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February14February 10, 2022

Peter Wright Beats Michael van Gerwen In Cardiff

In another week of unpredictable upsets in the Darts Premier League, Peter Wright had one of those nights we all know he is capable of but seldom produces as he went on to shock Michael van Gerwen 7-5. Elsewhere, Rob Cross lost again, this time in a 7-1 thrashing by Simon Whitlock who, following back-to-back wins and a 100% record, now sits atop of the League after two weeks.

Snakebite could only manage an unconvincing draw with Gerwyn Price last week, but his outlook quickly improved early in the fourth leg as the pre-match 6/1 underdog maneuvered himself into a 3-1 lead before MVG raised his game enough to level the match. Wright though soon quashed his opponent’s rebellion, punishing the Dutchman for three missed darts at the double and taking out a 116 to move back into the lead. Before long he found himself within one leg of guaranteeing at least a point and victory within reach. Soon after, Wright landed his third maximum of the match on his way to a 12-darter, followed swiftly by a 13-darter.

Things are currently far less smooth for Rob Cross, however, as he suffered a second successive heavy defeat. This time his loss was at the hands of current League leader Simon Whitlock who battered the World champion 7-1 at the Motopoint Arena. Whitlock, by the way, this week fired out a warning on Twitter that the Instagram account swhitlock180 is fraudulent and in no way affiliated to the Aussie professional. So there.

Back to the oche where 27-year-old Cross has now lost his last six matches, with his only win since January 1st coming at the Masters first round against Ian White. Despite his current downswing, Voltage was the odds-on favourite pre-match but instead it was the Wizard who conjured up another win.

There were no such issues for Gary Anderson who comfortably won his grudge match against the Welsh crowd’s favourite Gerwyn Price, whose scoring simply let him down while Anderson produced his best performance of the season so far to win 7-3. Price did manage to bank an average of 92.71 but only chucked off eight shots at double whereas Anderson posted an average of 99.22.

Raymond van Barneveld scored his first win of the season with a 7-5 victory over Mensur Suljovic in a much tighter affair where both players averaged over 100. The game hinged on Suljovic missing three attempts at the double in the fourth leg leaving the door ajar for Barney to sneak in and land a 167 checkout to move 3-1 up, a lead that widened a leg later. From there, the remaining legs were shared equally leaving the Barney to take all three points.

The League’s only other 100% record was held on to after Michael Smith recorded a 7-4 victory over Daryl Gurney in the night’s opening match. Bully Boy stormed into a 3-0 lead, with the help of a 124 checkout. Numerous 13-darters and 14-darters were to follow before a fourth 180 of the match put Smith ahead 5-4. Smith capitalised on his rival’s four missed double attempts to go 6-4 up before nailing the final leg too.

Results from last week

Michael Smith 7-4 Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross 1-7 Simon Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price 3-7 Gary Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld 7-5 Mensur Suljovic

Darts Premier League Betting Tips: Matchday Three

This week’s action sees our heroes head to the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle – catch the action live on Sky Sports Main Event HD and/or Sky Sports Action HD from 19:00 (GMT) – for week three.

The first game of the night features Mensur Suljovic and Michael Smith with the former currently on a great roll sharing the top of the table with a 100% win rate. In contrast, Suljovic is in the opposite situation, although it was Mensur that beat Smith in the Masters only a matter of weeks ago, making this something of a cloudy bet. That said, we’re putting our money on the Englishman at 11/8.

This match is followed by the Daryl Gurney and Gerwyn Price contest in which we’re siding with Gurney despite both players slightly under-performing at the moment. The reckoning here is that Gurney is showing the better form of the two right now. Again, Price should be more than comfortable against Superchin and actually beat him at the Masters, but I’m backing the Northern Irishman to emerge victorious this time around.

Hands up, Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright caught me off guard last week. I was not alone in expecting World number one Michael van Gerwen to do what he so often does and wipe the floor with his opponent. Yet, it was the Scotsman who won on the day. He now meets up with another player to have beaten MVG at the oche, Rob Cross, who has barely won since. On that note, we could back a draw now, but given that I simply don’t have faith in Rob Cross on the Premier League stage right now, I’m selecting Snakebite to march on in the Premier League with another win.

Thursday’s match number four is a whopper as the world’s number one and two collide when Gary Anderson meets Michael van Gerwen. Mighty Mike was defeated last time out but won’t lose twice in a row so he can be safely expected to bounce back and win this week. This is even more likely given the grief Anderson keeps getting from his bad back which might continue to plague him again. Yes, Peter Wright managed the task last week but whether or not Gary is up to it yet is another matter.

Finally, league leader Simon Whitlock meets the legend that is Raymond van Barneveld. Barney is looking good on three points so far, and he’ll be aiming to leapfrog his opponent at the top of the table with a win. This is providing that Michael Smith loses the night’s opener against Mensur Suljovic. That, for me is more than enough encouragement to pick Barney on Thursday night.

