PDC Premier League Darts – The Lowdown after 7 Weeks of Action

It’s been an interesting season so far in Phase 1 of the PDC Premier League Darts tournament. With a week of games scheduled for Exeter having to be cancelled due to snowy conditions making it hazardous for people to get to and from the venue, the competition is running a week behind where it should be.

To allow for that, Judgement Night was moved to the Echo Arena in Liverpool and an extra night has been scheduled for the Rotterdam Ahoy, which will see two nights of darts on Wednesday 18^th and Thursday 19^th April.

The results for each of the night’s in the first seven weeks of competition are as follows and we’ve enjoyed many a great night betting on these with Coral Sport (and we urge you to take a look at their weekly odds for the PDC Premier League Darts too) :

PDC Premier League Darts Phase 1 – Results

• Week 1 – 3Arena in Dublin

Mensur Suljovic 5-7 Simon Whitlock

Gary Anderson 5-7 Michael Smith

Daryl Gurney 6-6 Raymond van Barneveld

Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Rob Cross

Peter Wright 6-6 Gerwyn Price

• Week 2 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Michael Smith 7-4 Daryl Gurney

Rob Cross 1-7 Simon Whitlock

Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Peter Wright

Gerwyn Price 3-7 Gary Anderson

Raymond van Barneveld 7-5 Mensur Suljovic

• Week 3 – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Mensur Suljovic 2-7 Michael Smith

Daryl Gurney 6-6 Gerwyn Price

Peter Wright 4-7 Rob Cross

Gary Anderson 3-7 Michael van Gerwen

Simon Whitlock 7-4 Raymond van Barneveld

• Week 4 – Mercedes Benz Arena, Berlin

Michael Smith 7-3 Simon Whitlock

Gerwyn Price 3-7 Mensur Suljovic

Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Daryl Gurney

Rob Cross 7-3 Raymond van Barneveld

Peter Wright 6-6 Gary Anderson

• Week 5 – First Direct Arena, Leeds

Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Simon Whitlock

Gerwyn Price 5-7 Raymond van Barneveld

Peter Wright 1-7 Mensur Suljovic

Gary Anderson 6-6 Daryl Gurney

Rob Cross 7-5 Michael Smith

• Week 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Michael Smith 7-1 Peter Wright

Simon Whitlock 6-6 Daryl Gurney

Mensur Suljovic 2-7 Rob Cross

Gerwyn Price 3-7 Michael van Gerwen

Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gary Anderson

• Week 7 – SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Daryl Gurney 7-3 Mensur Suljovic

Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Michael Smith

Gary Anderson 7-4 Simon Whitlock

Peter Wright 1-7 Raymond van Barneveld

Rob Cross 7-1 Gerwyn Price

This means that the league table currently stands as:

Premier League Darts Table

The bottom two players are eliminated following Judgement Night which takes place on Week 9 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. The remaining 8 players then go on to Phase 2 of the tournament, a further six weeks of matches, followed by the Playoffs for the top four players to decide the overall champion:

• Week 10 – Phase 2 – Sheffield FlyDSA Arena
• Week 11A – Phase 2 – AHOY Rotterdam
• Week 11B – Phase 2 – AHOY Rotterdam
• Week 12 – Phase 2 – Manchester Arena
• Week 13 – Phase 2 – Arena Birmingham
• Week 14 – Phase 2 – BHGA Arena, Aberdeen
• Week 15 – Playoffs – The 02, London

Who is up for Elimination at Judgement Night?

As things stand, three players are absolutely sure of their place in Phase 2 of the tournament and they are the top three players in the table, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Rob Cross. However, it would take a very unusual set of results to see Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson or Simon Whitlock fail to qualify.

If we assume that these six players have enough points to make them safe that essentially means elimination is down to how four players perform. Daryl Gurney is in the best position of these players with six points, Mensur Suljovic has four, the same as Peter Wright, but has a far better legs record than the Scot.

That leaves Wright, who is in a very poor run of form at the moment in the tournament having lost all his last three matches by a 7-1 scoreline, and Welshman Gerwyn Price as the two players occupying those unwanted elimination spots at present.

Who can save themselves depends very much on who they will face over the final two weeks of action so let’s see who each of the ten players in this tournament face over Weeks 8 and 9.

Final Two Week’s Opponents for Each Player

As you can see, Mensur Suljovic has a really tough run in with matches against World No 3 Gary Anderson and World No 1 Michael van Gerwen and this does open the door for either Wright or Price to perhaps clamber out of the drop zone.

In truth, I think Gerwyn Price has too much to do. Michael Smith has been in great form in this event and Whitlock is a dangerous opponent. He needs to beat both to stand a chance in my view and I think that isn’t likely to happen.

If we can assume Suljovic is going to lose both his games, then that leaves Peter Wright needing just one point from his games with Whitlock and Gurney to progress and the Scot has the ability to do that. His main problem is stopping his awful form. If he can do that, then one point may be just enough for him to squeak through into the second phase of the tournament.

However, anybody who can beat Michael van Gerwen in this tournament does stand a chance against Whitlock and Gurney and if he can find anything like his best form then I think Wright may just claw himself out of trouble and come through Judgement Night positively. If his poor form continues though, he may well be the second player eliminated.

What is sure is that over the next two weeks, it promises to be an enthralling two Thursday’s of darts that will go a long way towards not just deciding who makes it past Judgement Night, but who also stands a great chance of making it into the Playoffs in a few week’s time.