Peter Wright Is Darts New Number 1 + Premier League Darts Betting Tips And Predictions Night 5

Peter Wright Is Darts New Number 1 + Premier League Darts Betting Tips And Predictions Night 5

Peter Wright Career Earnings

After 15 months, the world of darts has a new world number one.

At the age of 52, Peter Wright has succeeded Gerwyn Price at the top of the PDC’s Order of Merit.

Snakebite’s rise to the top was cemented by The Iceman’s failure to make it to the final in last weekend’s UK Open.

It was a UK Open that delivered us another new PDC major open winner and also saw Michael Smith lose in yet another final.

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Holland’s Danny Noppert, who only averaged in the mid-80s in the final, was the shock winner of the year’s second major after inflicting ever more major final misery on Bully Boy with an 11-10 victory in Minehead Resort Butlins.

That result followed on from Thursday’s Premier League of Darts Night Four in Exeter where Noppie’s fellow countryman Michael van Gerwen put on a masterclass when whitewashing Peter Wright in the Premier League Darts Week Five final.

Despite that result, and subsequent below-par performance at the UK Open, Wright is the new world number one and occupier of the top spot of the Darts Premier League after four nights.

This week, the Scotsman takes on Jonny Clayton in the second match of the night as week five heads to Brighton.

Gary Anderson v Michael Smith

The night opens with a clash between the bottom two as two-time Premier League of Darts winner Gary Anderson takes on Jonny Clayton.

So far, both players have only one win to their name so something’s going to give in this opener.

We’re leaning towards Bully Boy given how well he performed when beating both Gerwyn Price and Keane Barry in Minehead a few days ago.

Of course, he suffered final heartbreak once again — not even for the first time this year — will feel like this last event was one that really was there for the taking.

Apart from somehow managing to let the final slip, Bully Boy enjoyed a great tournament overall, averaging near to 100 before his clash with Noppert, and even fired in a nine-dart finish as well as the most ever number of 180s that we have ever seen in a UK Open.

He is getting closer and will surely get there one day.

Smith will need to pick up the pieces to get going, where he should start the healing process against Anderson this week.

One week ago in Exeter, he got his first points on the boards with his first Darts Premier League win before running into a back-in-form Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. He looks as though he is finding the kind of form which helped him reach the World Championship final.

As for Gary Anderson, he too has managed one solitary victory so far in this campaign and that was on Night One. He doesn’t look in particularly good shape, so the nod goes to his opponent.

Peter Wright v Jonny Clayton

The night’s glamour match features the new world number one taking on Jonny Clayton as the best two players of the last 12 months meet head-on in the second clash of the night.

Wright is only the 11th different player ever to top the rankings in PDC history, positing wins over Joe Cullen and Simon Whitlock in Minehead, before suffering a collapse in a 10-7 defeat to William O’Connor which came about despite averaging 101 to his opponent’s 94.

One week ago in Exeter, he averaged over 100 during his Darts Premier League wins over Gerwyn Price and James Wade before being whitewashed in the final by the superb Mighty Michael van Gerwen.

This pair met in week one in the final in Cardiff where Wright came out on top. The Ferret has dipped a little bit in recent weeks since winning on night two.

That said, he is more than capable of causing Snakebite considerable damage and will be out for revenge here.

That though may not be enough, and we would expect to see the world champion go through to the semi-finals and possibly further.

James Wade v Michael van Gerwen

Despite roaring back to form in last week’s Darts Premier League, Michael van Gerwen showed how streaky he can be when suffering an early exit at the UK Open after a 10-4 defeat to Damon Heta where he missed six of his 10 darts at doubles.

James Wade surrendered his UK Open title at the weekend where he failed to make it past the quarter-final.

The Machine was also unusually sloppy on his doubles, missing 11 of his 15 attempts in his defeat to Keane Barry, and a similar performance on the outer ring this week will surely be punished by MVG.

Joe Cullen v Gerwyn Price

A gutted Gerwyn Price must pick himself up and go again after losing his world number one ranking at the weekend.

The Welshman looked crushed following his 10-7 UK Open defeat to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.

This is a nice game for him to bounce back in, however, particularly given the Price will be seeking revenge over The Rockstar for his win in Liverpool.

The new world number two is favoured to go through to the next round, where he is likely to face Michael van Gerwen in a red hot semi-final clash.

BET365 DARTS BETTING PRICES

The latest lines from Bet365 as we head into Night 5 of the Darts Premier League.

