Glen Durrant is the Premier League Darts champion (Photos by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Darts results: Glen Durrant wins Premier League Darts title on his debut after beating Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall in the Play-Offs

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Fri October 16, 2020 · 4y ago

Glen Durrant became the Unibet Premier League Darts champion on his debut after surviving four match darts against Gary Anderson before overcoming Nathan Aspinall in Thursday night's Play-Offs in Coventry.

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Scroll down for statistics and semi-final round-up

It's the three-time BDO world champion's first major title since joining the PDC ranks at the start of 2019 and sees him fulfil a career dream just a month before his 50th birthday.

Durrant suffered semi-final heartbreak in five televised tournaments over the past 18 months, including back-to-back World Matchplays, and it looked like that tally would increase to six when he trailed Anderson 9-7 in a nervy clash that got the evening off to a scrappy start at the Ricoh Arena.

But three legs later - albeit with the help of the Flying Scotsman spurning three of his four missed match darts in a tense deciding leg - he finally reached new ground, where he'd meet Peter Wright's conqueror Nathan Aspinall for one of the sport's Triple Crown trophies and a huge top prize of £250,000.

Durrant, who won both of his two Players Championship titles in 2019, had of course already banked £25,000 by becoming only the third player to top the regular season table in the tournament's 16-year history after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, but this was all that mattered now.

The first final since the inaugural edition in 2005 to be contested by two debutants at opposite ends of their careers - yet both wanting it just as badly as each other - was understandably another hard-fought and tense affair to complete the campaign, with both players averaging in the low 90s during Durrant's 11-8 victory.

Both had displayed trademark character, hunger and fighting spirit just to get this far and after 10 legs they were both cancelling each other out at 5-5 without a break of throw.

Aspinall did, however, miss a dart at double 13 for a break in the very first leg as Duzza settled his nerves with a 14-darter while another chance went begging in the fifth when the Stockport star missed two darts when needing 32 to complete a 92 checkout.

Durrant's first opportunity came in the a scrappy next leg when his miss at tops was punished by Aspinall while he couldn't pin double 16 to finish off an attempt at 104 in the eighth.

Aspinall had another opportunity to seize the initiative only to squander two visits with just 87 remaining but he did cruise through leg 10 in 13 darts to restore parity.

The 29-year-old, who already has two TV titles to his name including the 2019 UK Open, arguably held the mental edge for his previous exploits and also having done the double over Durrant during the regular season but it was the experience of his opponent and renowned granite mental of his opponent that proved to be the difference.

After finally breaking the Stockport star's throw in the 14th leg to open up an 8-6 lead, Duzza produced a stunning 127 checkout to hold his own in the next after Aspinall had missed double 12 for a 101.

It was, in hindsight, the decisive moment of the final and even the distraught youngster harked back to it unprompted during his post-match interview, in which he sportingly hailed Durrant's achievement.

To his credit, Aspinall refused to lie down after such a body blow and took out 96 - his second highest checkout of the match behind a 100 that earlier levelled matters at 6-6 - to hold his throw after Duzza had just missed the bullseye to break it.

The popular Teessider moved one leg away from glory with a 72 checkout in the 17th leg and although the 2019 US Darts Master did pull one more back, it merely served to delay the inevitable as Durrant finally brushed aside any late wobbles to convert his fifth title dart.

Durrant told www.pdc.tv: "It's unbelievable. This supersedes everything I've achieved before. Tonight I feel like the best player in the world and I've never had that feeling before.

"I'm feeling absolutely fantastic, I'm ecstatic. This means an awful lot to my family, friends and supporters. It's a mammoth achievement and it makes my move over to the PDC worthwhile.

"The game against Gary will go down as one of the worst games in Premier League Play-Offs history but I knew I couldn't play that badly twice.

"I stepped my game up massively for the final and I knew I had to to beat Nathan, who is a consummate professional and will go on to achieve many great things in darts."

Aspinall, who collects £120,000, said: "Obviously, I'm absolutely mortified to lose. After beating the World Champion I felt I had another gear and that I was going to win the final, but credit to Glen.

"He came top of the Premier League, he's probably been the best player throughout the competition and he deserves to win it.

"It's still been a great debut year for me and I'll be back next year to go one better."

