By Daniel Wright
Match 1: Gerwyn Price vs Gian van Veen
The first match of the evening in Liverpool saw Gian van Veen overturn the recent form books to comfortably dispatch Gerwyn Price. There were 5 consecutive breaks of throw to start the match but even despite an important 103 out, the Welshman could never really get going.
The win pulls GvV back towards the top 4 positions and the way he was able to pull clear when it mattered, showed a potentially newfound confidence on the Premier League stage in his debut year.
Match 2: Stephen Bunting vs Johnny Clayton
The first match to go the distance in this night on the Mersey was next, with hometown (almost) hero Stephen Bunting eventually losing out to a seemingly unstoppable Johnny Clayton.
The Ferret has hit some incredible heights so far in the competition, and whilst this wasn’t his best performance, he got the job done despite a partisan crowd. For the Bullet, it was a big blow to any lingering hopes of finishing in the top 4- he missed a match dart to spark frenzy inside the M&S Bank Arena.
Match 3: Josh Rock vs Michael van Gerwen
It was a terrible start for struggling Josh Rock as Michael van Gerwen raced into a 3-0 lead. Rocky pulled back one of the breaks of throw- via a double-double finish of 95- and then went 6 darts into the 9 with a bizarre 180, where the last dart fell out and then back in.
However, he could never get level and Mighty Mike then broke again at 5-3 to seal a comfortable victory that puts him right in the increasingly tight playoff mix behind the top 2.
Match 4: Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler
The recent tale of woe on the outer ring in the Prem continued for Luke Humphries as he went down 6-2 to his fiercest rival. Luke Littler had no such issues and capitalised on repeated missed doubles to cruise to victory, from a 3-nil head start.
Cool Hand Luke now looks unlikely to make the playoffs to even get a chance to defend his title, despite saving the match with 96 and 104 checkouts. For the Nuke, it continues his charge to the O2 in an attempt to regain his crown as he follows an inspired Clayton.
Semi-final 1: Gian van Veen vs Johnny Clayton
Johnny Clayton is on fire and seems unstoppable this year, even when put under huge pressure. Gian van Veen did the same as Bunting earlier in the night in missing a match dart, but once again the Ferret prevailed.
3 ton plus finishes, including a stunning 156, powered the Welsh number 1 through, despite van Veen forcing a decider on his own throw. The league leader put in yet another relentless display with an average of over 102 and hitting two-thirds of his attempts at double- that will win you the vast majority of matches.
Semi-final 2: Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler (Match of the Night)
Where to even start when describing the enthralling second semi-final tonight in Liverpool? To put it simply we saw a darting masterclass from two giants of the sport. Mighty Mike’s huge 107 and a half average was defied by the reigning double world champion’s lethal finishing- The Nuke missed just one of his 7 attempts on the outer ring.
Littler himself still had to average 102 (after a slow start) to get a chance at this in a match that saw multiple 11-darters in succession. For van Gerwen he will be more than a bit gutted to miss out on some more valuable points, but he could not have done much more. For Luke it set up a final between the top 2 in the table, who continue to soar clear of the rest ahead of finals night in London.
Final: Johnny Clayton vs Luke Littler
Luke Littler raced into a 5-0 lead as his strong night on the outer ring continued, but for league leader Johnny Clayton, doubling woes struck at the worst possible time. Both are well clear already of the chasing pack and off to the O2 for finals night, but this was a one-sided opening to the battle between the Premier League’s standout performers.
Both players also survived big scares in their semi-finals, but The Nuke made this look far more routine, as he eased to another nightly win to close the gap to the Ferret at the top.
Clayton avoided a second whitewash against his name this year with a tidy 61 out, but the writing had been on the wall for a while as Littler sealed a 6-1 win. A 104.5 average and 60% on doubles- not a bad night at all in Liverpool for the Manchester United fan.