Author: Peter Fryers (Peter Fryers)

Daryl Gurney recorded his third successive triumph over Michael van Gerwen on Thursday as he ran out the 8-5 winner to blow the league wide open. The win also means that Superchin becomes only the second player ever to complete a Premier League double over the world champion, the first being Peter Wright last year.

Gurney now finds himself fourth in the table and with every chance of making the playoffs. Meanwhile, MVG loses top spot with just two weeks to go, meaning he could — for the first time in seven years — not top the table at its conclusion. There is even an admittedly slim chance that he might not make London at all, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Mighty Mike was way short of his normal game and fell 4-0 down early on in the contest before landing a 127 checkout to inspire a little hope. After van Gerwen took the following leg, the Northern Irishman took another two to hone in on victory, which came not too long after.

A recap of Night 14

MVG now finds himself one point behind Rob Cross, who defeated Michael Smith in a brutal beating at the start of the night in a match that now secures at least a playoff place for Voltage. Cross averaged 102.54, hit five 180s and landed eight of his 14 doubles in a thoroughly one-sided contest that was never in doubt. So dominant was Cross that in seven of the eight legs that he won in six darts or less. The tone was set early doors after Cross hit a 101 checkout to take the first and from there the win looked inevitable, reeling off the next four legs. Bully Boy, who averaged a surprisingly high 97.65, finally got points on the board when he took the sixth, but thereafter the 2018 world champion was unbeatable in the next three, cleaning up in 33 darts to put the game to bed.

There was a typically bad-tempered match between the league’s two pantomime villains in the night’s final match in which James Wade overcame the challenge from Gerwyn Price. In a playoff fight, the Englishman claimed an 8-4 victory over the Welshman, who refused to shake hands after the game. Both players have previous experience when it comes to winding opponents up, but Wade didn’t appear to do anything wrong so it’s hard to see where The Iceman lost his cool. However, it did look like Price’s game plan, which backfired, was to slow throw his opponent, a tactic which has worked for others against The Machine in the past. To be fair to Wade, he didn’t take the bait and kept calm to claim a fairly routine win. Wade, winner in 2009, now sits third in the table, while Price sinks to sixth with two points between him and the top four. Price slowed down his game for the night and was 3-0 down before getting back in the game one leg later with an 11-darter. Soon after, Wade restored a three-leg advantage when Price pulled back another leg. The Machine then proceeded to killed finish him off with 12 and 14 dart legs.

In match two, Peter Wright was once again the victim to defeat. This time to Mensur Suljovic, who almost threw the game away but chucked a decent 12-darter in the final leg to keep himself in the hunt for a playoff place. The Gentle started the night with a 144 checkout as he raced into a 5-1 lead. Snakebite, who actually climbed off the bottom on leg difference, found some fight in the seventh and went on a winning run of three in a row to give Suljovic a fright. The Austrian kept going and soon found himself shooting for the match but missing twice. This slip let Wright back in forcing a deciding leg, which went the way of The Gentle, who averaged 93.91 compared to Wright’s 89.49.

Premier League of Darts Betting Tips Week 15

It’s over to Sheffield for DPL Night 15 where all eyes will be on the race for the top four. We open with James Wade and Michael Smith, with The Machine looking to take the points needed to further cement his bid his for a playoff place. Wade was helped enormously by his squashing of Gerwyn Price last week. Bully Boy returned to the bottom of the table in Manchester after he was battered by Rob Cross. There is little reason to believe he will fare much better this week, especially when given statistics that weigh heavily in Wade’s favour and show the Machine to have beaten Smith in 16 of their 19 meetings.

League leader Rob Cross takes to the oche next as he looks to beat playoff hopeful Mensur Suljovic and stay top for another week, with only Leeds left on the schedule to play before London. Following his win over Smith, Voltage is now Betway’s 5/4 favourite to finish first at the end of the campaign. He has done well to topple Michael van Gerwen so far, who has topped the table for the past six seasons. The Gentle currently occupies the final playoff place, aided last week by securing a wobbly win over Peter Wright. Form-wise, both of these players have won six in twelve, but Cross is playing like a world beater right now and so must be favoured.

Daryl Gurney gave his top-four hopes a massive boost by stunning Michael van Gerwen 8-5 last week and now sits just point from the top four with two weeks remaining. This week Superchin faces Gerwyn Price, who has only one point less himself. Now more of an outsider, The Iceman is running out of time and now needs to begin winning in order to make up those points. Given that he has won nine of their past eleven meetings, the Welshman has a slim chance to do so in what is comfortably the hardest match of the night to call.

After losing last week, Michael van Gerwen is now chasing top spot, and given how Rob Cross fares in match 2, he has every chance to catch up after he surely beats Peter Wright, whose campaign never really got going this year. While MVG’s winless streak stretches to two, Snakebite is in freefall after nine games without a victory and a straightforward win for the Dutchman is expected.

Your weekly accumulator with Betway is as follows; James Wade, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen which pays 11.91/1.

