2007 Winmau World Masters - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2007 Winmau World Masters was a darts tournament being staged by the British Darts Organisation

British Darts Organisation

The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....

at Leisure World in Bridlington

Bridlington

Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...

between November 16 and November 18, 2007. It also featured a qualifying event for the 2008 Lakeside World Professional Championship

2008 BDO World Darts Championship

*Michael Rosenauer was originally drawn to face Mark Webster, but chose to withdraw from the event to compete in the 2008 PDC World Championship. Jones had won the standby play-off at Bridlington prior to the World Masters-Statistics:- Women's Championship :...

.

History was made by John Walton

John Walton (darts player)

John Michael Walton is an English darts player who is a former World Champion. He has adopted the nickname The Boy and uses the song Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex as his walk-on theme.-Darts career:...

who became the first player to hit a perfect nine dart finish

Nine dart finish

A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...

in the tournament. The event was broadcast by the BBC, however the nine-darter was not shown live as it was achieved in the last 16 before their live coverage began.

Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...

was unable to defend his title, as he had decided to switch to rival organisation, the Professional Darts Corporation

Professional Darts Corporation

The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...

- thereby making himself ineligible under the BDO's rules.

Scotland's Robert Thornton

Robert Thornton (darts player)

Robert Thornton is a Scottish darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events after his switch from the BDO in May 2008. He won the prestigious Winmau World Masters in November 2007.-BDO career:...

surprised the field by beating Co Stompé

Co Stompé

Jacobus Wilhelm "Co" Stompé , is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. Stompé is nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance making him look like a matchstick...

, BDO world champion Martin Adams

Martin Adams

Martin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...

, Martin Atkins

Martin Atkins

Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke...

and Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton is an English professional darts player currently playing in BDO events. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses. It is one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience...

to win the title and also seal a qualifying place for the 2008 BDO World Championship

2008 BDO World Darts Championship

Controversy

Controversy hit the tournament in May when it was confirmed by the British Darts Organisation

British Darts Organisation

that the Winmau World Masters

Winmau World Masters

The Winmau World Masters is one of the longest running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments, which began in 1974 - even before the current World Professional Championship...

had been moved from its original dates of October 26–28 to a new date of November 16–18 clashing directly with the Grand Slam of Darts

Grand Slam of Darts

The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invites the best performing players from its rival the British Darts Organisation...

- a new tournament which was hoping to feature the top players from both darting organisations - the BDO and PDC

Professional Darts Corporation

.

This meant that players from the BDO were forced into a direct choice between competing at the Masters for valuable ranking points or taking their place at the Grand Slam for better prize money. BDO World Champion Martin Adams

Martin Adams

almost immediately confirmed that he would participate in the Masters. The other top BDO players who had qualified, including Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson (darts player)

Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...

, Scott Waites

Scott Waites

Scott Waites is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments organised by the British Darts Organisation.-Darts career:...

and Mark Webster

Mark Webster (darts player)

Mark Webster is a left-handed Welsh darts player who lives in Denbigh. Known as Webby, he plays in Professional Darts Corporation events, having previously won the 2008 BDO World Championship. Mark became a full time professional in 2009, having previously been a fully qualified Gas registered...

competed at the Grand Slam and missed the Masters.

Adams plus the next seven highest ranked BDO players who hadn't qualified for the Grand Slam were later given seeding positions through to the BBC televised stages of the tournament for the first time.

2007 Men's Event Results

Each set is best of 3 legs.

Highest tournament averages: Robert Thornton 96.41; Darryl Fitton 95.81; Co Stompé 95.25; Martin Adams 94.28
Highest checkouts: 170 - John Walton, Darryl Fitton
Nine dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...

: achieved by John Walton, last 16 match v Martin Phillips