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March4March 4, 2020

Michael Smith Lands A Nine Darter In Premier League

Michael Smith hit the ninth televised nine-darter in Premier League of Darts history and the first of his career during his 7-5 victory over Daryl Gurney in Dublin. It was a perfect leg that was hit in reply to Gurney going 2-1 up after his own impressive 11 darter.

Despite how it sounds, it was overall a low-quality match where both players averaged down in the 80s and there were four 20 dart legs in the match not that Bully Boy will mind. The man from St Helens joins Raymond van Barneveld (2), Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor (x3), Simon Whitlock and Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis (x2) in the esteemed nine-darter club after he found the perfect leg for the first time since Lewis in 2017.

Recapping Night Four

In an exciting battle of the debutants, Nathan Aspinall came out on top as he inflicted Glen Durrant’s first defeat of the Premier League season in a 7-5 win. There is a growing feeling and momentum behind The Asp, not least after he beat Michael van Gerwen a week ago. His dismissal of Duzza will do nothing to stop the chat. For those interested, The Asp is available for outright league victory at 10/1 with betway.

In truth, both players struggled to find their best form in a tight match that opened the night in Dublin. Aspinall, who averaged down in the low 80s and soon found himself trailing 3-1. By the fifth leg, The Asp started to show his teeth and clawed his way back to 4-4 before unleashing a stunning 129 finish to edge ahead. Duzza did claim one back before Aspinall picked off the board in the remaining few legs to see out the match.

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Gary Anderson got back to winning ways after he closed out a 7-5 win over Rob Cross. The Flying Scotsman averaged 97.77, but Voltage managed to hang in there for the most in a match that went all the way to a decider. Come the ninth, which Anderson branded as tripe post-match, the Scot landed an 85 checkout to complete a whopping 24 darter to take a 5-4 lead, but only after Cross had wasted two shots at the double. Soon after, the two-time Premier League champion saw off the 2019 World Matchplay champ with a match-winning 14 darter that gave him the points.

Michael van Gerwen once again occupies the summit of the Premier League table after he inflicted swift defeat on this week’s contender, Irishman William O’Connor, who received a hero’s reception from the Dublin crowd. The 33-year-old Magpie would later go on to say the night was the greatest night of his life despite the 7-4 scoreline. O’Connor posted a strong enough average of 95.31, particularly given the lack of quality on show elsewhere with more established chuckers this week, while Mighty Mike recorded 97.62.

Gerwyn Price ended his run of three successive draws against Rob Cross, Michael Smith and Daryl Gurney in dramatic fashion by beating the world champion 7-1. In truth, Peter Wright was woefully out of form and The Iceman wasn’t required to break a sweat as he hit a lone maximum in a disappointing affair that should have been a class battle of the big guns but proved to be little more than a practice match for the Welshman.

Darts Premier League Night Five Betting Tips

(6/5) Rob Cross (7/2) Daryl Gurney (13/8)
(4/5) Gerwyn Price (7/2) Glen Durrant (5/2)
(13/8) Nathan Aspinall (7/2) Peter Wright (6/5)
(4/5) Gary Anderson (7/2)Luke Humphries (13/5)
(7/2) Michael Smith (4/1) Michael van Gerwen (4/7)

Night Five in Exeter gets underway with a clash between two more than capable players who have yet to show us their best in this year’s tourney. Rob Cross has fared better than his opponent this week, Daryl Gurney, but not by much and Voltage’s averages have been well below what he would have been expecting. The Hastings man has shown a battling spirit and can at least boast the better head-to-head record with Superchin who simply hasn’t got going at all this season and as such is on to lose again this week.

The league’s only undefeated player steps out next as Gerwyn Price takes on Glen Durrant. Price was in fine form last week, cruising to a 7-1 win over Snakebite, although Snakey’s average of 83.59 made it all too easy for The Iceman. Duzza has done well so far in his maiden Premier League campaign but unless he improves his finishing from last week he is going to struggle against Price, who is playing as well as anyone right now.

Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall go head-to-head in the third match of the night in a match that will have the world champion worried. Not only is The Asp the inform player of the two but he has won on three out of the four occasions the pair have previously met, including their only ever televised meeting at the 2019 US Darts Masters in Las Vegas.

