mervyn King | 7. Ronnie Baxter | 8. Adrian Lewis  | 9. Colin Lloyd | 10. Alan Tabern | 11. Dennis Priestley | 12. Colin Osborne | 13. Wayne Mardle | 14. Mark Walsh | 15. Kevin Painter | 16. Andy Hamilton | 17. Robert Thornton | 18. Vincent van der Voort | 19. Denis Ovens | 20. Peter Manley | 21. Mark Dudbridge | 22. Jelle Klaasen | 23. Wayne Jones | 24. Andy Smith | 25. Roland Scholton | 26. Kirk Shepherd | 27. Co Stompé | 28. Tony Eccles | 29. Micheal van Gerwen | 30. Barrie Bates Prize money. The prize money remained the same as  last years tournament. Groups 1–8. In groups 1–8 the prize money were as follows: Group Matches – £50 per leg won Play-off Matches – £100 per leg won Winners group. In the winners group the prize money was as follows: Group Matches – £100 per leg won Play-off Matches – £200 per leg won In addition the winners group had separate prizes for the winner, runner-up and losing semi-finalists. These prizes broke down as follows: Winner – £10,000 and a place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts Runner-Up – £5,000 and a place in  the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts Losing Semi-finalists – £2,500 each Prize money won. The following table shows the amount of prize money that has been won by each player. Tournament dates. The tournament took place over 9 days throughout September and October 2008. One group were played on each day. The dates were as follows: The tournament took place at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex. Groups. The groups were as follows: Note: Bold indicates group winner, "italics" indicate the eliminated players. In groups 1–7, players were eliminated for finishing in the bottom two of the league  and in group 8, the players are eliminated for finishing in the bottom four and losing in the semi finals and the final of the Group 8 playoff. Although in the Winners Group players are out of contention for the title for failing to win outright. Results. Group One. Tuesday September 15 Group Two. Wednesday September 16 Group Three. Thursday September 17 Group Four. Tuesday September 22 Group Five. Wednesday September 23 Group Six. Thursday September 24 Group Seven. Tuesday October 20 Group Eight. Wednesday October 21 Winners Group. Thursday October 22