World Series of Darts (2006 tournament)
The World Series of Darts was a professional darts tournament held from 19 to 21 May 2006 at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. It was the first and only edition of the competition, which was established by the Professional Darts Corporation to captalise on the potentially large North American market. It was the second of four PDC non-ranking events in the 2006 season and featured 32 players: 16 Americans and 16 from the PDC. There was a $1,000,000 bonus to the winner of the tournament if they were from the United States.
Phil Taylor, the 13-time world champion, defeated Adrian Lewis 13 legs to five in the final, which was the latter's first appearance in the final of a major broadcast tournament. Taylor defeated the qualifier Tim O'Gorman in the first round, Terry Jenkins in the second round, Mark Dudbridge in the quarter-finals and Ronnie Baxter in the semi-finals. John Part, the two-time world champion, achieved the tournament's highest checkout, a 161, in the seventh leg of his first round loss to the qualifier and American number one John Kuczynski.
Background and format
The World Series of Darts was announced in The New York Times in October 2005 as a "made-for-television darts championship". It was launched in early 2006 by Barry Hearn, the sports promoter and chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, and the executive producer Michael Davies, to capitalise on the potentially large North American market. It came following the success of the Las Vegas Desert Classic since it was first held in 2002. The tournament was held from 19 to 21 May 2006 in Uncasville, Connecticut, and was the second of four non-ranking PDC-sanctioned events in the 2006 season. It was the only edition of the competition, which became the US Open in 2007, and featured a 32-player main draw at the Mohegan Sun Resort.A total of 16 PDC players automatically qualified for the tournament based on their position in the PDC world rankings following the 2006 PDC World Darts Championship. There were 16 seeds: Colin Lloyd, the PDC world number one, was the first seed and Phil Taylor, the 13-time world champion, was seeded second. 12 places were decided by a series of qualifiers in the United States between 4 February and 19 April and the remaining 4 spots were decided in a competition at the Mohegan Sun Resort on 19 May. The maximum number of legs played in a match increased from 11 in the first and second rounds to 17 in the quarter-finals and 21 in the semi-finals, leading up to the final which was contested as best-of-25 legs.
The tournament was broadcast in the United States on ESPN and later ESPN2 as a eight programme one-hour highlights package in primetime throughout July and August 2006. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports broadcast a weekly highlights series of the tournament from August to October.
Prize fund
The event had a total prize fund of $300,000, with a special bonus of $1,000,000 given to an American champion because of British dominance in world darts. $100,000 was offered to the champion if they were an international PDC player. The breakdown of prize money is shown below:- US Winner: $1,000,000
- PDC Winner: $100,000
- Runner-up: $48,000
- Semi-final : $20,000
- Quarter-final : $10,000
- Second-round : $5,000
- First round : $2,000
- Total: $300,000
Qualification
The two-stage Mohegan Sun Resort tournament "Friday Night Madness" was held late on 19 May. Players had to be an citizen of the United States and aged 21 or over; those who partook in a previous qualifier were allowed to enter. 256 competitors played within a 32-board setup in the arena. The first stage saw players attempt to achieve as low a score as possible in the fewest throws. The 16 players with the lowest overall scores including tiebreaks advanced to stage two, which was a single-elimination, bracket system and best-of-seven leg matches with no seeds. The four winners of stage two progressed to the main draw.
