declined the chance to compete in 2008, even though the two tournaments did not clash as the Masters was moved to December. Qualifiers The PDC Chairman Barry Hearn announced on 21 February 2007 that all major tournament finalists for the past two years from both the BDO and PDC will be invited to the event. Also World Championship semi-finalists from the same period would receive an invite. The tournaments used for the qualifying criteria were the two World Championships, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Masters (2006 only), UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, Premier League, World Series of Darts, International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy with the field set at 32 players. BDO players Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Shaun Greatbatch, Niels de Ruiter, Phill Nixon and Scott Waites all accepted invites to the event leaving Martin Adams (the BDO World Champion) as the only player to have rejected the opportunity to play. He participated in the 2007 Winmau World Masters instead, losing at the quarter-final stage. PDC BDO Defunct Tournaments Other qualifiers Draws Group stages All matches race-to-5/best of 9. NB in Brackets: Number = Seeds; BDO = BDO Darts player; RQ = Ranking qualifier; Q = Qualifier NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/- = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Average = 3-dart average; Pts = Points Group A 17 November 18 November 19 November Group B 17 November 18 November 19 November Group C 17 November 18 November 19 November Group D 17 November 18 November 19 November Group E 17 November 18 November 20 November Group F 17 November 18 November 20 November Group G 17 November 18 November 20 November Group H 17 November 18 November 20 November Knockout stages Statistics Television coverage The tournament was televised by ITV. The first afternoon session on 17 November, the Sunday afternoon session on 18 November, the semi-finals, and the final were all be broadcast live on ITV1. The rest of the tournament was shown live on ITV4. It was ITV's first televised darts tournament since they ceased coverage of the Winmau World Masters in 1988 – although they did show the first Clash of Champions match between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 1999. The ITV Sport team consisted of lead presenter Matt Smith, analysts Steve Beaton and Alan