In their most recent meeting earlier this season, Aspinall hit a nine-darter in a spectacular 6-4 victory. Aspinall is also in the middle of prepping for his first career title defense of the UK Open, which gets underway in Minehead on Friday. In his last two Premier League matches, Aspinall has won 7-5 twice, seeing off Michael van Gerwen and Glen Durrant and now finds himself at the top of the table, three points above Wright. In contrast, Wright froze in front of The Iceman and almost got whitewashed. To that end, expect The Asp’s venom to be stronger than that of the Snakebite.

Luke Humphries is this week’s challenger as he comes up against Gary Anderson, who has been both in and out of sorts this season making it hard enough to predict which version of the two-time world champion will show up, let alone predict the outcome of his matches. That being said, the Flying Scotsman should have too much for Cool Hand, who reached the quarter-finals at the Alexandra Palace in each of the last two seasons. He has only been featured in two other televised tournaments, the UK Open and the Players Championship Finals and will likely just be looking to enjoy the limelight.

The final match of the evening sees the two Michaels – Smith and van Gerwen – take to the oche. While MVG is the undeniable best player in the world, Smith can take heart from hie nine-darter against Daryl Gurney last week in Dublin, even if the match itself was poor. Will this perfect leg set up the Bully Boy to break his televised tourney duck at the UK Open this weekend? 20/1 at bet365 says he just might. Mighty Mike isn’t playing particularly well or badly this season and is sitting top right now but he’s not quite his normal formidable self of old and Smith is good value to maintain his current momentum.

QUICK GLANCE AT DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE NIGHT 5

Venue: Westpoint Arena, Exeter

Dates: 05.03.2020

Format: Max of 12, best of 19, 21

Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen

Where To Watch: Sky Sports

When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

February27February 24, 2022

Nathan Aspinall Beats Michael van Gerwen In Cardiff

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

The only remaining 100% record in this season’s Darts Premier League went on last Thursday night in Cardiff as Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock defeat to Nathan Aspinall. It was only The Asp’s third match since he joined the full-time Darts Premier League line up, demonstrating why he is seen to be one of the fastest rising stars in darts. Averaging 101, the UK Open champion, who was ranked as far back as 73 in December 2018, hit a superb 110 checkout to go 2-1 up before holding his throw with a 15-darter to give himself a two-leg cushion.

The Stockport chucker then came close to taking a 4-1 lead but missed bull at the crucial moment to let MVG back into the contest. Holding his own in the follow-up, he kept the two-leg lead intact before van Gerwen looked like he would get back into the match once again. With the score at 4-3, MVG landed six perfect darts on his way to leveling the tie. The following two legs went with throw to take the match to the final two legs, where MVG uncharacteristically missed two darts at tops to let Aspinall have a go at successfully finding the same target which he managed with ease to record a famous 7-5 victory.

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With the win, the two time World Championship semi-finalist went level on four points with Mighty Mike, who beat him in the last four at the Ally Pally only two months ago. The Asp is now 11/1 with Betway to win the Darts Premier League outright

For the record, only eight different players had previously beaten van Gerwen in his seven Premier League seasons, Phil Taylor, Peter Wright, Adrian Lewis and Daryl Gurney twice, Gary Anderson and James Wade three times, Simon Whitlock once and fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld four times.

Recap of Night 3

It was Peter Wright and Rob Cross who got proceedings underway in the Welsh capital in a match where Snakebite picked up his first victory of the Darts Premier League season. The 2020 world champion was taken all the way by the 2018 world champion who was bidding to maintain his unbeaten start to the season. Wright opened up with a pair of 13-darters in the opening three legs as Voltage had no reply to the onslaught.

Cross then successfully took out the following two legs on the trot to reduce the deficit before Wright broke back with a cool 10-darter. The three-leg cushion was restored soon after before the next two legs went with throw. Wright guaranteed himself a point not long after before Cross finally woke up to threaten to salvage an unlikely point. Threaten was all he could manage, however, as Snakebite reacted perfectly to take out the final leg and with it the points.