Gary Anderson (13/10) V (8/13) Michael Smith

Peter Wright (4/6) V (6/5) Jonny Clayton

Michael van Gerwen (4/11) v (11/5) James Wade

Joe Cullen (7/4) v (4/9) Gerwyn Price

PREMIER LEAGUE OF DARTS TABLE

PlayerNights WonMatches WonLeg DifferencePoints
Peter Wright16+610
Michae van Gerwen15+189
Jonny Clayton1508
Gerwyn Price14+17
James Wade04-17
Joe Cullen02-63
Gary Anderson01-62
Michael Smith01-122

QUICK GLANCE AT THE PREMIER LEAGUE OF DARTS WEEK 5

Venue: The Brighton Centre, Brighton

Dates: 10/03/2022

Format: Best of 11 legs (first to six)

Current Champion: Jonny Clayton

Where To Watch: Sky Sports Main Event HD & Sky Sports Arena HD

When To Watch: 19:00 UK

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Peter Wright Wins World Matchplay At Winter Gardens

Peter Wright Wins World Matchplay At Winter Gardens

Peter Wright World Matchplay

The reintroduction of darts fans to events has had the desired effect on Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright.

After nearly 18 months without fans, we enjoyed a full house this past week at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool

Not so coincidentally, Wright’s last televised tournament win was back in February 2020 when he took down the Darts Masters immediately off the back of winning his first PDC World Championship.

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Now though, in front of a typically boisterous audience, Snakebite has landed another biggie after he became the World Matchplay champion on Sunday night.

Playing well and averaging high

He did so in magnificent form, playing remarkably and averaging high scores all week before beating Dimitri Van Den Bergh in the final.

He is now just the fifth player in history along with Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Rob Cross to have won both the World Championship and World Matchplay in their career.

But it nearly wasn’t to be.

Famously turning his back on the game for 12 years when he lost at Lakeside to Richie Burnett in 1995, Wright was talked back into the game by his wife Jo – who does his hair before each match – and it was her that he dedicated his win.

She was watching on from the crowd following recent back surgery breaking down in tears after the match.

Last year’s winner, Van Den Bergh lived with the Wrights throughout the first lockdown and the respect was there for all to see. 

The Belgian, who was hoping to become only the fourth player to retain the Matchplay title, is now ranked fourth in the world. Hee credits his former landlord with the progress he has made this past 18 months.

PDC World Championship winners?

Back in June, Wright predicted that he would take down the World Matchplay and the World Championship this season and now he is halfway there.

If he continues to play like this, then no one will be able to get close to the Scotsman and stop him from winning the set, except perhaps Dimitri Van Den Bergh, who is clearly destined for even better things.

bet365 have priced up Snakebite at 5/1 to win the PDC Worlds at the Ally Pally at the beginning of next year and are giving odds of 9/1 on Van Den Bergh lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy instead.

Both of these prices will only thin if these two keep up their good form. Wright could well start that tournament as favourite.

Best two darters in the tourney

The 2020 world champ only dropped 33 legs across all of his matches last week when he beat Danny Noppert 10-3, Joe Cullen 11-5, Michael Smith 17-10 before meeting Michael van Gerwen (4/1 favourite for the World Championships) 17-10.

Then, in the final, he beat the Dream Maker 18-9 in a match where he averaged 105.9 and posted a tournament average of 104.91.

Perhaps Wright’s best performance came in the semi-final against Mighty Mike where he averaged 110.37.

While Wright was a good value for the win, Dimitri Van Den Bergh will reflect on his doubles fails throughout the week that ultimately proved costly.

The Belgian was throwing trebles with ease, having numerous chances to land a nine-darter, but on far too many occasions, he couldn’t close out a leg and repeatedly let Snakebite off the hook.

Van Den Bergh, 27, posted a pretty dismal checkout percentage of 27.27% – Wright’s checkout percentage was 57.06% for contrast – which let down his tourney average of 100.16.

The new Matchplay champion, on the other hand, landed 18 of his 31 doubles and shot ten 180s.

This Matchplay defeat was the first of the Belgian’s career, having won the event last year on his debut in the competition. 

Along the way to his second successive final, he beat Devon Petersen, Dave Chisnall, world number one Gerwyn Price and Krztsztof Ratajski.

He also posted 49 maximums, which is the third highest ever behind Adrian Lewis, who pinned 56 in 2013, and Gary Anderson, who scored 52 in 2018. As things stand, Gerwyn Price still hasn’t made it past the quarter final stage at the World Matchplay but has won the PDC World Championships. bet365 has the Welshman priced up at 9/2 to repeat his Ally Pally win in the World Championships which begin in December.

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Big Names Tumble In Blackpool As Peter Wright Hits Top Form

Big Names Tumble In Blackpool As Peter Wright Hits Top Form

Peter Fryers World Matchplay

Peter Wright looks very much the man to beat as we approach tonight’s Darts World Matchplay Quarter Finals. Full of confidence following 20 straight wins, Snakebite has seen the draw open up for him – and others – after Tuesday night saw the duel eliminations of the top two seeds, Mighty Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. While in the betting, those results leave Rob Cross and Snakebite as Betway’s new joint 11/4 tournament favourites, Wright is the player showing the best form right now and looking in his best condition for perhaps the past three years.

