
Barneveld with 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic Trophy
The '2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic' (also billed as 'Las Vegas Desert Classic VI') was the sixth time that the
Professional Darts Corporation stage the prestigious darts tournament. The tournament was held at the
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for the second successive year and was staged between
July 2 and
July 8, televised on Sky Sports from
July 4 - there was no title sponsor for the event after PartyPoker.net's sponsorship lasted for just one year.
The opening day of the tournament saw a few surprise results - none more so than when
Mark Dudbridge stunned three-time Desert Classic champion
Phil Taylor 6-5. Dudbridge became only the second player to beat Taylor on Sky Television since his
World Grand Prix defeat to
Andy Callaby in October 2004.
Raymond van Barneveld secured his third major PDC title of the year adding to his
World Championship and
UK Open successes by beating
Terry Jenkins in the final.
Prize money
The prize fund increases for the 2007 event to a total of £126,400.
★ Champion £20,000
★ Runner-up £10,500
★ Semi Finalists £7,000
★ Quarter Finalists £5,000
★ Second Round Losers £3,000
★ First Round Losers £2,000
★ Qualifying event prize fund £6,400.
Results
A random draw was held after each round meaning no
seedings were applied.
Television coverage
Sky Sports broadcast the event live in the UK & Ireland for the 6th year running. The final between van Barneveld & Jenkins achieved viewing figures of 82,000 - although that was surpassed by other matches during the week.
[1]
Wednesday 120,000 (SS1) & 65,000 (SS2)
Thursday 90,000 (SS1) & 115,000 (SS2)
Friday unavailable
Saturday 87,000 (SS2)
Sunday 82,000 (SS1)
Qualification
Following the
2007 UK Open at the beginning of June, top 12 players of the PDC Order of Merit became the automatic qualifiers for the sixth Desert Classic. They are
Phil Taylor,
Raymond van Barneveld,
Colin Lloyd,
Peter Manley,
Terry Jenkins,
Dennis Priestley,
Adrian Lewis,
Wayne Mardle,
Roland Scholten,
Andy Hamilton,
James Wade and defending champion
John Part.
Four North American's qualified for the event via qualification tournaments across the United States and Canada. They were
Darin Young,
John Kuczynski,
Gary Mawson and
Gerry Convery.
16 further places were to be decided at two qualification days on the eve of the tournament itself. These qualifying events were for lower ranked
PDPA members and US residents. Eight players each day joined the automatic qualifiers in the first round of the main event.
Monday's qualifiers were Wes Newton, Steve Maish, Kevin Painter, Steve Beaton, Colin Osborne, Mervyn King, Ray Carver and Dennis Smith. Tuesday's qualifiers were Alan Tabern, Mark Dudbridge, John Ferrell, Tony Eccles, Stuart Holden, Andy Smith, Steve Smith, Vincent van der Voort.
Players Championship
On the eve of the Las Vegas Desert Classic a
PDPA Players Championship event was held on Sunday
July 1 and was won by
Raymond van Barneveld.
External links
★
Pictures from the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic
★
Tournament information and registration form
★
Results and reports Planetdarts web site