2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic

The 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic was the seventh installment of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was held in the evenings (GMT, morning local time/PST) between June 30 and July 6.

Phil Taylor emerged as the champion, in all but one match posting above a 100 average, beating James Wade in the final. This was his fourth Desert Classic title, having bounced back from a first round defeat to Mark Dudbridge in the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic.

Last year's champion Raymond van Barneveld was looking to retain his title but he was knocked out in the second round by Alan Tabern.

A total prize fund of £126,400 was available for the tournament, unchanged from the previous year.

Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

The tournament began with veteran Dennis Priestley defeating Co Stompé 6-2. This was Stompé's debut in a televised PDC tournament having moved over from the British Darts Organisation a month earlier. Last year's runner-up and the fifth seed Terry Jenkins also defeated top Irish player Mick McGowan 6-4 - having led 3-0 Jenkins then slumped to allow McGowan to take the match to 4-4. However, Jenkins rallied and took the last two legs to win the match.

An upset was caused in the next match as 27-year-old Adrian Gray defeated Wayne Mardle, twice runner-up in the competition. Gray, who twice has reached the second round here before, checked out impressive finishes of 156 and 126 on the bullseye on his way to a 6-4 victory. Another upset also took place as fourth seed, world champion, and winner of this event in 2006, John Part, was defeated by Mervyn King 6-4. Neither player played at their best, both averaging below 90 despite hitting 8 180's between them.

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