Darts results: Gary Anderson beats Peter Wright as Glen Durrant consolidates top spot
A review of Friday night's Unibet Premier League action in Milton Keynes, including wins for Gary Anderson and table-topper Glen Durrant.
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Flying Scotsman sinks Snakebite
Gary Anderson reeled off six legs on the trot to claim a superb 8-5 comeback victory over Peter Wright in the Premier League that draws him level on points with the world champion.
The Flying Scotsman, who beat Michael van Gerwen 24 hours earlier, was up against when his World Cup-winning team-mate moved into 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 thanks to a blistering spell of darts that included checkouts of 102 and 127 in a pair of 12-darters while he took another leg in 11.
After pulling one back, Anderson punished Snakebite for spurning three darts at tops over the next two legs before a 98 checkout completed an 11-darter that put him ahead for the first time in the match.
The 2011 and 2015 Premier League champion guaranteed himself a point by taking the next and then made Wright pay for another miss at tops to seal his third win out of four since the season restarted on Tuesday.
Anderson's average of 101.19 was slightly less than Wright's 101.54 and he hit two fewer 180s with three but he pinned eight of his 18 darts at double as his opponent spurned seven of his 12.
Duzza consolidates top spot
Glen Durrant's dream Premier League debut remains on course for a fairytale finale after a third victory in a row moved him four points clear at the top of the standings.
Despite heading into the clash on a three-match unbeaten run since the restart, which opened up with a 6-6 draw with Peter Wright and included a fine win over Michael van Gerwen, the three-time Lakeside champion still found himself as the marginal underdog against Gerwyn Price but once again made a mockery of the odds to run out a comfortable 8-4 winner.
His average of 98.56 may not have been as high as his previous three 100+ efforts this week but it was significantly more than an inconsistent Price, who finished with a mark of 93.46.
The two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion had his moments such as two big checkouts of 116 and 140 when he trailed 4-1 and 6-3 respectively while he also threw two more 180s with four and boasted a higher checkout percentage of 40% compared to Duzza's 34.78.
Ultimately, however, Price didn't give himself enough chances and only had one attempt at a double in the last five legs, which he hit.
It may be the last objective on his mind, but Durrant's total of 16 points from 10 games means he has a chance of setting the highest ever tally in Premier League history, with 26 achieved three times by Phil Taylor (2010, 2011) and Michael van Gerwen (2016). He can reach a maximum of 28 from 16 matches although it must be said Taylor's 26-point seasons remarkably came in 14-game regular seasons.
Van Gerwen bounces back
Michael van Gerwen came from 4-1 down to battle past Nathan Aspinall 8-6 and arrest his alarmingly rare losing run in Milton Keynes.
The five-time champion, who is chasing the Premier League title for a fifth year in a row, suffered back-to-back defeats in the tournament for just the second time after succumbing to Glen Durrant and Gary Anderson in the past two days and an unprecedented third looked very much on the cards after five legs.
Aspinall was bidding to become just the third player in Premier League history to do a regular season double over MVG - a feat previously managed by Peter Wright (2018) and Daryl Gurney (2019) - and probably couldn't believe his luck to move 4-1 up with three successive 18 darters as the Dutchman spurned three attempts at double in this run.
A resurgent van Gerwen hit back with a 100 checkout in the sixth leg before finishing off an excellent 11-darter from 88 in the next while he punished Aspinall for missing tops to level the match at 4-4.
The next two legs were shared with a pair of 14-dart breaks but the world number one seized the initiative again with another before holding his throw to guarantee himself a point.
Aspinall stayed alive with an 81 checkout only for van Gerwen to close it out in the deciding leg with a match-winning 13-darter.
The 30-year-old averaged 95.33 compared to Aspinall's 96.09 and hit three fewer maximums with two but he was more clinical on his finishing as hit 50% of his doubles while the Stockport man missed 17 of his 23.
Bully Boy floors SuperChin
Michael Smith moved to within a point of the top four as he brushed aside Daryl Gurney 8-3 in the final match of the night.
The five-time major runner-up wasn't at his best but his average of 94.02 was still more than enough to inflict a heavy defeat on SuperChin, who posted a mark of just 88.13 that was largely down to a torrid evening on his doubles.
Gurney looked as though he could well make the most of his Judgement Night survival when a 111 checkout completed a 12-darter in the second leg and he promptly moved 2-1 ahead after punishing Smith for six missed attempts at a double in the next.
However, the Northern Irishman missed nine at the outer ring over the next six legs, including five in the ninth, as Bully Boy stormed into a 7-2 lead before sealing maximum points with a 13-darter in the 11th.
Smith fired in five 180s and while his checkout percentage of 36.36% isn't much to write home about, it was an improvement on the previous three nights.
Table, Night 10 results & night 11 fixtures
2020 Premier League Darts Table
- Durrant P 10 W 7 D 2 L 1 LegD +22 Pts 16
- Van Gerwen P 10 W 6 D 0 L 4 LegD +8 Pts 12
- Wright P 10 W 5 D 2 L 3 LegD +7 Pts 12
- Anderson P 10 W 5 D 2 L 3 LegD 3 Pts 12
- Smith P 10 W 5 D 1 L 4 LegD +7 Pts 11
- Aspinall P 10 W 5 D 1 L 4 LegD +3 Pts 11
- Price P 10 W 3 D 3 L 4 LegD +6 Pts 9
- Gurney P 10 W 2 D 2 L 6 LegD -13 Pts 6
- Cross P 9 W 1 D 3 L 5 LegD -14 Pts 5* ELIMINATED AT JUDGEMENT NIGHT
Night 10, Friday August 28
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1830 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
Night 11, Saturday August 29
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright
- Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall
- Gary Anderson v Glen Durrant
- Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price