Tournament summary
Round 1
The draw for the first round of the championship was conducted by the tournament director Tommy Cox and the players Lloyd and Taylor on 27 April. The first round of the competition, in which 32 players participated, took place on 20 May. Lloyd began the event with a 7–2 win over Isen Veljic on the double 10 ring after losing the first leg of the match to the latter. Adrian Lewis averaged 81.98 over three throws in his 6–0 whitewash of Jim Widmayer before fellow qualifier Tom Curtin achieved a 95 checkout in his 6–1 loss to Andy Jenkins. The fourth game of the tournament, which was between Denis Ovens and Bill Davis, began with both players sharing the opening two legs. Ovens took the following three legs before Davis drew to within one leg behind at 5–4. Ovens defeated Davis 6–4 on the double five ring on his final throw. Peter Manley made checkouts of 116 and 142 to go 3–1 ahead before his opponent Ray Carver lowered the gap to 4–3. Manley took the next two legs without Carver responding to win 6–3. Mark Walsh, the 2005 UK Open finalist, led 4–0 over Friday Night Madness qualifier Jeff Russell, before his opponent made checkouts of 54 and 121 to go 4–3 behind. The next two legs were shared before Walsh achieved a 115 checkout to defeat Russell 6–4.Roland Scholten produced checkouts of 91 and 76 along with a finish on the double top ring to lead Roger Carter 3–0. Carter won a single leg on the double 16 ring in the fourth before Scholten took three legs in succession for a 6–1 victory. Dennis Priestley, the two-time world champion, won 6–1 over Joe Efter with five legs in a row including a 110 checkout in leg two; Efter took leg six with a 103 checkout completed on the double 18 ring. Tim O'Gorman lost 6–2 to Taylor, who achieved a three-dart average of 96.05, before Terry Jenkins led Tim Grossman 3–1 and overcame a mid-game challenge from the latter to claim a 6–4 victory on the double 20 ring on his final throw. The world number six Kevin Painter defeated World Championship and World Matchplay entrant Jim Watkins 6–3. Leading 3–1, the fifth and six legs were shared before Painter finished leg nine on the double 18 ring to win the match. Mark Dudbridge, a former World Championship finalist, made checkouts of 101 and 66 and a finish on the double 20 ring to whitewash Joe Slivan 6–0.
Wayne Mardle, the number six seed, beat Dave DePriest 6–3. Mardle won the first two legs of the match without a response before DePriest took legs three and four to level at 2–2. Mardle took three legs in succession and DePriest finished on the double 8 ring in leg eight. Mardle completed the win on the double 4 ring in the ninth leg. John Kuczynski, the United States number one, was the only American to go through to the next round with a 6–5 win over John Part, the two-time world champion. The first two legs were shared before Part led 2–1 and then 4–2, which included a checkout of 161 in leg seven. Both players took the match to a final leg decider that Kuczynski won with his second throw to the double 20 ring. World number three Ronnie Baxter and Brad Wethington exchanged the first two legs of their match before Baxter won five legs in succession for a 6–1 victory, which included a 104 checkout in leg four. The final match of the first round saw Alan Warriner-Little make the tournament's third whitewash with a 6–0 defeat of Joe Chaney.
Round 2
The second round was held from 20 to 21 May; because of time constraints, four second round matches were staged on 20 May. Lewis defeated Lloyd 6–5 in a match that went to a final leg decider. Lewis won leg one before Lloyd took two in a row for the lead. After a short interval for checks to the air conditioning, Lewis took a 5–3 lead before the game went to 5–5 and won it on the double 12 ring. Ovens came from 3–1 behind Jenkins to tie the match at 3–3. Jenkins made a maximum score en route to winning leg seven before Ovens took three legs in a row to defeat the former 6–4 with a 56 checkout achieved in two throws. Manley led Walsh 5–1 from four finishes on the double 20 ring and a 116 checkout in leg five. Walsh achieved a Shanghai to claim leg seven after Manley failed five times to secure the win. Manley finished on the double 10 ring at his second throw in leg seven to win 6–2. Priestley held off Scholten to win 6–4. The first three legs were won by Priestley and Scholten the fourth. The game went to 5–3 before Priestley secured the win in leg ten with a finish on the double 2 ring.Taylor won the first three legs of his game against Jenkins before the latter took three of the next four to return to contention. He took the eighth leg with a checkout of 76 and won the match 6–4 from 11 throws in leg nine. Dudbridge defeated Painter 6–5 in a match that concluded with a final leg decider. Painter took the opening two legs, which included a 107 checkout in the second. The following three legs were shared before Dudbridge lowered the gap to 4–3 and then tied the match in leg eight. Dudbridge took the ninth leg and Painter the tenth on the double 16 ring. The final leg saw Dudbridge win with a 64 checkout completed on the double 16 ring. Mardle led the game against Kuczynski 4–1 before the latter made a 119 checkout finished on the bullseye ring to reduce the deficit by two legs. The seventh leg was won by Mardle on his final throw and the eighth by Kuczynski on the double 20 ring. Mardle secured a 6–3 victory to eliminate the last American player in the tournament. The final match of the second round saw Baxter overcome Warriner-Little for a 6–4 victory.