Try this 6/1 Betway boosted treble of Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld all to win.

Or if you are a bit more daring, try Michael Smith, Daryl Gurney, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld, which is worth over 28 to the pound, again at Betway.

Matchups for Week 3

(11/8) Mensur Suljovic v Michael Smith (11/8)
(5/6) Daryl Gurney v Gerwyn Price (12/5)
(13/10) Peter Wright v Rob Cross (6/4)
(7/2) Gary Anderson v Michael van Gerwen (4/7)
(5/2) Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld (4/5)

February7February 7, 2018

World Champion Rob Cross Suffers MVG Loss In Matchday One Of Darts Premier League

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Rob Cross’ miserable time since the New Year’s Day heights of Ally Pally continued as he suffered another loss, this time at the hands of Michael van Gerwen administering a slice of retribution.

The Dutchman began the defence of his Premier League title in a 7-2 win over the PDC world champion in a battle of the baldies in Dublin in which Mighty Mike landed three 114 checkouts and averaged 100.80.

For MVG, who was beaten by Cross in the World Championship semi-final in December, success was sweet and served to remind his young rival that he remains the game’s super power.

Other early action

Elsewhere, Michael Smith marked his return to the Premier League after a 12-month absence by fighting back from a 5-1 deficit to brilliantly beat Gary Anderson by 7 sets to 5. Anderson was once again plagued by a troublesome back injury that saw him miss 18 darts that would have otherwise guaranteed him at least a point.

In another tough result for the tipsters, 2012 Premier League runner-up Simon Whitlock overcame match favourite Mensur Suljovic in the night’s first match, also by 7 sets to 5. The Aussie needed to claw himself back from 3-1 down, racking up an average of more than 106 against his debutant opponent who was the early leader in the contest. Suljovic then missed a vital dart at bullseye that would have given him a comfortable 4-1 lead but instead opened the door for Whitlock, who spiked off a succession of 14, 12 and 11 dart legs before an awesome 160 handed him a winning two-leg advantage.

Premier League new comer Daryl Gurney and oche legend Raymond van Barneveld took home a point each after Grand Prix champion Gurney missed three crucial darts that would have landed him a debut victory pleasing the Irish crowd in the process. However, these were gratefully snapped up by his rival in spite of a late missed bully shot.

Finally, another debutant, Gerwyn Price, walked away with a share of the points, having won the final three legs in his opener against Peter Wright. Snakebite, who confirmed punters’ long-standing concerns over his change in darts, duly missed four shots that would have provided him the opening victory. Instead, Price twice battled back from 5-1 and 6-3 down before bagging five out of the last six legs to bank a point. The Welshman moves on to a home game in Cardiff where this week’s Matchday Two games take place on Thursday night at the Motorpoint Arena with coverage getting underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Action.

Matchday One results

Mensur Suljovic 5-7 Simon Whitlock
Gary Anderson 5-7 Michael Smith
Daryl Gurney 6-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Rob Cross
Peter Wright 6-6 Gerwyn Price

Premier League: Matchday Two Betting Tips

The Premier League Darts season finds itself in its second week in Cardiff and the action gets underway with Michael Smith versus Daryl Gurney in a match where we are backing Bully Boy Smith to take the win, against the much fancied Superchin.

This is followed by another toughie – although there are no easies in the Premier League – as Rob Cross meets Simon Whitlock. Cross is certainly finding out the hard way that life is tough at the top and will be looking to bank his first ever Premier League points here against Whitlock, who was a surprise winner last time out. A loser last week, Cross played well enough in Dublin, but MVG was in an imperious form. The World Champion now has the chance to put things right against Whitlock, an opportunity which I expect him to take.

Next up, Michael van Gerwen takes on Peter Wright with the Dutchman having stopped Snakebite in the Premier League final last year. Wright has a woeful head-to-head record against Mighty Mike; despite often showing well, he historically drops the crucials when it counts. I wouldn’t be expecting a shock here either as MVG powers on to his second straight League win.

Gerwyn Price will step up next in a match that his rival on the night Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson has already spiked with a not-to-be-forgotten taunt dropped at their last meeting when the world number two joked, “If you can’t beat a man with a bad back, you better go back to the practice board”. Now, Price — in Cardiff of all venues — has the chance to do exactly that. With the Welsh crowd likely to be against Anderson, the temperamental Scot could implode, especially if his bad back continues to bother him, so I would be picking Price to be right here.

Soon after match four, Raymond van Barneveld and Mensur Suljovic will step out with Barney having lost to the Austrian in their last meeting making Suljovic worth a shot at 15/8. That said, Barney will inevitably be the crowd favourite and has shown the occasional glimpse of his former self. For this reason, others might fancy him at 11/10, although I’m looking at a Suljovic win to close out the night.

