2018 Premier League Darts Explained

2018 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Michael Smith
Score
11–4
Dates
1 February–17 May 2018
Edition
14th
Number of players
10
Venues
15 (1 cancelled)
Premier League Darts
	2018	2019 >

The 2018 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fourteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 1 February at the 3Arena in Dublin and ended with the play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 17 May. This was the first year that the tournament is sponsored by Unibet.

Michael van Gerwen won his fourth Premier League title (and his third in a row, after winning in 2016 and 2017^[1]) by defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the final.

This was also the first time that the event has had a round in Germany, when the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin hosted the 4th round on 22 February.

Storm Emma resulted in the Exeter round of the event being postponed on 1 March. This was the first time ever since the Premier League started in 2005 that a whole round in the league phase of Premier League Darts was postponed. The same extreme conditions would also go on to cause severe problems in the staging of that weekends UK Open in Minehead which resulted in the event having to be played entirely behind closed doors. In 2010, the play-offs were postponed for 24 hours after a power cut at Wembley Arena.^[2]

Format

The tournament format was identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks (Phase 1) each player played the other nine players once. The bottom two players were then eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks (phase 2) each player played the other seven players once. Phase 2 consisted of four weeks where five matches were played followed by two weeks where four matches were played. At the end of phase 2, the top four players contested the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.

Venues

Dublin	Cardiff	Newcastle	Berlin
3Arena Thursday 1 February	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 8 February	Metro Radio Arena Thursday 15 February	Mercedes-Benz Arena Thursday 22 February

Exeter	Leeds	Nottingham	Glasgow
Westpoint Arena Thursday 1 March (cancelled)	First Direct Arena Thursday 8 March	Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 15 March	SSE Hydro Thursday 22 March

Belfast	Liverpool	Sheffield	Rotterdam
SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 29 March	Echo Arena Liverpool Thursday 5 April (Judgement Night)	FlyDSA Arena Thursday 12 April	Rotterdam Ahoy Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 April

Manchester	Birmingham	Aberdeen	London
Manchester Arena Thursday 26 April	Arena Birmingham Thursday 3 May	BHGE Arena Thursday 10 May	The O₂ Thursday 17 May

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.^[3] This was the first time in the event's history in which Phil Taylor did not take part, following his decision to retire. Unlike in previous years the six wildcards were joint decisions by the PDC and Sky Sports this year. There were no PDC specific wildcards or Sky Sports specific wildcards.^[4]

The tournament was noteworthy for its high-number of debuting players. Rob Cross qualified by right due to being in the world's top four at the end of the season, with wildcards going to World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney, Champions League winner Mensur Suljović, and world number 12 Gerwyn Price. In fact, only four of the previous year's ten players (van Gerwen, Wright, Anderson and van Barneveld) were included this year.

Player	data-sort-type="number"	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit Rank	data-sort-type="number"	Previous best performance	Qualification
	6th	6	1
	5th	5	2	Runner-up (2017)
	1st	1	3	Debut	PDC Order of Merit
	8th	8
	1st	1	6	Debut	Wildcard
	1st	1	7	Debut	Wildcard
	6th	1	9	Runner-up (2012)	Wildcard
	13th	13	12	Winner (2014)	Wildcard
	2nd	1	10	10th (2016)	Wildcard
	1st	1	13	Debut	Wildcard

Prize money

The prize fund remained the same as last year, £825,000.^[5]

Stage	Prize money
Winner	£250,000
Runner-up	£120,000
Semi-finalists	£80,000
5th place	£65,000
6th place	£55,000
7th place	£50,000
8th place	£45,000
9th place	£30,000
10th place	£25,000

League Winner Bonus	£25,000

Total	£825,000

League stage

^[6] ^[7]

1 February – week 1 (Phase 1)

3Arena, Dublin

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[8]
103.71	5–7
Gary Anderson 82.46	5–7	Michael Smith 89.12
Daryl Gurney 93.23	6–6
100.80	7–2	Rob Cross 98.85
92.93	6–6	Gerwyn Price 93.51
Night's Average: 95.49
Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 160
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 5
Night's 180s: 25

8 February – week 2 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[9]
99.15	7–4	Daryl Gurney 101.96
Rob Cross 87.74	1–7	93.14
Michael van Gerwen 101.12	5–7	Peter Wright 101.04
Gerwyn Price 92.71	3–7	Gary Anderson 99.22
100.39	7–5	Mensur Suljović 102.55
Night's Average: 97.90
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 170
Most 180s: Gary Anderson 5
Night's 180s: 28

15 February – week 3 (Phase 1)

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[10]
91.15	2–7	Michael Smith 94.80
Daryl Gurney 95.97	6–6	Gerwyn Price 93.22
Peter Wright 102.32	4–7	Rob Cross 98.46
Gary Anderson 110.79	3–7	Michael van Gerwen 110.62
Simon Whitlock 94.34	7–4	93.29
Night's Average: 98.50
Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 170
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 7
Night's 180s: 32

