Premier League of Darts: Week 6 Report
Michael Van Gerwen returned to the top of the table after a comfortable win against Gerwyn Price in Nottingham. Five matches took place on Thursday night, with wildcard Nathan Aspinall playing Michael Smith.
In the first game of the night, Michael Smith raced into a 4-0 lead against newcomer Nathan Aspinall. A ton-plus finish from both players took the score to 5-2 in favour of Smith. The last two legs were taken by the leader to win the match 7-2 against the wild card.
The next match saw James Wade go up against Mensur Suljovic. Three consecutive breaks of throw in the game lead to a 3-2 scoreline in favour of the Serbian. Suljovic finished on double nine to take the match 7-3 against Aldershot-based James Wade. This was after a 180 by the match winner. Wade was powerless to stop a brilliant Suljovic performance.
The first leg in the Rob Cross vs Raymond van Barneveld game saw the former take out a huge 129. The score then became level at 2-2 before Cross took four consecutive legs that left him within a leg of winning the match. The Dutchman van Barneveld managed to pull one more leg back before Cross took the game seven legs to three.
The reigning Word Darts Championship winner Van Gerwen secured a reasonably straight forward win against the Welshman Price. One of the only highlights of the match included Van Gerwen’s 132 checkout via the bull. The Dutchman got back to winning ways after a draw against John Henderson last week in Aberdeen.
The only draw of the night took place in the final match between Peter Wright and Daryl Gurney. Wright was 6-3 up before his Northern Irish opponent pulled the game back. The draw means that Daryl Gurney moves another point away from the drop zone, where Raymond Van Barneveld currently is.
Next week, the Premier League players will travel to the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin to play their next round of games in this competition. Wildcard Max Hopp will play veteran Raymond Van Barneveld, who is currently bottom of the table.
RESULTS:
Nathan Aspinall 2 – 7 Michael Smith
James Wade 3 – 7 Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross 7 – 3 Raymond Van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 2 – 7 Michael Van Gerwen
Peter Wright 6 – 6 Daryl Gurney
Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
TABLE AS IT STANDS:
1st – Michael Van Gerwen (9 points)
2nd – Rob Cross (9 points)
3rd – James Wade (7 points)
4th – Gerwyn Price (7 points)
5th – Peter Wright (6 points)
6th – Mensur Suljovic (6 points)
7th – Michael Smith (5 points)
8th – Daryl Gurney (4 points)
9th – Raymond Van Barneveld (2 points)