Ladbrokes, who sponsored the event initially for one year in 2003, decided to extend their deal and the prize fund was increased to £256,000.

The Dutch television station, RTL 5 and Sky Sports both extended their deals with the PDC by three years.

PDC chairman Barry Hearn announced that the tournament would be shown in Malaysia on pay-per-view.

Defending champion and number two seed, John Part suffered a surprise first-round defeat to Mark Dudbridge, his first match of the 2004 campaign.

Mardle lost to Taylor for the second year running, following a third-round defeat as an unseeded player in 2003.