Scroll down for stats and semi-final round-up

Premier League Darts champion Glen Durrant with runner-up Nathan Aspinall (Photos by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Glen Durrant 11-8 Nathan Aspinall: Match Statistics

Average: 91.84 - 92.15
100+ scores: 21 - 18
140+ scores: 12 - 12
180s: 4 - 8
Checkout percentage: 35.48% (11/31) - 24.24% (8/33)
100+ checkouts: 127 - 100

Semi-final review: Debutants hold nerve to reach final

For the first time since the inaugural Premier League season of 2005, two debutants will battle it out for the title after Glen Durrant and Nathan Aspinall both came through gruelling showdowns at the Ricoh Arena.

Durrant came from 9-7 down and survived four match darts to win a nervy low-quality clash against Gary Anderson 10-9 as he reached his first major PDC final in Coventry.

The three-time Lakeside king had suffered agonising defeats in the semi-finals of the World Matchplay (2019 & 2020), World Grand Prix (2019) and Grand Slam of Darts (2019) but finally gets his reward for the perseverance and granite mental strength he's displayed since joining the PDC at the start of last year.

Tournament debutant Duzza had suffered a considerable slump in form during the six weeks since he emulated Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen by becoming just the third different player to top the regular season table and once again he struggled to rediscover his touch tonight with an average of 86.

Fortunately for him, Anderson was well short of his best too and only managed 87 himself as both players never got going.

The Flying Scotsman, who was chasing his third Premier League title having won it in 2011 and 2015, did produce a mini burst when 5-2 down to draw level at 6-6 thanks to finishes of 124, 120, 84 and 80, while another run of three successive legs saw him move onto the brink of victory at 9-7.

Durrant refused to lie down and pulled out a stunning 113 checkout when Anderson waited on 40 for the match to stay alive, before a clinical finish from 64 forced a deciding leg after his opponent missed an attempt at bullseye.

Despite having the advantage of throw, Duzza allowed Anderson to marginally seize the initiative and needed to survive another attempt at the bullseye to get his first crack at glory.

The Teessider initially fluffed his lines on tops after a pair of single 16s from 72 but got another chance when the two-time world champion spurned two attempts at double eight and this time he made no mistake.

With scoring so disappointing, the key to his success was his finishing as he pinned 10 of his 19 attempts on the outer ring as Anderson missed 18 of his 27.

Fellow debutant Aspinall joined him in the final as he overcame Peter Wright 10-7 in a hard-fought clash that also lacked the quality many would have expected.

The Stockport star, whose career has continued to go from strength to strength since winning the 2019 UK Open, trailed 3-1 early on as Snakebite made a pretty fast start but soon clawed himself back level at 4-4 before threatening a nine-dart leg only to fall short with his eighth.

Although he was unable to take out the 141 checkout en route to an eventual 11-darter, he fired in a 138 finish in the next to complete a 12-darter that moved him 6-4 up and then took out the 141 in the 14th to go 8-6 ahead. Although that was 'only' for a 15-darter.

Wright did pull one leg back but was unable to get another shot at a double as Aspinall completed a landmark moment in his career.

The 29-year-old, who has won three of his six career titles this season, averaged 95.67 compared to the world champion's 94.02 while he hit five of the eight 180s in the match and pinned 10 of his 24 darts at doubles as Wright spurned 13 of his 20.

Premier League: Semi-final statistics

Glen Durrant 10-9 Gary Anderson

Average: 86.1 - 87.82
100+ scores: 17 - 22
140+ scores: 12 - 10
180s: 2 - 4
Checkout percentage: 52.63% (10/19) - 33% (9/27)
100+ checkouts: 113 - 124, 120

Peter Wright 7-10 Nathan Aspinall

Average: 94.02 - 95.67
100+ scores: 21 - 21
140+ scores: 13 - 10
180s: 3 - 5
Checkout percentage: 35% (7/20) - 41.67% (10/24)
100+ checkouts: 126 - 141, 138

