The RTL7 Masters (also called the RTL7 International Masters) was a professional darts tournament held at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, between 18 and 21 March 2011. It was the second of the seven non-ranking Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events in the 2011 season. The competition was created by RTL 7 as a new darts tournament to be staged in the Netherlands and was contested by 12 players: six from the Netherlands and six foreigners in four groups of three.
Phil Taylor defeated Raymond van Barneveld by eight legs to three in the final. He achieved the highest average in a televised final of 113.6 points, improving on the record he set in the 2010 Premier League Darts final. Before his match with Van Barneveld, Taylor won his group with victories over Adrian Lewis and Terry Jenkins, beat James Wade in the quarter-finals and Gary Anderson in the semi-finals.
Background and format
RTL 7 established the RTL7 Masters as a new darts tournament to be held in the Netherlands after it acquired the rights of darts from SBS6. On 22 February 2011, RTL 7 announced the tournament would be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee, from 18 to 21 March. It was the second of seven non-ranking PDC competitions in the 2011 season, and had a total prize fund of €80,000. The tournament would be broadcast live in the Netherlands on RTL 7 with commentary from Albert Mantingh and Jacques Nieuwlaat.
A total of 12 players would enter the competition: six from the Netherlands and six from other countries. This would be the first televised darts tournament in the Netherlands to feature non-Dutch players since the 2007 World Darts Trophy. Every match was the best-of-15 legs, and all players were divided into three groups of four. If there was a tie on points in a group, the order would be determined by a game between the tied players. The first quarter-final victor would play the third quarter-final winner in the first semi-final with the second and fourth quarter-final victors in the other semi-final. The order in which the semi-finals would be held would be decided after all four quarter-finals. The final on 21 March would be contested by a Dutchman and a non-Dutch participant.
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money is shown below:
Winner: €20,000
Runner-up: €12,000
Semi-finalists (×2): €8,000
Quarter-finalists (×4): €5,000
Group stage (×4): €3,000
Total: €80,000
Group stages
Group A took place on 18 March. Co Stompé played the first match against Jelle Klaasen. Tied at 2–2, Stompé took five legs in a row as Klaasen failed to strike a double ring three times. Stompé won the game 8–3 on his sixth try at finishing on the double seven ring. The next match featured Stompé and the 2004 UK Open winner Roland Scholten. Stompé achieved finishes on the double 4 and top rings, a 161 checkout in leg seven and two maximum scores to win 8–1 and qualify for the quarter-finals. The final match of the group was between Klaasen and Scholten. The first ten legs were shared to enter a five-leg shootout. Scholten won 8–5 with finishes on the double 8, 7 and 10 rings in the final three legs to knock out Klaasen and qualify for the quarter-finals.
Group B was played on 19 March. The first match was between 15-time world title winner Phil Taylor and Terry Jenkins. Taylor led 3–0 on checkouts of 84 and 124 in legs two and three before Jenkins took leg four on a 100 checkout. Taylor won the next two legs on the double 4 and 20 rings. Jenkins took leg seven in 12 throws and the eighth on a 104 checkout completed on the double 12 ring. Taylor won three of the next four legs to win 8–4. Taylor and world champion Adrian Lewis played the group's second fixture. The first two legs were shared before Taylor took a 4–1 lead. Checkouts of 124 and 100 gave Lewis legs six and seven before Taylor won four of the next five legs to win 8–4 and a quarter-final spot. Both men each made six maximum scores. The final game between Lewis and Jenkins went to 2–2 before the former won three legs in a row to go 5–2 ahead. Jenkins won leg eight after Lewis failed to complete a 103 checkout. Lewis took three more legs to win 8–3 and a quarter-final spot.