Challenger Jonny Clayton was on the receiving end of a 7-1 thumping to Michael Smith in the night’s third match. Bully Boy hadn’t tasted victory in this competition for 10 matches, a winless run that dates back to March of last year. His drought was well and truly ended emphatically here, but it didn’t look like that was going to be the case at first as Smith initially fell a leg behind after Clayton threw a 13-darter in the first to the delight of the Welsh crowd.

That was as good as it got for The Ferret as Bully Boy immediately took over and began putting on a scintillating performance. The 2018 runner-up seized upon three doubles in the third leg to move 2-1. He followed this up with back-to-back 12-darters that included a 167 checkout. A 13-darter was to follow soon after, which allowed Smith to sail into a 5-1 lead, before surviving a momentary threat in the seventh and closing out the game in the eighth.

Draw specialist Gerwyn Price stepped out in front of his home crowd in match 4 but didn’t have enough to claim his first Premier League victory of the season as he once again drew, this time with Daryl Gurney. The back-to-back Grand Slam of Darts champion was out of sorts on the night and required a 13-darter in the final leg to save his skin and secure a third successive point.

It was a tight match all round, although of the two opponents, it was The Iceman who had initially made the breakthrough when he broke Superchin’s throw in the ninth to take a 5-4 lead. Gurney responded with a pair of 13-darters leaving Price staring down on defeat once again, only to save a point once again.

Glen Durrant, one of just two unbeaten players this Premier League season — along with Gerwyn Price — is the new leader of the pack as he shot down Gary Anderson in a brilliant 7-4 dismissal to take the top spot in this year’s Premier League table. Duzza now has two wins to his name and a points tally of five, one ahead of Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall.

The three-time BDO world champion breezed into a 5-1 lead before The Flying Scotsman took three legs from the next four to threaten to put a spanner in the works, but it was a spanner that never materialised, as Duzza took the points and with them the top spot.

Darts Premier League Betting Tips – Night 4

What looks like the biggest match of the week is also the first match of Dublin’s night 4 as debutants Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall duel up to further demonstrate that they’re not just here to make up the numbers. Top of the table Duzza remains unbeaten while Aspinall won last week against MVG so this match looks like being an unlikely battle of the big boys. Durrant has the joint lowest number of 180s in the league so far this season . However other than that, the stats suggest that there’s not much to choose between them. With Duzza scoring fractionally higher, his momentum should see him through another week at least.

Rob Cross and Gary Anderson step out next and with one win, one defeat and one draw each, the pair have identical records so far. Also, both players are coming off the back of defeats last time out. An argument could be made that Voltage has had the tougher fixtures if we are looking to split the pair. In Anderson’s case, he did play well in defeat to Durrant but Cross was flattered in his 7-5 defeat to Wright. With the table still in its infancy, it can look a little misleading. For example, Anderson may well be the second bottom but he is also only two points off top spot.

There will be plenty tempted to back The Flying Scotsman to pick up those two points here, especially taking into account that the Scotsman can boast a formidable record over Cross, winning eight of their nine previous meetings. That said, Voltage has demonstrated a stubbornness that has served him well, almost nicking a point from Peter Wright a week ago, while beating Nathan Aspinall prior to that, so this will be no walkover for Anderson. So much so, that I’m backing shared points in this tie.

Daryl Gurney finally got off the mark last week, albeit with a point against Gerwyn Price but now faces off against a Michael Smith who recorded a 7-1 win over the challenger Jonny Clayton. Smith then, looks the player most in form. So far this season, Bully Boy has reached the final of the Darts Masters where he really should have won. In his three DPL matches, he has won, lost and drawn. In contrast, Daryl Gurney has been very out of sorts and posting plenty of poor results, save for last week. While Superchin can take heart from his Cardiff duel with The Iceman, it doesn’t feel enough to back him here against a currently superior Smith.

This week’s contender, William O’Connor has the daunting task of meeting a wounded Michael van Gerwen in match four. In general, over the past two seasons, the challengers have struggled to register an impact, save for Fallon Sherrock on Night 2. it’s very hard to make a case for O’Connor, who we last saw miscounting at the Ally Pally in December. One of the frightening things for O’Connor, known as The Magpie, is that Mighty Mike seems to be finally getting the feel for his new darts and is showing signs that an explosive hot streak might be on the horizon. In 10 matches over the weekend, he averaged over 100 in eight, including a Players Championship Pro Tour final on Sunday, where he was shot down by Gerwyn Price. If MVG takes out last week’s frustrations on the Irishman, this could be brutal.

