Premier League Darts: Daryl Gurney still hopeful of avoiding early elimination

By Sporting Life

23:29 · MON August 24, 2020

Daryl Gurney is hopeful the prolonged break from Unibet Premier League action can help his fight against early elimination from the tournament.

Gurney currently occupies bottom spot on the Premier League ladder, having drawn two and lost four of his opening six games, though three of those defeats were by a 7-5 scoreline.

Tuesday's resumption will see the two-time TV champion face Chris Dobey behind closed doors in Milton Keynes, instead of in front of what would have been a partisan crowd in Newcastle.

"Things weren’t going my way at all at the start of the Premier League, hopefully the long break and change in schedule can help me," Gurney explained.

"Before lockdown it could have taken me a fortnight to get up the table. But now that could only take 48 hours. That’s my incentive. Obviously it’s still just down to me. I still believe I’m in control of my own destiny but I need to hit the ground running on Tuesday. If I can get my first win, I think I can get up the table.

“It’s going to be very different for all the players. There’s no doubt if you can hit form straight away, it could be a really good thing to have the fixtures all in one hit over two weeks. I’ll go there as I always do, just to focus on me and nothing else. There’s a lot of distractions right now, different venue, no crowds and stuff like that. You’ve got to block it all out and just play the board like you would in the ProTour.”

The Northern Irishman, desperate to avoid a first Premier League elimination in his third year in the competition, will face Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright on Night Eight and Judgement Night respectively.

Since making the Play-Offs in 2019, Gurney went on to reach the semi-finals of three TV ranking events (World Matchplay, European Championship, UK Open) but the world number seven insists he isn't feeling any pressure.

"I really don’t mind being off the radar if I’m being honest. I just do my own thing and quietly go about my business. I prefer that," Gurney continued.

"The Matchplay didn’t go to plan in any way. Fair play to Vincent, he was on a high and deserved his win. I wasn’t good enough on the night. It would be nice to get a few early results in Milton Keynes this time. If I can get into a good rhythm, I know I can get a decent run. Then who knows, anything is possible.”