Premier League Darts 2020: Table, statistics and results

Durrant (W) P 16 W 8 D 5 L 3 LegD +19 Pts 21
Wright (Q) P 16 W 9 D 2 L 5 LegD +18 Pts 20
Aspinall (Q) P 16 W 9 D 1 L 6 LegD +11 Pts 19
Anderson (Q) P 16 W 8 D 3 L 5 LegD +6 Pts 19
Price P 16 W 6 D 5 L 5 LegD +15 Pts 17
Van Gerwen P 16 W 8 D 1 L 7 LegD -4 Pts 17
Smith P 16 W 5 D 3 L 8 LegD -7 Pts 13
Gurney P 16 W 4 D 3 L 9 LegD -15 Pts 11
Cross P 9 W 1 D 3 L 5 LegD -14 Pts 5* ELIMINATED AT JUDGEMENT NIGHT

Tournament Average (Regular season)

Wright 99.66
Van Gerwen 99.05
Aspinall 98.62
Price 98.56
Durrant 98.05
Smith 97.20
Anderson 97.02
Cross 94.61 (Eliminated at Judgement Night)
Gurney 93.50

Tournament 180s (Regular season)

Smith 73
Wright 62
Aspinall 59
Anderson 52
Price 45
Gurney 41
Van Gerwen 33
Durrant 32
Cross 19 (Eliminated at Judgement Night)

Checkout Percentage (Regular season)

Wright 47% (102 / 217)
Price 41.60% (99 / 238)
Van Gerwen 44.44% (74 / 183)
Aspinall 39.75% (97 / 244)
Anderson 39.57% (91 / 23)
Gurney 38.91% (86 / 221)
Durrant 38.81% (78 / 201)
Cross 37.61% (44 / 117) (Eliminated at Judgement Night)
Smith 36.33% (89 / 245)

Premier League Darts 2020 results

Night 1, February 6
P&J Live, Aberdeen
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Michael Smith 3-7 Glen Durrant
Gary Anderson 7-5 Daryl Gurney
Michael van Gerwen 7-5 Peter Wright
Nathan Aspinall 7-3 John Henderson
Gerwyn Price 6-6 Rob Cross

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 2, February 13
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Rob Cross 7-5 Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price 6-6 Michael Smith
Gary Anderson 6-6 Peter Wright
Glen Durrant 6-6 Fallon Sherrock
Daryl Gurney 1-7 Michael van Gerwen

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 3, February 20
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Peter Wright 7-5 Rob Cross
Jonny Clayton 1-7 Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Nathan Aspinall
Daryl Gurney 6-6 Gerwyn Price
Glen Durrant 7-4 Gary Anderson

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 4, February 27
Motorpoint Arena, Dublin
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Glen Durrant 5-7 Nathan Aspinall
Rob Cross 5-7 Gary Anderson
Daryl Gurney 5-7 Michael Smith (SMITH HITS NINE-DARTER)
William O'Connor 4-7 Michael van Gerwen
Gerwyn Price 7-1 Peter Wright

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 5, March 5
Westpoint Arena, Exeter
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Rob Cross 6-6 Daryl Gurney
Gerwyn Price 3-7 Glen Durrant
Nathan Aspinall 3-7 Peter Wright
Gary Anderson 5-7 Luke Humphries
Michael Smith 7-4 Michael van Gerwen

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night Six, Thursday March 12
M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Michael Smith 4-7 Peter Wright
Daryl Gurney 5-7 Glen Durrant
Gerwyn Price 5-7 Michael van Gerwen
Rob Cross 6-6 Stephen Bunting
Gary Anderson 6-6 Nathan Aspinall

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night Seven, Tuesday August 25
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Michael Smith 3-7 Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 7-4 Gerwyn Price
Chris Dobey (C) 2-7 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 6-6 Glen Durrant

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

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)

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Judgement Night, Thursday August 27
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Nathan Aspinall 7-5 Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen 4-7 Gary Anderson
Jermaine Wattimena (C) 0-7 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 7-4 Daryl Gurney
Glen Durrant 7-4 Rob Cross

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 10, Friday August 28
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Glen Durrant 8-4 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 5-8 Gary Anderson
Nathan Aspinall 6-8 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 8-3 Daryl Gurney

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 11, Saturday August 29
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Daryl Gurney 8-6 Peter Wright - WATCH: Wright hits nine-dart finish
Michael Smith 6-8 Nathan Aspinall
Gary Anderson 7-7 Glen Durrant
Michael van Gerwen 4-8 Gerwyn Price

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 12, Sunday August 30
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Nathan Aspinall 6-8 Gary Anderson
Peter Wright 6-8 Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen 8-5 Michael Smith
Glen Durrant 8-3 Daryl Gurney