• (15/8) Michael Smith v James Wade (1/1)
• (9/4) Mensur Suljovic v Rob Cross (5/6)
• (5/4) Daryl Gurney v Gerwyn Price (6/4)
• (30/100) Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright (6/1)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK 15

Venue: The FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
Dates: Thursday 09.05.2019
Format: Best of 12 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

Night 13 of the Darts Premier League recap

On a night of ties in Birmingham, there was only one winner – Daryl Gurney – and one loser – Peter Wright – as three of the four matches ended in a 7-7 draw.

For Gurney, the 8-4 result did wonders for his chances of reaching the Premier League playoffs, as he moves to within a point of the top four. For Snakebite, it means he now props up the others as he sinks to the bottom where he displaces Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith. Superchin averaged just below 100 while hitting four 180s and seeing success with 8 of his 14 attempts at doubles. He also hit three ton-plus checkouts, one of which helped him establish a 6-4 lead not long before he banked 81 to finish off a match-winning 12-darter. Overall, Wright managed an average of 96.04, hitting just the one lonely maximum and recording a 50% checkout rate making his chances of making it to London fade out of sight.

At the other end of the table, birthday boy Michael van Gerwen couldn’t get past James Wade, who put in another superb effort against the World number one, beating MVG for the second time this Premier League season. It was an entertaining match that was going with throw until The Machine moved into a 7-5 lead. But on his 30th birthday, MVG — who lost 7-3 when they last met in Exeter back in February — soon reeled off back-to-back legs in 12 and 13 darts to tie the match and maintain his one-point lead at the top of the table. By the end of the thrilling contest showdown, in which all legs were won in 15 or fewer, the world champion had averaged 106.78 over Wade’s 103.66.

The point between Mighty Mike and Rob Cross stayed intact, Voltage was unable to secure a win against Gerwyn Price earlier in the night. In fact, Price, who averaged 101.18, was unlucky not to win as he had Cross on the hook only to fail to convert any of his four-match darts to let his opponent back into the game and save the match. Having initially fallen 3-1 behind, The Iceman then turned the game on its head to lead 6-4 and then 7-5, from where he let the game slip away. Cross, who averaged 97.81, struck back with a late rally to claim a point and keep him in second place.

The night’s other draw saw Mensur Suljovic fight back from 6-2 down to draw 7-7 with Michael Smith. The whole Premier League season has played out this way for Bully Boy, who has performed far better than his position suggests. He did move up a place off the bottom as Peter Wright sits underneath, but far too many times this season he has thrown away a commanding lead.

Up 6-2 up, Smith was required to win the last leg to save a point. Suljovic began his comeback with a superb checkout of 120 to reduce the gap to 6-3 before reeling in Bully Boy with a string of legs that included a finish from 84 for a 12-darter. From 6-6, the Austrian sealed a 116 checkout to move ahead for the first time in the match before Bully Boy landed a double eight with his last dart in hand to square the score.

Premier League of Darts Betting Tips Week 14

This week the action moves to Manchester with James Wade and Gerwyn Price the first pair to step up to the oche. Third-placed Wade has his sights firmly set on London after producing another brilliant display against Michael van Gerwen and almost completed a competition double over the Dutchman. In the end, The Machine was forced to settle for a draw, but given the quality of the opposition, I doubt he will be too troubled in his match against Price. The Iceman, though, is another who is at the top of his game right now and is currently occupying the final playoff place. This is a match that really could go either way but given Wade has won six of their 10 matches, I’m plumping on The Machine to be victorious in Manchester, even if a draw wouldn’t surprise.

Michael van Gerwen will play Daryl Gurney in the following matchup and its hard to see the league leader coming away with anything other than the maximum points. Last week, Mighty Mike was forced to dig deep against James Wade while Gurney was the only player to win in Birmingham. The pair have met 23 times in the past, with MVG coming out on top in 18 of them. Bear in mind that it was actually Superchin who won their last two, although I doubt very much he will win this one .

Match three pairs Mensur Suljovic and bottom-placed Peter Wright, where the smart money should go on the Austrian. Although Suljovic failed to win last week against Michael Smith, he is chasing a playoff spot and is currently in fifth place. In contrast, Snakebite was last week’s only loser and looks to be in a very dark place at the moment, while his chances of making it to the O2 are shot. Wright hasn’t won now for almost two months — eight matches to be exact — while The Gentle has won seven of their last eight meetings and should continue his winning streak this Thursday.

Finally, I would expect Rob Cross to beat Michael Smith in the last game of the night. Cross remains hot on the heels of Michael van Gerwen after saving a point last week against Gerwyn Price. Smith has suffered a disappointing campaign and is way off the pace in a competition he came second in last year. On that note and with more to play for, Voltage — who has won 11 of their 14 matches — has the beating of Bully Boy and should take maximum points again this time too.

Your Betway acca for the week is, then, as follows; James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Mensur Suljovic and Rob Cross, which pays 11.18/1.

• (5/4) James Wade v Gerwyn Price (6/4)
• (11/2) Daryl Gurney v Michael van Gerwen (4/11)
• (2/1) Peter Wright v Mensur Suljovic (10/11)
• (10/11) Rob Cross v Michael Smith (2/1)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK 14

Venue: The Manchester Arena
Dates: Thursday 02.05.2019
Format: Best of 12 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)