Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey: SATURDAY, JANUARY 5TH to SUNDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 2008
                                                                       
The 31st consecutive BDO World Professional Darts Championship will maintain its proud tradition with a 2008 Lakeside line-up that will include World Champions, top ranked BDO players, and a host of faces new to the most famous stage in World Darts at Lakeside Country Club.

Players from thirty-two countries have participated down to the final stages of the 2008 Men’s World Pro, and the sixteen seeded players include three World Champions: Reigning 2007 Champion MARTIN ADAMS, 2000 Champion TED HANKEY and 2001 Champion JOHN WALTON, plus four Dutch stars: CO STOMPE, MARIO ROBBE, NIELS de RUITER and, making his World Pro debut, EDWIN MAX.

There is also a welcome return for TONY DAVID, the first ever Australian to win the title in 2002, as well as World Pro debuts for England’s mercurial SCOTT WAITES (making his Lakeside entrance asNo.3 Seed), STEVE WEST and ANDY BOULTON, Canada’s No.1 CARL MERCER, and joining his fellow countrymen, Dutch debutant REMCO van EIJDEN.

MARK WEBSTER, the newly crowned Prince of Welsh Darts, made his Lakeside debut in the 2007 World Pro, and returns in 2008 as the No.1 Seed after an amazing season when, as well as winning the Welsh Open, Welsh Classic and Canada Open, he has been crowned both WDF Europe Cup and WDF World Cup Singles Champion.

Scotland’s GARY ANDERSON has also had a great year to maintain his No.2 Seeding from 2007, including outstanding victories in the two major Dutch tournaments - the IDL and WDT.  And England’s SCOTT WAITES makes his Lakeside debut as No.3 Seed, having won both the Dutch Open and Welsh Masters this year.

 The players who have qualified for invitation to the First Round Proper of the 2008 Men’s World Professional Darts Championship, in Seed and alphabetical order, are as follows:

SEEDED PLAYERS:

No.1:              MARK WEBSTER (Wales)
No.2:              GARY ANDERSON (Scotland)                           
No.3:              SCOTT WAITES (England)
No.4:              MARTIN ADAMS (England)
No.5:              TONY O’SHEA (England)
No.6:              CO STOMPE (Netherlands)
No.7:              TED HANKEY (England)
No.8:              GARY ROBSON (England)
No.9:              DARRYL FITTON (England)
No.10:            MARTIN ATKINS (England)
No.11:            BRIAN WOODS (England)
No.12:            JOHN WALTON (England)
No.13:            SHAUN GREATBATCH (England)
No.14:            MARIO ROBBE (Netherlands)
No.15:            EDWIN MAX (Netherlands)
No.16:            NIELS DE RUITER (Netherlands)

Unseed Players (Alphabetical)

Andy Boulton (England)                           
Tony David (Australia)
Remco van Eijden (Netherlands)
Steve Farmer (England)
Paul Hanvidge (Scotland)
Carl Mercer (Canada)                                            
Phill Nixon (England)
Martin Phillips (Wales)
Davy Richardson (England)
Steve West (England)
Simon Whitlock (Australia)                                   

PLUS:

Winmau World Masters 2007 Men’s Champion/or Standby player.
Four Qualifiers from the International Play-Offs at Leisure World, Bridlington on November 15th.

For the first time since its inception in 2001, the Women’s World Pro will not have Trina Gulliver as No.1 Seed. Despite winning the Dutch Open, Welsh Open and British Pentathlon for the third consecutive year, she is No.2 Seed in 2008.

The Women players, who have qualified for invitation to the 8th consecutive Women’s World Professional Championship are:

Seeded Players:

No.1:   FRANCIS HOENSELAAR (Netherlands)
No.2:   TRINA GULLIVER (England)      
No.3:   KARIN KRAPPEN (Netherlands)
No.4   ANASTASIA DOBROMYSLOVA (Russia)
           
Unseeded Players:

Julie Gore (Wales)
2007 Winmau World Masters Women’s Champion/or Standby
Plus two Qualifiers from the International Play-Offs.

There will be more than fifty hours of coverage over nine consecutives day on BBC TV, including live darts every day, and a variety of daytime and evening  recorded highlights and features to suit the lifestyles of all viewers.

Every dart thrown can be seen at the touch of the red-button on remote controls by BBCi digital viewers.

With comprehensive coverage on SBS-6 in Holland and throughout Europe on Eurosport, plus global sales to some 70 countries via BBC Worldwide, the 2008 Lakeside World Professional will be seen by the largest combined TV audience for darts in the world.

Staged and promoted by the British Darts Organisation, the World Pro is sponsored and staged at  ‘the home of World Darts’,  Lakeside Country Club from Saturday, January 5th to Sunday, January 13th, 2008.