22 February – Week 4 (Phase 1)

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[11]
Michael Smith 87.32	7–3	Simon Whitlock 85.60
Gerwyn Price 90.87	3–7	Mensur Suljović 106.20
103.42	7–2	Daryl Gurney 96.90
Rob Cross 96.46	7–3	88.60
Peter Wright 104.65	6–6	Gary Anderson 105.25
Night's Average: 96.53
Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 150
Most 180s: Gary Anderson & Michael Smith 5
Night's 180s: 31

1 March – Initial Week 5 Cancelled

Westpoint Arena, Exeter

The scheduled 5th week was cancelled due to Storm Emma. The matches, which were scheduled to be played that day, were instead played in Week 9 in Liverpool, with that week's games now being Judgement Night. In order to complete the schedule within the timescale, two rounds of Phase 2 were played on Wednesday 18 April and Thursday 19 April (Week 11) in the Rotterdam Ahoy complex.

8 March – Week 5 (Phase 1)

First Direct Arena, Leeds

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[12]
100.17	7–4	Simon Whitlock 92.28
Gerwyn Price 89.01	5–7	91.65
Peter Wright 91.54	1–7	Mensur Suljović 103.01
Gary Anderson 99.54	6–6	Daryl Gurney 94.62
Rob Cross 96.22	7–5	Michael Smith 92.61
Night's Average: 95.07
Highest Checkout: Rob Cross & Raymond van Barneveld 121
Most 180s: Rob Cross 5
Night's 180s: 24

15 March – Week 6 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[13]
95.02	7–1	Peter Wright 82.91
Simon Whitlock 96.38	6–6	Daryl Gurney 99.11
Mensur Suljović 94.65	2–7	Rob Cross 106.49
Gerwyn Price 92.64	3–7	104.80
92.48	6–6	Gary Anderson 93.67
Night's Average: 96.15
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 152
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney & Raymond van Barneveld 4
Night's 180s: 22

22 March – Week 7 (Phase 1)

SSE Hydro, Glasgow

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[14]
Daryl Gurney 98.63	7–3	Mensur Suljović 96.26
101.56	7–2	Michael Smith 92.41
Gary Anderson 102.68	7–4	Simon Whitlock 104.13
Peter Wright 88.18	1–7	99.76
Rob Cross 102.57	7–1	Gerwyn Price 92.42
Night's Average: 97.86
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 148
Most 180s: Gary Anderson 6
Night's 180s: 22

29 March – Week 8 (Phase 1)

SSE Arena, Belfast

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[15]
97.94	5–7
Michael Smith 93.84	7–2	Gerwyn Price 87.44
96.82	2–7
Daryl Gurney 98.53	7–5	Rob Cross 100.16
Simon Whitlock 98.20	6–6	Peter Wright 98.64
Night's Average: 97.29
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 160
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 9
Night's 180s: 36

5 April – Week 9 (Phase 1 – Judgement Night)

Echo Arena, Liverpool

The night was overshadowed by the sudden death of 5 time World Champion Eric Bristow, who suffered a heart attack outside the venue. His death was announced during the Gurney v Wright match. The crowd paid tribute to Bristow at the end of the night's play.

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[16]
Simon Whitlock 81.94	7–3	Gerwyn Price 76.94
96.58	0–7	Michael Smith 103.15
Gary Anderson 95.09	5–7	Rob Cross 92.30
Mensur Suljović 95.39	4–7	106.34
Daryl Gurney 98.67	6–6	Peter Wright 99.78
Night's Average: 94.62
Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 164
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 10
Night's 180s: 36

12 April – week 10 (Phase 2)

FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[17]
94.16	3–7	Daryl Gurney 102.76
Gary Anderson 104.26	7–2	Peter Wright 96.22
Simon Whitlock 89.58	1–7	102.37
Michael Smith 96.34	5–7	Rob Cross 106.26
86.78	2–7	Peter Wright 95.16
Night's Average: 97.39
Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 158
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 5
Night's 180s: 25

18 April – week 11A (Double Header, Phase 2)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[18]
Michael Smith 96.00	2–7	Gary Anderson 109.91
Rob Cross 96.09	7–4	Daryl Gurney 91.71
101.44	7–3	Simon Whitlock 89.49
Peter Wright 99.08	7–5	106.87
Rob Cross 98.22	3–7	Gary Anderson 99.87
Night's Average: 99.82
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 148
Most 180s: Gary Anderson & Rob Cross 7
Night's 180s: 27

19 April – week 11B (Double Header, Phase 2)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[19]
Simon Whitlock 90.58	1–7	Michael Smith 97.46
Daryl Gurney 93.00	3–7	Gary Anderson 109.73
Rob Cross 96.44	6–6	Peter Wright 92.22
103.73	5–7	95.21
Daryl Gurney 99.20	7–1	Simon Whitlock 85.28
Night's Average: 96.29
Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 170
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 7
Night's 180s: 32