Two of the game’s current big three go head-to-head in the night’s final game. Alongside Durrant, Gerwyn Price is the only undefeated player left in the Premier League, having recorded three consecutive draws so far. That said, he would take a draw – you would think – against world champion and good friend Peter Wright in a repeat of their moody World Championships semi-final.

Over the weekend the pair duked it out in an incredible, and it needs to be said good-natured, Players Championship Pro Tour final in which both stars averaged 109 before Snakebite took the spoils courtesy of a 170 checkout. Price responded by defeating Michael van Gerwen in another epic final on Sunday. Over the course of Saturday afternoon, Snakebite averaged 100+ in six of his seven games and is unquestionably the player in the better form, but this has all the makings of another draw for The Iceman.

(6/4) Glen Durrant () Nathan Aspinall (6/5)
(6/4) Rob Cross () Gary Anderson (6/5)
(13/8) Daryl Gurney () Michael Smith (11/10)
(13/2) William O’Connor () Michael van Gerwen (1/4)
(6/4) Gerwyn Price () Peter Wright (6/5)

QUICK GLANCE AT DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE NIGHT 4

Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Dublin

Dates: 27.02.2020

Format: Max of 12, best of 19, 21

Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen

Where To Watch: Sky Sports

When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

February19February 19, 2020

Fallon Sherrock Draws With Duzza On Darts Premier League Night 2

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

All eyes were on the Queen Of The Palace Fallon Sherrock as she stepped back into the PDC spotlight on Thursday. Shockwave Sherrock was taking her turn as the latest challenger and actually came within two darts of yet another history-making moment by almost beating Glen Durrant, which would have been by far her biggest scalp yet.

A hugely under pressure Duzza managed to salvage a draw with the last throw of his darts meaning Sherrock, who had the fans firmly on her side, had to settle for a 6-6 draw against the former BDO World Champion.

Odds on favourite Durrant wasted five darts with the match at 3-2, allowing Sherrock to break first before she raced ahead 4-3. Before long, she stretched her lead to 5-3 as Duzza looked like wilting under the pressure of a match he admitted beforehand he was dreading and his missed doubles soon began to stack up.

With defeat looming, Duzza managed to dig deep and recompose himself and, with a 1art hold of throw, brought himself back in the match before wasting three more shots at double 16, allowing Sherrock to book herself a draw on her next visit. With two legs remaining, Duzza began to save his blushes and took the last two of the match, staving off defeat with one and banking a draw with the other when he finally found the elusive double 16 with his last dart in hand.

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A recap of Night Two

Peter Wright was dealing with an ankle injury during his match up with Gary Anderson. Snakebite, whose usual pre-game dance was much hampered and shortened, picked up the unusual injury lifting his wife Jo’s suitcases out of the car on arrival at their hotel. Nevertheless, despite his pain, he had enough about him to take a share of the points in this all Scottish and good-natured affair.

In a high-quality game, both World Cup winning partners averaged above 100, but it was the limping Wright who took the initiative when he moved into a 4-2 lead after landing five maximums. Anderson came back into the match though and before long had moved 5-4 ahead thanks to a 15-darter. As the game moved forward on throw, Anderson went 6-5 ahead, ensuring he would at least get a draw but Snakebite landed his sixth 180 of the match before the deciding leg before checking out on 101 to share the spoils.

The following game of the night provided the fans with the night’s third draw as Gerwyn Price staged a superb comeback from 6-2 down against Michael Smith. Bully Boy was throwing brilliantly in the early stages and The Iceman, who himself was throwing well and averaging over a ton, simply couldn’t live with his opponent, who took out the next three legs. Price managed to keep his hopes alive in the following leg, and as the Welshman was hanging in there, Smith missed two match darts in the 10th to let Price off the hook. Having somehow survived, Price turned the game on its head completely and the two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion completed his comeback when he landed a lifesaving 14-darter.