The Scotsman’s current good form has seen him collect three titles in succession having picked up the German Darts Masters and two Players Championship events last week. Having cruised through Monday’s round one game against Vincent van der Voort, Snakebite moved on to last night’s match against Aussie Simon Whitlock whom he calmly dismissed 11-2, while averaging over 100 for the 11th time during his recent good run of form. Note, his average of 103.01 is the best of all the remaining players in this year’s tournament.

A look at previous action

Last night’s match against the Wizard peaked with a stunning 170 checkout that allowed Wright to complete a 12-darter in the fourth leg, a score he almost bettered in the final leg when he fell just short of banking a nine-darter. The Australian, on the other hand, banked a measly average of 87.42 while reaching only five darts at doubles.

Also last night, Rob Cross saw off Polish chucker Krzysztof Ratajski 11-5 to book his spot in the Quarter Finals. Voltage joins Wright at the top of the betting and showed why as he coolly shot down the Polish Eagle. Ratajski briefly offered some kind of resistance, taking out the first two legs to take advantage of Cross’ notorious slow starts, which included a 160 checkout as part of a 12-darter. That, however, would be the last leg he would win until falling 9-2 behind.

Cross, 11/4 against the field with Betway, averaged 98.47 compared to Ratajski’s 94.54, hitting three more maximums. Unfortunately, as the one side of the draw thins out, the other side – the one that features both Snakebite and Voltage – looks likely to be the side from which the winner will come, although the two favourites can’t meet until the semis on Saturday.

Wednesday night also saw Stephen ‘Bullet’ Bunting force a comeback on Ian ‘Diamond’ White, as Diamond’s long history of televised capitulations continued. White, looking to reach the Matchplay Quarter Finals for the first time since 2015, was leading 9-4 in a race to 11 legs before the nerves set in. Beginning to wobble, White failed to make it down to a finish as Bunting took down four legs on the spin while falling just short in the next. This allowed White, who has never gone beyond the Quarter Finals of any major televised tournament, to move one away from the win. With three match darts at double 16, Diamond White lost his fizz and Bunting, who was seen packing up, returned to take the game to tie break before securing a 14-12 win.

In the night’s opener, Daryl Gurney beat Keegan Brown to reach his second-ever World Matchplay Quarter Finals. Superchin landed eight 180s compared to the Needle’s six but both were unconvincing on their doubles in a match which finished 11-9 to the Northern Irishman. Gurney, the 2017 World Grand Prix and 2018 Players Championship Finals winner, will need to improve on this display against Peter Wright on Friday night if he’s to reach the Semi-Finals, a feat he last achieved back in 2017.

Events on Tuesday night blew the tourney wide open as current BDO world champion and three-time winner Glen Durrant beat current PDC world champion and three-time winner Michael van Gerwen in an epic match that ended 13-11. Duzza only joined the PDC in January after banking his third world title in the other code, a feat that equaled Eric Bristow’s record of three successive BDO world titles.

He showed no fear up against MVG here, leading 8-5 at one point prior to the Dutchman staging a comeback to move 10-9 up, just the one leg from victory. Duzza fought back though, hitting a 112 checkout to take the contest to a tie break. Both players would waste numerous chances to put the game to bed before Durrant pinned tops to score a famous victory.

MVG wasn’t the only big name to tumble on Tuesday as the defending champion Gary Anderson was unable to get the better of the unseeded Mervyn King. Finding himself down by 8-7, King won four legs on the trot to claim a famous upset. On the same night, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith came through against Max Hopp to reach the Matchplay Quarter Finals for the first time, while James ‘The Machine’ Wade needed all of his famed battling skills to make it past Mensur Suljovic 13-11 in a tie-break.

As we reach the last eight, Betway has priced the remainders as follows: Peter Wright and Rob Cross, who cannot meet in the final, are both priced at 11/4, up from Glen Durrant’s 9/2, a decent price for what would be his first PDC title proper. Not to be forgotten, Michael Smith has an 11/2 price on his head, just in from James Wade’s 7/1. Daryl Gurney is 10’s, Mervyn King is 25’s and Stephen Bunting is 28/1.

THURSDAY JULY 25

Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)

  • Glen Durrant v James Wade
  • Michael Smith v Mervyn King

FRIDAY JULY 26

Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)

  • Rob Cross v Stephen Bunting
  • Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney

SATURDAY, JULY 27

Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)

  • Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
  • Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4

SUNDAY JULY 28

Final (best of 35 legs)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS QUARTER FINALS

Venue: Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Dates: Thursday 25.07.2019
Format: Best of 31 legs, SF best of 33 legs, final best of 35 legs
Current Champion: Gary Anderson
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

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