On Thursday, May 16th, the 16th and final matchday of the Premier League Darts takes place. After this, the players will advance to the playoffs for the ultimate victory.
Match Format
The Premier League of Darts starts every year on the first Thursday of February, and consists of a total of sixteen match rounds held at various locations across the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany. Each Thursday evening, a kind of mini-tournament is held, featuring seven matches per day: 4 quarter-finals, 2 semi-finals, and a final. Each match up until the final evening is played in a “best of 11 legs” format.
The better the participants perform in such a mini-tournament, the more points they collect for the standings. The points distribution is as follows: the winner of the match round receives 5 points, the runner-up receives 3, and the semi-finalists can count 2 points each.
After all 16 match rounds, the top 4 players advance to the playoffs. On the same evening, the semi-finals and the final take place at the O2 Arena in London. On that so-called ‘Play-off Night’, the semi-finals are played over a “best of 19 legs”, and the final over a “best of 21 legs”. The winner walks away with around £275,000, over €300,000. But even the other participants take home a decent amount: if you are invited to the tournament, you receive at least £60,000. There is also a £10,000 bonus for winning a match round.
Players on the 16th evening
Luke Littler scored a 6-3 victory against Peter Wright during the quarter-finals on Thursday, May 9th, but was defeated by Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. The 17-year-old darter also played in the Baltic Sea Open that Friday but lost to a Dutchman there as well. The relatively unknown Wessel Nijman managed to defeat the Brit in Kiel. Littler did manage to win the matchday victory the day before, on Thursday, May 2nd. He will have another chance for the 5th matchday victory of this tournament on Thursday.
Peter Wright did not get past Luke Littler on the 15th matchday. The Scot hardly ever made it past the quarter-finals, except on matchdays 9 and 7. Wright has announced that he is nearing the end of his career. He would like to participate in the Premier League one more time after this edition, but then he will pass the torch.
Nathan Aspinall was eliminated in the quarter-finals last week, after a 3-6 defeat against Michael Smith. He already won the matchday victory on the 5th and 12th evenings but has reached the final several times before. His second victory put him in the lead at the time, but he has since dropped back a bit.
Michael Smith surprised Aspinall in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semi-finals against Luke Humphries. However, his compatriot proved too strong as Humphries won 6-1. Smith only won the matchday victory on the first matchday but has been playing strongly and reached the final several times.
Luke Humphries secured the matchday victory against Michael van Gerwen on the 15th and penultimate matchday. In the quarter-finals, he easily defeated Rob Cross with 6-1, and he also won in the semi-finals with 6-1, this time against Michael Smith. Humphries has already won the matchday victory 4 times so far. He starts the final evening against Gerwyn Price.
The Welshman Gerwyn Price was not strong enough for Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals, and the match ended in 6-3. He has been playing well and has reached the final several times, but he has not yet won a matchday victory. He even skipped the 14th matchday, allowing Luke Humphries to advance straight to the next round.
Michael van Gerwen secured his place in the playoffs during the previous match round. He reached the final after victories against Gerwyn Price and Luke Littler but was defeated in the final by Luke Humphries. He starts the final matchday against Rob Cross.
The same Luke Humphries was also too strong for Rob Cross during the previous matchday. He lost the match with 6-1. Cross has also managed to reach the final several times but has not yet won a matchday victory. However, he did win the Baltic Sea Darts Open in the final against Luke Humphries.
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