Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld earned a draw (Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Premier League Darts: MVG stays top while Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld draw in an epic

Darts

Sat March 17, 2018 · 7y ago

Michael van Gerwen kept hold of top spot in Premier League Darts with a 7-3 win over Gerwyn Price while there was an epic draw between Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld.

Scroll down for full results, updated table, video highlights & statistics

Van Gerwen holds top spot

Michael van Gerwen cruised to a 7-3 victory over the winless Gerwyn Price in Nottingham as he held onto top spot in the Premier League Darts table.

The defending champion climbed to the summit last week in Leeds following Michael Smith's first loss of the season and he was no mood to relinquish his position when facing a player he's now beaten 13 times out of 13.

Van Gerwen needed a 7-3 win or better to stay above Smith on leg difference after Bully Boy who crushed Peter Wright 7-1 earlier in the night and he did just that, posting an impressive average of 104.8 and a clinical checkout percentage of 58.33%.

Price shared the opening four legs of the contest, but a 152 checkout put Van Gerwen ahead before finishes of 95, 71 and 117 plus an 11-darter sealed a fine win.

He told www.pdc.tv: "I think I played okay but I know I can do a lot better. I did the right things at the right moments and got the two points, which was the most important thing. I want to raise my game now for the rest of the Premier League, but I'm at the top of the table and that's where I want to be. I feel good."

The Dutchman will meet Smith next week in a mouthwatering top-of-the-table clash in Glasgow (click here for Premier League fixture list).

Meanwhile, Price is rooted at the bottom of the table with just two points from a pair of draws and is in grave danger of relegation.

The Welshman hit three of his five double attempts but his averaged of 92.91 wasn't enough to create more opportunities.

Anderson fights back against Barney

Gary Anderson extended his unbeaten run in all tournaments to 23 as he once again came from behind to earn a third Premier League Darts draw of the season - this time against Raymond van Barneveld.

The Flying Scotsman, who won the UK Open and two Players Championship events this month, has been forced to produce stirring comebacks in his last three Premier League games against Peter Wright, Daryl Gurney and now Barney.

In Nottingham tonight, his situation looked particularly perilous when the veteran Dutchman moved 6-4 ahead but in the next leg he missed five match darts from 40 as Anderson earned a lifeline.

And he would take full advantage in showstopping fashion by taking out a 144 checkout that salvaged a point which keeps both men in touch of the top four.

"I know I can still play better but I pinched a point at the end," said the Scotsman. "I was practising well but the darts were dropping low when I got on stage. The checkout at the end is how I wanted to start off the game but Raymond missed a few shots and let me in. I'll take it for now but it's got to come good sometime."

Van Barneveld admitted: "I could have won that but I missed those doubles at the end and Gary's 144 was a great finish. When I was 4-2 down I'd have been happy with a draw, but if you're leading 6-4 you think you might win and that's when things go wrong. It's a tough competition this year and anything could happen in the next few weeks."

Voltage too high for Suljovic

Rob Cross continued is rise up the Premier League Darts table with a stunning 7-2 victory over in-form Mensur Suljovic in Nottingham.

Voltage endured a difficult start to his maiden campaign with back-to-back defeats, including a heavy 7-1 hiding against Simon Whitlock, but he's now won four on the spin to move up to third in the table.

Cross also posted his highest Premier League average of 106.49 against the Austrian while he hit three 180s and nailed seven of his nine darts at doubles.

Suljovic headed into the clash in confident mood having destroyed Peter Wright 7-1 in Leeds but he only managed four darts at a double as he found Cross too hot to handle.

Cross said: "I'm really happy with the win, I'm enjoying it and I was focused on the job tonight. I feel I'm playing well and it's all going the right way for me at the minute - I feel I'm getting better every week."

Smith feels no venom from Snakebite

Michael Smith bounced back from his first defeat of the Premier League Darts season to thrash struggling Peter Wright 7-1 in Nottingham on Thursday night.

Bully Boy was knocked off top spot by MVG in Leeds last week after letting a commanding lead slip against world champion Rob Cross but there was to be no mistake against a lacklustre Wright.

The St Helens thrower, who averaged 95, only hit a single maximum but his finishing was ruthless, pinning seven of his 13 attempts at doubles to leave Snakebite reeling.

It was Wright's second successive 7-1 defeat in the competition having been thrashed by Mensur Suljovic seven days ago to leave his leg difference in a desperate state.

Smith said: "I keep hitting the doubles and getting the points. I've been focusing on not getting eliminated and this is another two points towarsd that, so I'm pretty happy but I've still got more in the tank."

Draw specialist Gurney denies Whitlock a win

Daryl Gurney is still without a victory in his debut Premier League season but he survived four match darts in the deciding leg to rescue a 6-6 draw against Simon Whitlock.

The Northern Irishman came from a leg down to lead 3-1, only for the Aussie to move back ahead after seven legs with the aid of a superb 133 checkout.

Whitlock also took out 88 and 112 as he secured a minimum of a draw at 6-5, but four misses in the final leg allowed Gurney back in on double eight to share the points.

"It was a strange game," admitted Whitlock. "Daryl got off to a good start, I came back at him and missed match darts, which is disappointing. But to get a draw against Daryl is pretty good for me because of my record against him and a draw's not a bad result in the end."

Gurney moves out of the bottom two following his fourth draw of the campaign and said: "To try to get to where I want to be I had to win tonight, so the pressure's still on. Simon played a great game - I kept on top of him but he kept on going.

"I thought it was competitive leg-on-leg and it's another point for me, but I'm sure Simon's thinking he should have won."

Premier League results, table & statistics

Michael Smith 7-1 Peter Wright
Simon Whitlock 6-6 Daryl Gurney
Mensur Suljovic 2-7 Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price 3-7 Michael van Gerwen
Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gary Anderson

2018 Premier League Darts Table

MVG P 6 W 5 D 0 L 1 LegD +19 Pts 10
Smith P 6 W 5 D 0 L 1 LegD +18 Pts 10
Cross P 6 W 4 D 0 L 2 LegD +3 Pts 8
Whitlock P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 LegD +4 Pts 7
Barney P 6 W 2 D 2 L 2 LegD -7 Pts 6
Anderson P 6 W 1 D 3 L 2 LegD -2 Pts 5
Suljovic P 6 W 2 D 0 L 4 LegD -4 Pts 4
Gurney P 6 W 0 D 4 L 2 LegD -8 Pts 4
Wright P 6 W 1 D 2 L 3 LegD -13 Pts 4
Price P 6 W 0 D 2 L 4 LegD -14 Pts 2

CLICK HERE FOR PREMIER LEAGUE DATES, FIXTURES, RESULTS & TABLE

HIGHEST AVERAGES

Cross 106.49
MVG 104.8
Gurney 99.11
Whitlock 96.38
Smith 95.02
Suljovic 94.65
Price 92.91
Barney 92.48
Anderson 92.81
Wright 82.91

MOST 180s

Gurney 4
Barney 4
Cross 3
Whitlock 3
Anderson 2
Price 2
MVG 2
Smith 1
Suljovic 1
Wright 0

HIGHEST CHECKOUTS

MVG 152
Anderson 144
Whitlock 133
Price 117
Cross 104
Gurney 91
Smith 77
Barney 72
Suljovic 59
Wright 40

CHECKOUT PERCENTAGES

Cross 77.78%
Anderson 60%
Price 60%
MVG 58.33%
Smith 53.85%
Suljovic 50%
Whitlock 40%
Gurney 33.33%
Barney 33.33%
Wright 20%

Michael Smith thrashed Peter Wright 7-1 (Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)