2001 PDC World Darts Championship Rod Harrington also went through, the home man winning 3–0 against Graeme Stoddart. Jamie Harvey continued his run at the Circus, defeating former champion John Lowe by 3–0. After a day off for New Year's Eve, The World Darts Championships started 2001 at the quarter-final stage. Matches now had been extended to the best of 7 sets (first to 4) for the quarter-finals and this is where the potential champions begin to show their proper darts. Phil Taylor continued his march to his 9th crown with a 4–0 whitewash of 1983 world champion Keith Deller, who played well short of
2008 World Matchplay (darts) 2008 World Matchplay (darts) The 2008 Stan James World Matchplay was the 15th annual staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 20–26 July 2008. World number three James Wade went into the competition as the defending champion and managed to reach the final for the third year in a row, but was defeated by top seed Phil Taylor 18–9 who won his ninth World Matchplay championship. <br> A total of £300,000 was available for the players, divided based on the following performances: Winner - £60,000<br>