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 13 - Wednesday September 2
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Glen Durrant 7-7 Michael Smith
Daryl Gurney 6-8 Gary Anderson
Peter Wright 8-1 Michael van Gerwen
Gerwyn Price 6-8 Nathan Aspinall

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 14 - Thursday September 3
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Gerwyn Price 7-7 Daryl Gurney
Gary Anderson 8-2 Michael Smith
Peter Wright 8-5 Nathan Aspinall
Glen Durrant 7-7 Michael van Gerwen

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 15 - Friday September 4
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Daryl Gurney 5-8 Nathan Aspinall
Glen Durrant 6-8 Peter Wright
Gary Anderson 6-8 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 7-7 Gerwyn Price

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Night 16 Saturday September 5
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Gerwyn Price 8-3 Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen 2-8 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 8-5 Michael Smith
Nathan Aspinall 8-2 Glen Durrant

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Play-Offs - Thursday October 14
Ricoh Arena, Coventry
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)

Glen Durrant 10-9 Gary Anderson
Peter Wright 7-10 Nathan Aspinall

Finals (Best of 21 legs)

Glen Durrant 11-8 Nathan Aspinall

Prize Money

Winner: £250,000
Runner-up £120,000
Semi-Finals: £80,000
Fifth: £70,000
Sixth £60,000
Seventh: £55,000
Eighth: £50,000
Ninth: £35,000
League Winner Bonus: £25,000
Total: £825,000

Premier League Darts Past Finals & Winners

2005 - Phil Taylor 16-4 Colin Lloyd
2006 - Phil Taylor 16-6 Roland Scholten
2007 - Phil Taylor 16-8 Terry Jenkins
2008 - Phil Taylor 16-8 James Wade
2009 - James Wade 13-8 Mervyn King
2010 - Phil Taylor 10-8 James Wade
2011 - Gary Anderson 10-4 Adrian Lewis
2012 - Phil Taylor 10-7 Simon Whitlock
2013 - Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Phil Taylor
2014 - Raymond van Barneveld 10-6 Michael van Gerwen
2015 - Gary Anderson 11-7 Michael van Gerwen
2016 - Michael van Gerwen 11-3 Phil Taylor
2017 - Michael van Gerwen 11-10 Peter Wright
2018 - Michael van Gerwen 11-4 Michael Smith
2019 - Michael van Gerwen 11-5 Rob Cross

Premier League Darts Records

Most Titles: Phil Taylor - 6
Longest Unbeaten Run: Phil Taylor - 44 (2005-2008)
Biggest League Victory: Phil Taylor 11-1 Wayne Mardle (2005) & Phil Taylor 11-1 Peter Manley (2005)
Biggest Play-Off Victory: Phil Taylor 16-4 Colin Lloyd (2005 Final)
Whitewashes (since dead legs removed in 2006): Colin Lloyd 8-0 Terry Jenkins (2007), Phil Taylor 8-0 Wayne Mardle (2008), James Wade 8-0 Simon Whitlock (2012), Michael van Gerwen 7-0 Phil Taylor (2014), Michael van Gerwen 7-0 James Wade (2015), Robert Thornton 0-7 Dave Chisnall (2016), Robert Thornton 0-7 Phil Taylor (2016), Michael van Gerwen 7-0 Adrian Lewis (2017), Michael Smith 7-0 Raymond van Barneveld (2018), James Wade 7-0 Daryl Gurney (2019), Gerwyn Price 7-0 Jermaine Wattimena (2020)
Most 180s in a Match: Gary Anderson - 11 v Simon Whitlock (2011)
Most 180s in a Season: Gary Anderson - 79 in 2011

Top 10 High Averages:

123.40 - Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith, 2016
119.5 - Peter Wright v Adrian Lewis, 2017
117.95 - Michael Smith v Robert Thornton, 2016
117.35 - Phil Taylor v Simon Whitlock, 2012
116.90 - Michael van Gerwen v James Wade, 2015
116.67 - Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright, 2016
116.10 - Phil Taylor v James Wade, 2012
116.01 - Phil Taylor v John Part, 2009
115.08 - Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld, 2015 *Record Losing Ave*
115.25 - Phil Taylor v Dave Chisnall, 2015
114.17 - Dave Chisnall v James Wade, 2015

