2016 Champions League of Darts

2016 Unibet Champions League of Darts
Tournament information
Dates	24–25 September 2016
Venue	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Location	Cardiff
Country	Wales
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£250,000
Winner's share	£100,000
High checkout	167 Phil Taylor (group stage, second match)
Champion(s)
Phil Taylor
2017»

The 2016 Champions League of Darts, also known as the Unibet Champions League of Darts for sponsorship purposes, was the inaugural staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It took place from 24–25 September 2016 at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales. Phil Taylor won, defeating Michael van Gerwen 11–5 in the final.^[1]

Format

The eight qualifying entrants were first split into two groups of four, playing each other once in best of 19-legged matches. The top two players in each group then proceeded to a knockout stage of two semi-finals and a final, all best of 21 legs.

Qualifiers

Only the top eight players on the PDC Order of Merit on 12 August 2016 qualified for the tournament; they were:

1. Michael van Gerwen (runner-up)
2. Gary Anderson (semi-finals)
3. Adrian Lewis (group stage)
4. Phil Taylor (winner)
5. Peter Wright (group stage)
6. James Wade (semi-finals)
7. Michael Smith (group stage)
8. Robert Thornton (group stage)

Prize fund

The prize money was distributed as follows:^[2]

Stage (number of players)		Prize money (Total: £250,000)
Winner	(1)	£100,000
Runner-up	(1)	£50,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£25,000
Third in group stage	(2)	£15,000
Fourth in group stage	(2)	£10,000

Results

Group stage

^[3][4]

All matches first-to-10 (best of 19 legs)

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; Q = Qualified for K.O. phase

Group A Pos. Player P W L LF LA +/– Pts 1 Phil Taylor (4) 3 3 0 30 11 +19 6 2 Michael van Gerwen (1) 3 2 1 24 20 +4 4 3 Peter Wright (5) 3 1 2 20 26 –6 2 4 Robert Thornton (8) 3 0 3 13 30 –17 0

24 September 102.66 (4) Phil Taylor 10 – 5 (5) Peter Wright 97.70 97.30 (1) Michael van Gerwen 10 – 5 (8) Robert Thornton 91.10 24 September 104.13 (1) Michael van Gerwen 4 – 10 (4) Phil Taylor 107.49 94.30 (5) Peter Wright 10 – 6 (8) Robert Thornton 90.80 25 September 108.31 (4) Phil Taylor 10 – 2 (8) Robert Thornton 100.62 100.27 (1) Michael van Gerwen 10 – 5 (5) Peter Wright 94.85

Group B Pos. Player P W L LF LA +/− Pts 1 Gary Anderson (2) 3 3 0 30 18 +12 6 2 James Wade (6) 3 2 1 28 18 +10 4 3 Adrian Lewis (3) 3 1 2 18 28 –10 2 4 Michael Smith (7) 3 0 3 18 30 –12 0

24 September 96.86 (2) Gary Anderson 10 – 5 (7) Michael Smith 87.65 97.48 (3) Adrian Lewis 3 – 10 (6) James Wade 103.49 24 September 95.85 (3) Adrian Lewis 10 – 8 (7) Michael Smith 87.28 94.62 (2) Gary Anderson 10 – 8 (6) James Wade 90.66 25 September 103.03 (6) James Wade 10 – 5 (7) Michael Smith 95.30 91.18 (2) Gary Anderson 10 – 5 (3) Adrian Lewis 92.01

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) 25 September[5]					Final (best of 21 legs) 25 September[5]
	A1	Phil Taylor (4) 98.38	11
	B2	James Wade (6) 94.66	3
						A1	Phil Taylor (4) 98.97	11
						A2	Michael van Gerwen (1) 100.92	5
	B1	Gary Anderson (2) 96.22	5
	A2	Michael van Gerwen (1) 105.67	11

Broadcasting

In the United Kingdom, the event was televised by the BBC. The first group games were televised on BBC One; and, from the second group games onwards, BBC Two. Jason Mohammad presented coverage with Paul Nicholson, Mark Webster, and Alan Warriner-Little being the analysts. Vassos Alexander, Dan Dawson, Nicholson, and Warriner-Little were the match commentators.

References

1. "Champions League of Darts: Phil Taylor beats Michael van Gerwen in final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
2. "2016 Champions League of Darts Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
3. "Champions League Groups Announced". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
4. "2016 Champions League of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
5. "Stunning Taylor's Champions League Glory". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.