A review of Wednesday night's action in Premier League Darts, where Glen Durrant returned to the top with victory over Michael Van Gerwen.
- Premier League season guide
- Scroll down for updated table
Durrant beats Van Gerwen
Glen Durrant, who was labelled as ‘boring’ by Michael Van Gerwen heading into their crunch match at the top of the table, made the reigning Champion eat his words as he humbled him in a stunning 7-3 victory.
Having reclaimed top spot on Tuesday, Van Gerwen was looking to further increase his advantage in the table but looked lacklustre in response against a ruthless performance from Durrant that saw him average 104 and landed 58% of his checkouts.
After sharing the opening four legs, Durrant lit the fuse with a stunning 167 checkout to break the Van Gerwen throw.
That sparked a run of four straight legs to guarantee a point and move 6-2 ahead. Van Gerwen clawed one back, but it was only delaying the inevitable as Durrant landed 62 to secure a huge win.
"That's a big win and I'm a happy man," said Durrant. "Whatever sport you're in, it's special to beat the best player in the world and this is up there with any night in my career.
"Michael's the best player in the world right now and the second best player ever to pick up a dart, and tonight I beat him,” said Durrant.
"It's amazing - I've got so much respect for him and I'm going to enjoy the moment. I feel that I'm right up there now as one of the top ten in the world and I'm only going to get better.
"I'm top of the Premier League and I'm proud of that, but I just want to stay in the top four now and make sure I'm in the Play-Offs."
It was the perfect response to van Gerwen branding Durrant a "boring player who sucks the life out of you" in a pre-match interview while he's is now only the fourth player ever to hold a 3-0 head-to-head record against the Dutchman.
Peter Manley, Ken MacNeil and Richie Burnett were the others although they'd obviously go on to lose future meetings.
Gurney secures important win
Back-to-back wins for Daryl Gurney has lifted the Northern Irishman off the foot of the table and above Rob Cross.
Having seen off Challenger Chris Dobey last night, he backed that up with a hard-fought 7-5 victory over Nathan Aspinall.
In a tense start, the pair traded the opening six legs before Gurney found his rhythm and moved into a 5-3 lead.
Gurney then guaranteed a point at 6-4, but Aspinall once again ramped up the pressure as he moved within one at 6-5.
But a strong final leg, finished with an 82 checkout, saw Gurney clinch a valuable two points.
Cross left propping up the table
Rob Cross is left propping up the Unibet Premier League table going into Judgement Night after falling to a 7-3 defeat to Michael Smith.
It compounds a miserable restart to Premier League action for Cross, having suffered a 7-2 defeat to Michael van Gerwen yesterday, and will now need a victory and other results to go his way to survive elimination on Wednesday.
The former World Champion was under pressure going in his match, with Daryl Gurney having just seen off Nathan Aspinall 7-5 to move above him in the table as things stood.
Smith got off to a flying start and lead 3-0, but Cross showed some resilience - including a match-high 143 checkout - to level at 3-3 and give himself life.
But he couldn’t replicate that fighting spirit when it mattered most, and Smith regained composure to string together four straight legs to further punish Cross and leave him staring at the exit door.
Price eases past Anderson
Gerwyn Price gave his survival hopes a massive boost with a thumping 7-1 victory over Gary Anderson to kick off Night Eight.
Anderson - who cruised past Smith with a 108 average on Night Seven - never really got going as Price quickly raced into a four-nil lead.
Anderson had his one shining moment as a 116 checkout gave him his one and only leg, but Price quickly rattled off the remaining three legs to secure a huge two points.
"I needed to win to put the pressure on the other players and I've done that," said Price. "I'm still under pressure and it still depends on other results but I just want to prepare and try to win tomorrow now.
"I'm happy with the win - 7-1 is a bit flattering but I think I deserved to win. I don't think Gary played particularly well but I got ahead of him early, put him under pressure and took my chances.
"I'm playing well, I just need to be a little bit more confident. Having five months off, you need games to get yourself going and I just need to play more regularly."
Wright keeps up play-off charge
In the final game of the night, Peter Wright kept up his charge on the Play-Off places as he comfortably saw off Challenger Jeffrey De Zwaan 7-1.
A stunning 130 checkout was the crowning moment for the World Champion as he rarely looked troubled, cruising to victory with a 102 average.
"I saw the other results earlier so I knew I had to get a big win and I'm happy with that," said Wright.
"If you give Jeffrey a sniff he'll trounce you - he's beaten Michael in two big matches and he's a quality player. I had to try and pounce on him as much as possible.
"There's loads more to come with the darts I'm using at the moment; I can hit more 180s, I finished well tonight and I'm excited about the future with them."
Table, night eight results & night nine fixtures
2020 Premier League Darts Table
- Durrant P 8 W 5 D 2 L 1 LegD +15 Pts 12
- Van Gerwen P 8 W 5 D 0 L 3 LegD +9 Pts 10
- Wright P 8 W 4 D 2 L 2 LegD +7 Pts 10
- Smith P 8 W 4 D 1 L 3 LegD +4 Pts 9
- Aspinall P 8 W 4 D 1 L 3 LegD +3 Pts 9
- Anderson P 8 W 3 D 2 L 3 LegD -3 Pts 8
- Price P 8 W 2 D 3 L 3 LegD +3 Pts 7
- Gurney P 8 W 2 D 2 L 4 LegD -5 Pts 6
- Cross P 8 W 1 D 3 L 4 LegD -11 Pts 5
Night Eight, Wednesday August 26
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Gary Anderson 1-7 Gerwyn Price
- Nathan Aspinall 5-7 Daryl Gurney
- Michael Smith 7-3 Rob Cross
- Michael van Gerwen 3-7 Glen Durrant
- Peter Wright 7-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan (C)
Judgement Night, Thursday August 27
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Glen Durrant v Rob Cross
- Nathan Aspinall v Michael Smith
- Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney
- Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson
- Jermaine Wattimena (C) v Gerwyn Price