Nine-Dart Finishes

2006 - Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Manley, Bournemouth
2010 - Raymond van Barneveld v Terry Jenkins, Aberdeen
2010 - Phil Taylor x2 v James Wade, Wembley (Final)
2012 - Phil Taylor v Kevin Painter, Aberdeen
2012 - Simon Whitlock v Andy Hamilton, London
2016 - Adrian Lewis v James Wade, Belfast
2017 - Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld, Liverpool

Premier League Darts Past Season Standings

Winner in caps & bold, runner-up in bold.
Top four each year made the play-offs (Top would play fourth)
Points in brackets

Season 2005
PHIL TAYLOR (23)
Colin Lloyd (16)
Peter Manley (12)
Roland Scholten (9)
Mark Dudbridge (8)
John Part (8)
Wayne Mardle (8)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 16-4 Colin Lloyd

Season 2006
PHIL TAYLOR (23)
Raymond van Barneveld (21)
Roland Scholten (10)
Colin Lloyd (9)
Ronnie Baxter (8)
Peter Manley (8)
Wayne Mardle (5)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 16-6 Roland Scholten

Season 2007
PHIL TAYLOR (25)
Raymond van Barneveld (17)
Terry Jenkins (15)
Dennis Priestley (13)
Colin Lloyd (12)
Peter Manley (11)
Adrian Lewis (10)
Roland Scholten (9)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 16-6 Terry Jenkins

Season 2008
PHIL TAYLOR (21)
James Wade (20)
Raymond van Barneveld (18)
Adrian Lewis (12)
Wayne Mardle (12)
Peter Manley (11)
Terry Jenkins (9)
John Part (9)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 16-8 James Wade

Season 2009
Phil Taylor (18)
JAMES WADE (17)
Raymond van Barneveld (13)
Mervyn King (12)
Terry Jenkins (9)
John Part (9)
Jelle Klaasen (6)
Play-off final:
James Wade 13-8 Mervyn King

Season 2010
PHIL TAYLOR (26)
Simon Whitlock (16)
James Wade (14)
Mervyn King (13)
Ronnie Baxter (13)
Raymond van Barneveld (11)
Adrian Lewis (11)
Terry Jenkins (8)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 10-8 James Wade

Season 2011
Phil Taylor (26)
Raymond van Barneveld (18)
GARY ANDERSON (17)
Adrian Lewis (14)
James Wade (13)
Simon Whitlock (11)
Terry Jenkins (8)
Mark Webster (5)
Play-off final:
Gary Anderson 10-4 Adrian Lewis

Season 2012
PHIL TAYLOR (24)
Simon Whitlock (16)
Andy Hamilton (13)
James Wade (13)
Raymond van Barneveld (13)
Adrian Lewis (12)
Kevin Painter (11)
Gary Anderson (10)
Play-off final:
Phil Taylor 10-7 Simon Whitlock

Season 2013
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (24)
Raymond van Barneveld (23)
Phil Taylor (20)
James Wade (17)
Robert Thornton (15)
Simon Whitlock (15)
Andy Hamilton (12)
Adrian Lewis (10)
Wes Newton (5)
Gary Anderson (5)
Play-off final:
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Phil Taylor

Season 2014
Michael van Gerwen (24)
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD (20)
Phil Taylor (20)
Gary Anderson (20)
Peter Wright (17)
Adrian Lewis (15)
Dave Chisnall (10)
Robert Thornton (9)
Wes Newton (6)
Simon Whitlock (5)
Play-off final:
Raymond van Barneveld 10-6 Michael van Gerwen

Season 2015
Michael van Gerwen (23)
Dave Chisnall (22)
GARY ANDERSON (20)
Raymond van Barneveld (19)
Phil Taylor (15)
Adrian Lewis (14)
James Wade (12)
Stephen Bunting (11)
Peter Wright (6)
Kim Huybrechts (4)
Play-off final:
Gary Anderson 11-7 Michael van Gerwen

Season 2016
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (26)
Phil Taylor (24)
Gary Anderson (20)
Adrian Lewis (19)
Peter Wright (17)
James Wade (16)
Raymond van Barneveld (12)
Robert Thornton (6)
Dave Chisnall (3)
Michael Smith (3)
Play-off final:
Michael van Gerwen 11-3 Phil Taylor