Phil Taylor Reaches Darts Premier League London Finals
After more than three months of top darts action, we have whittled the field down to the final four for this year’s Betway Darts Premier League.
We now know the not-so-surprising names of the players who will step out at London’s O2 Arena this Thursday and compete for the 2017 Darts Premier League title.
Darts Premier League: the last step to the final
Of course, world number one “Mighty” Michael van Gerwen heads to London having topped the table following a victory over world number two Gary Anderson, himself a qualifier, albeit in fourth place.
Anderson’s countryman Peter Wright, one place lower in the world rankings, heads into the semis as League runner-up, while the old master and six-time champion Phil “The Power” Taylor makes up the numbers as the third-place qualifier.
Phil Taylor vs Adrian Lewis
In his retirement year, Taylor made sure of a London spot, his twelfth in thirteen years, following his dismissal of fellow Englishman and Stoke local, Adrian Lewis 7-5.
It might have been different, with “The Power” finding himself 5-3 down to “Jackpot” early on. However, the old veteran was relaxed enough to claim four legs on the spin and bring the game back under his own control to condemn his rival to bottom spot.
Dave Chisnall vs James Wade
In truth, there was no pressure left on Taylor by the time he stepped up to the oche after fifth-placed Dave Chisnall failed to get the victory he needed against James Wade in the night’s opener, claiming only a disappointing tie instead.
Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
The battle between the world’s top two saw Michael van Gerwen defeat Gary Anderson, playing in front of a home crowd, 7-4. While Mike had assured qualification prior to a dart being chucked this week, he did require victory in order to bag league leader’s bonus of £25,000 for the fifth successive year.
It was a victory that was never really in doubt as the Dutchman averaged 103.56 and hit four 180s on his way to a thrilling 124 checkout on the bullseye, after which he played in cruise mode, damage very much done.
Peter Wright vs Raymond van Barneveld
The night’s biggest winning margin was chalked up Peter “Snakebite” Wright who put a tiring Raymond van Barneveld to bed 7-1. Averaging 97.27, Wright showed a deadliness that can sometimes go missing from his game as Barney consigned himself to another one of those weeks.
Darts Premier League Final Betting Tips
Now that we have reached the end of the tourney, it’s hard to look away from Mighty Mike, collector of almost every PDC trophy last year.
Even when he’s off form you need guts to bet against the imperious Dutch master. That said, sport is nothing without surprises and Peter Wright has posted some impressive recent results against the champion, not least a whitewash in the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen two weeks ago.
The semis line up in order of qualifier seedings, meaning MVG meets Gary “The Flying Scotsman” Anderson before Peter Wright and Phil Taylor square off in the second match of the night.
A double on MVG and Wright to win at Bet365 returns almost evens and as such is very enticing.
The latest outright betting sees a best price of 1/2 on MVG which you can claim at Betway, who are also currently posting the best price on Peter Wright too at a reasonable 9/2.
Over at SkyBet, Gary Anderson finds his best value at 11/2, while for the romantics, Taylor is 11s across the board.
Betway are offering 15/8 on the tourney winner being a Scotsman which, with half of the competitors throwing under the Scottish flag, is tempting.
I like the look of the following request-a-bet from SkyBet: Michael van Gerwen & Peter Wright both to win, hit the highest checkouts and score the most 180s in their semi-finals all for 10/1.
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