Please note there has been a date change for this years Japan Open in Tokyo. Due to venue problems the event will now take place on June 28th and not on April 26th.

DFA Australian Grand Prix – BDO Invitational Points and $100,000 in Prize Money for DFA Major Events

BDO Invitational Points have been awarded to seven DFA events that will carry in excess of $100,000 in prize money and rewards available to DFA and WDF players in the space of eight months from April to November 2009. This follows recent announcements that the Directors of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) approved the DFA Australian Grand Prix to carry BDO Invitational Points on its events.

The Darts Federation of Australia (DFA) has developed the Australian Grand Prix to create a circuit of seven individual tournaments into one Grand Prix circuit giving our members access to BDO points all around Australia. The Federation believes that the development of the Australian Grand Prix circuit will be attractive to players and will assist in the attraction of major sponsors as the success and publicity of the circuit grows especially within the media.

The geographical distribution of the events will provide improved access to players for attendance at an event for our western and northern based players. The Grand Prix will also encourage International participation due to the grouping of some events to coincide closely with existing BDO events in New Zealand and Asia making the long-distance travel and expense more attractive. All of these events are unique because each provides women players with their own stand-alone events. The events to establish the inaugural Australia Grand Prix circuit are:

The Victorian Open – held over the Easter long weekend in Victoria
The Australian Grand Masters – held in July in Canberra, ACT
The Central Coast Classic – held in June in Gosford, New South Wales.
The Pacific Masters – rotated to the state that hosts the Australian Championships each year.
The Australian Masters – held in Geelong, Victoria.
West Coast Classic – held in Perth, Western Australia
Australian Sunshine State Classic – held in Redlands, Queensland

“Ahh!!! Life is good. This is great news for DFA, BDO and WDF darts, and reflects the wonderful relationships we enjoy with the world’s largest and most respected darts organisation.” says new DFA President Kelvin James

“The establishment of the DFA Australian Grand Prix is a major step forward in shaping the future of Australian darts and provides our members with greater opportunities than ever before to advance to the world stage. It is important that we plan for the future, and this is an extremely positive agreement that will benefit all those concerned – in particular the players and the sport of darts”.

In addition to the prize money the number one male and female player will be awarded a place in the Winmau World Masters and International play-offs for the BDO World Professional Championships with the Airfare financed by the Federation.

“There isn’t a darts player anywhere in the world who doesn’t dream of being crowned Winmau World Master or Lakeside World Pro Champion. They are titles, which truly encapsulate all the history of World Darts, and the status that goes with them.

“World Titles do not get any bigger or more prestigious than the World Masters and World Professional – they have been looking after the future of the sport of darts since the 1970s, and will continue to do so by giving players – men, women and youth – the opportunities to develop from grass roots level, right through to National, International, World and Professional levels.”

The Victorian Open 10th – 13th of April White Eagle House, Geelong Victoria
The Central Coast Classic 27th & 28th of June Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford, New South Wales
The Australian Grand Masters 3rd – 5th of July Canberra Labor Club, Canberra, ACT
The Pacific Masters 25th of July Redland Bay Multi Sports Complex, Birkdale Queensland
The Australian Masters Weekend 17th & 18th October White Eagle House, Geelong Victoria
Australian Sunshine State Classic 24th & 25th of October Redland Bay Multi Sports Complex, Birkdale Queensland
West Coast Classic 21st & 22nd of November Gloucester Park, Perth, Western Australia

Zuiderduin Masters 2009

After a lot of thought and debating the tournaments for the ranking tables for this years Zuiderduin Masters have been decided. The final list being as follows:

1.British Open
2.French Open
3.THIALF OPEN
4.Czech Open
5.FLANDERS OPEN
6.PRIMUS MASTERS
7.Winmau World Masters
8.Zuiderduin Masters
9.Lakeside World Pro
10.Dutch Open
11.Scotland Open
12.Isle of Man Open
13.German Open
14.Open Holland
15.Open Wales
16.Antwerp Open
17.Swiss Open
18.England Open
19.British Classic
20.Belgium Open
21.Didam International Open

The three tournaments in bold lettering will not count towards this years qualification ( 2009 ) as they are new tournaments into the WDF/BDO circuit and have already been played. The remaining tournaments will all carry points towards automatic qualification into this years Zuiderduin Masters.

A new and updated ranking list is available by clicking on the menu above under `Tables`.

2009 International Grand Prix Of The Lowlands

The first ever International Grand Prix Of The Lowlands will comprise six tournaments – three in The Netherlands and three in Belgium – all benefiting from BDO and WDF Invitation points and a combined prize fund of 120,000 Euros. The six tournaments in 2009 are:

OPEN HOLLAND: April 24th, 25th and 26th April (www.openholland.nl)
ANTWERP OPEN: May 22nd, 23rd and 24th May (www.open-antwerpen.be)
DIDAM INTERNATIONAL OPEN: Aug 21st, 22nd & 23rd 23rd (www.didaminternationalopen.nl)
THIALF OPEN: October 23rd, 24th and 25th (www.thialfopen.nl)
OPEN FLANDERS: November 13th, 14th and 15th (www.bdbdarts.be)
PRIMUS MASTERS: November 27th, 28th and 29th

All events will start on Friday evenings with a team tournament comprising teams of 4 players (at least one of whom must be a woman). Saturday will be for the Pairs events (women, men and mixed) and on each Sunday the Boys and Girls Singles and the Men’s and Women’s Singles will bring each event to a conclusion.

All tournaments have a WDF Category 2 status and will offer the same prize fund of 18,700 Euro. The BDO has created a separate category (C) for the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands.

For an overview of those categories refer to the websites of the WDF (www.dartswdf.com) and BDO (www.bdodarts.com). The ranking of the six tournaments of the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands has its own points allocation table, which can be found on its own website, www.grandprixofthelowlands.nl.

In addition, the first four men and first woman in the Grand Prix Of The Lowlands Ranking table will qualify to participate in the Zuiderduin Masters (www.zuiderduinmasters.nl). However, if any of those players are already qualified through their positions in the Zuiderduin Masters ranking table, the promoters will choose additional players. These additional players will be chosen from the Zuiderduin Masters ranking tables.

Each winner (including youth) in each of the six tournaments will also earn the right to participate at the Winmau World Masters, and the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Singles will also have the right to participate in the International Play-Offs for the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships.

The overall ranking tables for the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands will also benefit from a yearly prize fund of 10.000 Euro each ranking season. This ranking period will be from November 1st to October 31st each year.

The full Prize money of 10.000 Euros will only be available when all 6 tournaments are played. This will be in the 2010 season. For this season (1st. April – 31st October 2009) only 4 events will be played in the Lowlands Grand Prix. Therefore the prize fund will be based on 4 events and will be approx 6.500 Euros.

In a complete season (2010) the prize fund of the tournaments, together with the bonuses for the ranking tables positions will provide 120,000 Euros of available prize money to players.

This new series of tournaments is a collaboration between The Netherlands Darts Bond. the Belgian Darts Bond and the organisers of the only world class tournament in The Netherlands, the Zuiderduin Masters.

Only players eligible to play at the Winmau World Masters and Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships, are allowed to enter the singles events of the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands.

The tournaments will be played under the auspices of the National Organisation of the country in which the event takes place (BDB for Belgium and NDB for the Netherlands), and WDF rules and additional rules of the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands, will apply. The latter will be published on its website and on the websites of the different organisations.

More information about the International Grand Prix of the Lowlands ranking can be found on its website: www.grandprixofthelowlands.nl