Quarter-finals
All four quarter-finals were played to the best-of-17 legs took place on 21 May. Lewis and Ovens played the first quarter-final. Ovens led 5–4 as Lewis achieved checkouts of 120, 84 and 74. He claimed leg 11 to put himself 6–5 in front before Lewis took the lead with a 75 checkout in the 13th leg after the former twice failed to finish on the double 16 ring. A finish on the double 20 ring gave Lewis leg 14 and he won 9–6 with a 108 checkout completed on the double 18 ring. Manley and Priestley were in the second quarter-final. The match went to 6–5 in Priestley's favour after he took four legs in succession before Manley achieved a finish on the double 10 ring to tie the match after Priestley failed to hit a double ring. Priestley retook the lead with a 124 checkout on the bullseye ring in the 13th leg before Manley again tied by finishing on the double 20 ring after Priestley failed to hit a double ring. Priestley followed up by finishing on the double 20 ring twice in the following two legs to defeat Manley 9–7.The third quarter-final was contested between Dudbridge and Taylor. Trailing 2–1, Dudbridge produced checkouts of 126 and 64 to take a 3–2 advantage. Taylor claimed the following five legs without a response from Dudbridge from checkouts of 73, 99 and 88 to lead 7–3. Dudbridge reduced Taylor's lead to one leg with a finish on the double 20 ring in leg 11 and two maximum scores in the 12th. Taylor claimed the 14th leg to end Dudbridge's challenge and the 15th in 12 throws to beat his opponent 9–6. The last quarter-final was played by Baxter and Mardle. Baxter appeared set for a comfortable victory as he held a 7–1 advantage over Mardle which included a finish on the double 20 ring and a 97 checkout entering the interval. Mardle took the leg nine with a finish on the double 20 ring and the 10th with a 156 checkout. He won next two to go 7–5 behind before he failed four times to win leg 13, which Baxter took. Baxter failed to win the match in the 14th leg and allowed Mardle to finish on the double 6 ring. The next leg saw Baxter complete a checkout of 121 on the double 18 ring for a 9–6 victory.
Semi-finals and final
Both of the semi-finals on 21 May were best-of-21 legs. Lewis and Priestley played the first semi-final. The first three legs were won by Lewis from a 93 checkout in the first and finishes of 11 and 12 throws in legs two and three. Priestley won his sole leg of the game in leg four with a finish on the double 8 ring. Lewis had a 5–1 advantage he extended with a maximum score for the seventh leg in 14 throws. He averaged almost 104 and had a 58 per cent finishing record on the double rings in the next three legs to lead 9–1 at the interval. Lewis' average fell to 98.72 in the following two legs to win them and beat Priestley 11–1 to qualify for the first major broadcast final of his career.The second semi-final was between Baxter and Taylor. Both players shared the opening two legs before Taylor achieved a checkout of 125 in the third leg and a finish on the double 12 leg in the fourth to lead Baxter 3–1. Checkouts of 69 and 65 won Baxter the following two legs to equalise at 3–3. The next two legs were shared before Taylor won three in a row to be 7–4 ahead. Baxter took leg 12 from a 90 checkout on the bullseye ring. Taylor took the next four legs without response to win 11–5 against Baxter on a 160 checkout and the second berth in the final.
The best-of-25 legs final between Lewis and Taylor took place on the same day. Taylor won the first leg with a 126 checkout and the following four to lead 5–0. Lewis compiled maximum scores as he took legs six and seven and Taylor won three legs in a row to increase his lead to 8–2. A checkout of 74 on the bullseye ring won Lewis leg 11 and Taylor took the 12th with a 158 checkout. Taylor moved further ahead with a finish on the double 16 ring in the 13th leg before Lewis achieved a finish on the double 4 ring in leg 14. Taylor claimed two more legs before Lewis won leg 15 on the double 4 ring after Taylor twice failed to hit the double 12 ring. Taylor compiled a maximum score and completed a 78 checkout on the double 10 ring to win the match 13–5 and the tournament.
Taylor achieved a three-dart average of 102.72 and earned $100,000 prize money for winning the competition. He commented on the win: "I’m thrilled to have won this. It was hard for both me and Adrian in the final because we’re very close, and he played brilliantly. I knew I couldn’t let him in and I had to be better than anything he threw at me." Lewis said of his loss to Taylor: "I was looking forward to the final but it was hard to concentrate because it was Phil. But I'll learn from this and I'm confident I can get a different result the next time we meet."