After three draws, there was no such charity on show in the final match of the night where Michael van Gerwen absolutely annihilated Daryl Gurney in a 7-1 riot. The five-time champion is the only player left in the mix with a 100% record and averaged 105.05 while pinning seven of his 11 attempts at doubles.

Mighty Mike opened up proceedings with a 13-darter which he followed up with a 104 checkout as he aimed to exact the 11th whitewash in Premier League history, which also would have been MVG’s fourth, as he breezed to a 6-0 lead. Gurney avoided such an indignity by taking the seventh, but there was no way back for Superchin as MVG takes his seat at the top of the table.

In Night 2’s opener, Rob Cross claimed a 7-5 win over Nathan Aspinall. It was a tight match and level as late on as 5-5, before Voltage turned on the afterburners in the final leg, so much so that commentator Wayne Mardle joked he’d now moved into Lincolnshire. With double 16 waiting, Voltage spurned all three efforts and should really have been punished by The Asp. The newcomer left himself with 54 to allow Cross another visit and three more chances, the first two of which were also wasted by the former electrician.

Voltage’s fifth missed dart landed awkwardly and completely obscured the chucker’s view forcing him to step widely to the right, hence the Mardle gag, but from there landed the miracle shot that had somehow evaded him from the far easier oche before closing out the match in the final leg with a 12-dart break of throw.

Premier League of Darts Night Three betting tips

Night 3 of the Premier League Darts takes us to the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff. As we stand with two weeks gone, the league table has a familiar look to it with Michael van Gerwen sitting top of the pile, Glen Durrant is in second and Rob Cross is third.

It’s Voltage, who is first out, as he takes on world champ Peter Wright. Snakebite is still to win a game after his two Premier League bouts so far, having lost to van Gerwen a fortnight ago and then a draw with Gary Anderson last week. In truth, he played well in both games and was unplayable at times, but Cross has come firing out of the blocks this season and this could well be the third match for Wright in which he fails to win. I don’t think he’ll lose though so this tight affair could possibly end in a share of the spoils. Snakey is the number one 180 chucker in the competition so far this season with 10 so there is a market there for his fans to exploit if they so wish. Wright is 5/6 to score the most 180s again with Betway.

Challenger Jonny Clayton takes on Michael Smith next in a matchup that could be a tougher fight for Bully Boy than the others will face when they take on a local contender. That’s because, of all the challengers competing in the Premier League this year, no one is ranked higher than the world number 16. This, plus the vociferous home support cheering on their fellow Welshman, means Smith definitely has his work cut out this week. Last week, he was imperious for long periods in a game he somehow let slip against another Welshman, Gerwyn Price. If he maintains that form he should just about take the points here too.

Michael van Gerwen goes up against Nathan Aspinall in the follow-up. MVG has a perfect record so far with two wins out of two while The Asp has a win on the board also. It’s hard to make a case for Aspinall here though in his bid for a second win as Mighty Mike is in such form and will almost certainly make it three from three.

The crowd will be cheering – which makes a change – for The Iceman in match four as Gerwyn Price steps out for his match with Daryl Gurney. While neither player has won a game in this year’s Premier League, Price can at least take heart from the fact that he hasn’t lost either. Superchin, on the other hand, has lost both so far and was on the end of a whooping last week only narrowly managing to avoid a whitewash. Price should get his first win here and I think he will.

We close the night with 2nd placed Glen Durrant and Gary Anderson, who sits in 4th. Anderson has been the more consistent in his two games, following up his victory over Gurney by tying with Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright a week ago in Nottingham. Duzza was excellent in his first week but was shaky last week against Fallon Sherrock as he let the pressure get to him. He held his nerve to fight back and draw the game and a tie wouldn’t surprise this week in the Welsh capital either.

(19/20) Peter Wright (15/4) Rob Cross (2/1)
(9/2) Jonny Clayton (7/2) Michael Smith (10/11)
(2/5) Michael van Gerwen (5/1) Nathan Aspinall (5/1)
(13/5) Daryl Gurney (4/1) Gerwyn Price (8/11)
(2/1) Glen Durrant (7/2) Gary Anderson (1/1)

QUICK GLANCE AT DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE NIGHT 3

Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Dates: 17.02.2020
Format: Max of 12, best of 19, 21
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)