Try this treble bet at Betway: Michael Smith, Michael van Gerwen and Mensur Suljovic at 10/1, or be brave and chuck in Cross and Price for a five-fold worth 57/1. Also, it might be worth paying attention to Betway’s boosted price of 9/2 for Cross, van Barneveld and van Gerwen to win, two points higher than its original price of 7/2.

(13/8) Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney (6/5)
(4/7) Rob Cross v Simon Whitlock (7/2)
(1/3) Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright (6/1)
(13/5) Gerwyn Price v Gary Anderson (4/5)
(11/10) Raymond van Barneveld v Mensur Suljovic (15/8)

January31January 31, 2018

Michael Van Gerwen Wins Masters For A Fourth Year In A Row

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

For the fourth time in a row, Michael van Gerwen, the world’s number one darts player, was crowned the Darts Masters champion at the Arena MK. This victory came via a brilliant 11-9 win over Raymond van Barneveld in a thrilling final in Milton Keynes on Sunday night.

In truth, it was a hard-fought battle as the 28-year-old came from 4-1 and 8-5 down against his fellow Dutchman, averaging 100 across all four of his Masters’ matches in total.

On the way to Sunday’s showdown, MVG had overcome Kim Huybrechts, demolished James Wade 10-2 before dispatching Gary Anderson in the semis.

50-year-old van Barneveld, who started out at the weekend as a 33/1 outsider, showed the form of his younger years when he too was world number one, beating Dave Chisnall, Peter Wright and Mensur Suljovic, who had eliminated Rob Cross in the quarters along the way.

In the final, Barney raced into an early 4-1 lead thanks to checkouts of 72, 76 plus a 13-darter. The gap remained the same after seven legs (5-2) before van Gerwen galvanised a response from himself and hit back to level by landing two 177 scores in an 11-darter and break-of-throw before scoring a 137 finish for a 12-dart leg.

However, RVB wasn’t giving up his well-earned lead without a fight, taking down another thee legs to maintain an 8-5 advantage, only for van Gerwen to strike a 124-bull finish. This was followed by a 12-darter allowing him to finally move ahead for the first time in the contest, from where he closed out the match courtesy of an 81 finish making for a title winning 12-darter.

In the end, van Gerwen posted a final average of 105.85 and a checkout percentage of 47.83%, compared to Barney’s 100.55 and 47.37%.

Darts Premier League betting tips

Defending champ Mighty Mike, bidding to win his fourth Premier League Darts title, now heads into the opening night of the new Premier League season in Dublin on Thursday as the Betway favourite at 4/5. No surprises there. Elsewhere, things have a fresh feel this year as the League welcomes a few debutants. World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney, Champions League of Darts winner Mensur Suljovic and 2017 UK Open finalist Gerwyn Price all come in for their first Premier League, as does World Champ Rob Cross.

Former champions Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld are joined by last year’s runner-up Peter Wright, while Simon Whitlock and Michael Smith both make a return. Making way are James Wade, Adrian Lewis, Jelle Klaasen and Kim Huybrechts.

World champion Rob Cross is second in the outright betting at 7/2 at Betway, while Gary Anderson can be picked up at 6/1. Backers of Peter Wright can do so for 9/1 before the long-range picks can be found, starting with Raymond van Barneveld at 33/1. He is followed by Daryl Gurney at 40/1, Mensur Suljovic at 50/1, Michael Smith at 80/1, Gerwyn Price at 125/1 and Simon Whitlock at 200/1.

The first matches

The night’s opener pits Mensur Suljovic against Simon Whitlock, for which we fancy the Austrian over the Australian, who could suffer against Suljiovic’s slow throws. Gary Anderson is next out against Michael Smith, and I can only see one winner – The Flying Scotsman. That is, of course, so long as his increasingly problematic back holds out.

Matchday one, game three sees the return of Barney fresh from his final appearance in last week’s Masters. His rival here will be Daryl ‘Superchin’ Gurney and the Northern Irishman should be able to get Dublin’s support behind him to make it an uncomfortable night for Barney, who should expect to win regardless.

MVG goes in the night’s fourth match of five, an intriguing re-match with newly crowned World Champion Rob Cross. The Englishman has something of an upper hand over the Dutch number one, something that van Gerwen must recognise as he has let his composure slip against his younger rival in the past. Cross’ inexperience at this weekly format might mean he takes a while to settle into the swing of things. If MVG plays to his usual ability, it should be enough to see him bank his first points on the board.

Up last is Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price. A lot is expected of Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright as he looks to avoid becoming one the game’s great “nearly” men. The Premier League suits him though and he should be backed to make the cut after judgment night. Snakebite has a great record against Price, and I’m going to back him in the last of the night’s action.

(10/11) Mensur Suljovic v Simon Whitlock (11/5)
(8/15) Gary Anderson v Michael Smith (7/2)
(13/8) Daryl Gurney v Raymond van Barneveld (5/4)
(4/6) Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross (3/1)
(8/13) Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price (3/1)

TV Channel: Sky Sports Action HD (1900 GMT)