eve of the World Masters. Fabian Roosenbrand, Michael Rosenauer, Glenn Moody and Mike Veitch are the qualifiers with Ian Jones the standby player. 16 – The PDPA qualifiers for the 2008 PDC World Championship are held in Wolverhampton. Several legend players including Eric Bristow and John Lowe all fail to qualify with Steve Maish, Jan van der Rassel, Colin Monk, Steve Evans, Jamie Caven, Steve Hine, Kirk Shepherd and Jason Barry the successful qualifiers. 17 – John Walton hits the first nine dart finish in the 34-year history of the Winmau World Masters on the opening day of the televised stages. The feat is captured by BBC cameras but not shown live as it happened in the last 16 before coverage began. 17 – The Grand Slam of Darts gets underway in Wolverhampton – a surprise defeat for number three seed Gary Anderson was the upset of the first group matches. 18 – Robert Thornton surprises the field by clinching the 2007 Winmau World Masters in Bridlington. He beat Martin Adams, Martin Atkins and Darryl Fitton on his way to the title. 20 – The group stage in the Grand Slam of Darts ends – of the top eight seeds, only Michael van Gerwen fails to reach the last 16. 23 – Bob Potter, owner of the Lakeside Country Club announces an extension of their sponsorship of the BDO World Darts Championship until 2010. The Lakeside have sponsored the event since the ban on tobacco advertising came in after the 2003 championships. 25 – Phil Taylor wins the Grand Slam of Darts by beating Andy Hamilton 18–11 in the final to capture the £80,000 prize and become the first winner of the competition. 25 – Shaun Greatbatch wins the Swedish Open with a 4–1 victory over fellow Englishman Dave Prins. Greatbatch had beaten new World Masters winner Robert Thornton 4–2 in the last four. Sweden's Carina Ekberg beat Norway's Rachna David 4–3 for the women's title. 25 – The €10,000 top prize at the Glencairn International Classic is won by Mario Robbe in Castleblayney, Rep. Ireland. He beat Mike Veitch 8 legs to 4 in the final. Russia's Anastasia Dobromyslova took the €3,000 prize and women's title beating England's Trina Gulliver by 6 legs to 2. 26 – The draw is made for the PDC World Championship and sees Phil Taylor drawn against Michael van Gerwen in the first round.