Watch: Jose de Sousa hits THREE double tops to finish a 120 checkout in Premier League Darts

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The magic moment at a sell-out Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes rivalled any nine-dart finish for crowd reaction and is exactly the kind of entertainment the sport's fans deserved for the atmosphere they've created for the players during the final week of the campaign.

It came in the opening leg of his clash with fellow Play-Off qualifier Nathan Aspinall, who couldn't hold back a smile of his own when De Sousa landed his third double top that sent the fans wild.

If that wasn't enough, Aspinall responded with a 152 checkout in the very next leg although De Sousa continued to turn on the style and went on to fire in another tops-tops finish to move 6-3 up in a crazy match that also saw him break the record for most 180s in a single season.

De Sousa needed two maximums to overtake the astonishing tally of 79 that Gary Anderson set in his debut season back in 2011 and he managed it by throwing three of the five 180s in a clash he went on to win 8-3 with an average of 102.34.

De Sousa completed the victory with another show-stopping 149 finish that lifted him up to second in the table and ended Aspinall's chances of pipping Michael van Gerwen to the league leader's bonus of £25,000.

"It was a great feeling to play so well in front of this amazing crowd," said De Sousa. "Three double tops was for the fans, but I wanted to show it can be done.

"I don't play to break records, but it is nice to hit so many 180s. It has been a fantastic first season in the Premier League for me. I am very happy with the way things are going right now."

The pair will now meet again in the semi-finals on Friday night while MVG will face Jonny Clayton, who held on to the last available play-off spot by defeating fellow debutant Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-6 in their crunch showdown.

Van Gerwen has now topped the table for eight of his nine seasons and will be favourite to win the overall title for the sixth time in his career on Friday night but on this evidence, De Sousa could be his biggest threat.

MVG rounded off his regular season campaign with a breathtaking display of 100+ finishing during an 8-6 victory over Peter Wright.

The former world number one took out 145, 126 and 113, with the latter coming in the second leg straight after Snakebite had managed a 109 of his own to take an early lead.

However the result could have been much different had Wright not blown four darts at a double for a 6-5 lead - two of which at tops after he'd already hit the same target with his first dart when trying to finish off 80.

Van Gerwen averaged 101.12, hit 50% of his doubles and three maximums while Wright's corresponding stats were 94.13, 33% and three 180s.

"To top the table is really important for me, but the tournament isn't finished yet," said Van Gerwen. "I want to win that title tomorrow.

"I can't really complain with 23 points, considering where I came from last year.

"It's always nice to beat Peter, he is a class player and I enjoyed playing in front of the phenomenal crowd tonight."

Clayton averaged 103.83 in his victory over Van den Bergh thanks largely to his phenomenal tally of 17 140s and his clinical checkout percentage of almost 54% - although he didn't manage to hit any of the maximums in the match.

The Welshman only needed a point to end the Belgian's chances and he did that by moving 7-5 up before wrapping up the victory two legs later.

"Tonight was an absolutely massive game, probably the biggest I've ever played in my life," said Clayton, who picks up £80,000 for reaching the top four, the biggest payday of his career to date.

"To reach the Play-Offs in my first year in the Premier League, I'm delighted to have got over the line.

"Hopefully I can do this year after year, but I've got nothing to lose now. I'm here to win like everybody else, I just need to two more wins.

"The crowd were superb, their support means so much to me."

The opening match of the night saw James Wade and Gary Anderson playing for nothing but pride and place prize money and it was the Machine who ended up prevailing 8-6.

He averaged 99.51 compared to Anderson's 100.52 but hit four more 180s with seven in a high-quality affair despite the lack of stakes while he also fired in checkouts of 102 and a match-winning 94.

• CLICK HERE FOR PREMIER LEAGUE FINALS NIGHT PREVIEW, TIPS AND STATS

Premier League Darts 2021: Thursday results, Friday schedule & table

Night 16, May 27
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Gary Anderson 6-8 James Wade
• Nathan Aspinall 3-8 Jose de Sousa
• Peter Wright 6-8 Michael van Gerwen
• Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-8 Jonny Clayton

Play-Offs Night, May 28
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)

• Michael van Gerwen v Jonny Clayton
• Jose de Sousa v Nathan Aspinall

Final (Best of 21 legs)

• MVG/Clayton v De Sousa/Aspinall

2021 Premier League Darts Table

1. Michael van Gerwen P 16 W 10 D 3 L 3 LegD +24 Pts 23
2. Jose de Sousa P 16 W 8 D 4 L 4 LegD +20 Pts 20
3. Nathan Aspinall P 16 W 7 D 5 L 4 LegD +15 Pts 19
4. Jonny Clayton P 16 W 8 D 2 L 6 LegD +7 Pts 18
5. Dimitri Van den Bergh P 16 W 6 D 4 L 6 LegD 0 Pts 16
6. James Wade P 16 W 5 D 5 L 6 LegD -3 Pts 15
7. Peter Wright P 16 W 6 D 3 L 7 LegD -8 Pts 15
8. Gary Anderson P 16 W 5 D 3 L 8 LegD -13 Pts 13
9. Rob Cross P 9 W 3 D 1 L 5 LegD -3 Pts 7 (ELIMINATED)
10. Glen Durrant P 9 W 0 D 0 L 9 LegD -39 Pts 0 (ELIMINATED)

• The top four after 16 games qualify for the end of season play-offs, where the title will be decided
• Players earn two points for a win, and one for a draw.
• When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL TOURNAMENT GUIDE INCLUDING RESULTS, TABLE & HISTORY

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