26 April – week 12 (Phase 2)

Manchester Arena, Manchester

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[20]
Peter Wright 97.86	1–7	Michael Smith 104.86
Daryl Gurney 100.16	6–6	104.96
Simon Whitlock 96.78	7–5	Gary Anderson 94.45
94.02	6–6	Rob Cross 94.55
Michael Smith 96.28	1–7	94.76
Night's Average: 97.87
Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 156
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 7
Night's 180s: 30

3 May – week 13 (Phase 2)

Arena Birmingham, Birmingham

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[21]
Peter Wright 93.05	7–4	Simon Whitlock 90.68
Rob Cross 101.71	2–7	Michael van Gerwen 111.57
Daryl Gurney 98.82	6–6	Michael Smith 99.36
96.64	3–7	100.11
Night's Average: 98.99
Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 167
Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 6
Night's 180s: 17

10 May – week 14 (Phase 2)

BHGE Arena, Aberdeen

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[22]
Michael Smith 93.45	6–6	97.28
Simon Whitlock 88.38	6–6	Rob Cross 89.86
Peter Wright 98.11	6–6	Daryl Gurney 88.05
100.41	5–7	Gary Anderson 98.28
Night's Average: 94.15
Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 126
Most 180s: Rob Cross 5
Night's 180s: 28

Play-offs – 17 May

The O2 Arena, London

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[23]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
	10–6
	10–6
Final (best of 21 legs)
	11–4
Night's Total Average: 100.32
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 128
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 16
Night's 180s: 40

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine weeks (phase 1), the bottom two in the table are eliminated. In the next six weeks (phase 2) the eight remaining players each play a further seven matches. The top four players then compete in the playoffs.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point 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.

Name

Matches

Legs

Scoring

Pld

Pts

+/-

LWAT

100+

140+

180s

A^[24]

103

+43

192

128

103.56

170

45.37%

+24

157

119

95.21

160

42.45%

+15

205

114

99.11

170

42.04%

192

103

97.33

144

44.85%

195

132

96.77

167

38.70%

–8

215

131

95.01

167

38.28%

–20

226

142

96.17

132

39.78%

–18

169

105

92.77

164

37.00%

–13

153

99.06

138

44.44%

–29

112

89.67

148

32.99%Top four will qualify for the Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs won against throw. A = Average.C% = Checkout percentage.HC = High checkout.

Streaks

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9									Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14							Play-offs
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11A	11B		12	13	14	SF	F
Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith
Gary Anderson
Rob Cross
Daryl Gurney													rowspan=4 colspan=2

Peter Wright
Simon Whitlock
										rowspan=2 colspan=13
Gerwyn Price

Legend:		Win		Draw		Loss		Eliminated

Positions by Week

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9									Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11A	11B	12	13	14
	1	5	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	2	2	2
	9	6	6	6	7	6	5	4	5	4	3	2	4	4	3
	10	10	9	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	4
	6	7	7	9	9	8	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	5	5
	4	3	5	7	5	5	4	6	7	7	7	6	6	6	6
	7	4	4	4	8	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	8	7	7
	2	1	1	3	3	4	6	5	4	6	6	8	7	8	8
	8	9	10	8	6	7	8	9	9	align=center ; rowspan=2; colspan=6; style="background:#fcc;"	Eliminated
	5	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10

External links

PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website
PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website, Tournaments

Notes and References

Web site: Premier League Darts: Michael Van Gerwen beats Peter Wright to win third title. 18 May 2017. BBC Sport. 19 May 2017.
News: Power Cut For Play-offs . 23 May 2010 . pdc.tv . . 2 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100526011910/http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0%2C%2C10180~2057893%2C00.html . 26 May 2010 . dead . dmy-all .
Web site: Allen. Dave. 2018 Unibet Premier League Field Confirmed. PDC. 2 January 2018.
Web site: Hearn. Barry. Barry Hearn. @BarryHearn. Twitter. 2 January 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League - Event Information. PDC. 12 February 2018.
Web site: Allen. Dave. 2018 Unibet Premier League Fixtures. PDC. 16 January 2018.
Web site: Allen. Dave. Unibet Premier League Nights Ten-15 Fixtures. PDC. 10 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night One. PDC. 1 February 2018. 1 February 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night Two. PDC. 8 February 2018. 8 February 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night Three. PDC. 15 February 2018. 15 February 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night Four. PDC. 22 February 2018. 22 February 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night Five. PDC. 8 March 2018. 8 March 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League - Nottingham. PDC. 15 March 2018. 15 March 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League - Glasgow. PDC. 22 March 2018. 22 March 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League - Belfast. PDC. 29 March 2018. 29 March 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Judgement Night. PDC. 5 April 2018. 5 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night Ten. PDC. 12 April 2018. 12 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Premier League Night 11 - Rotterdam. PDC. 18 April 2018. 18 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Premier League Night 12 - Rotterdam. PDC. 19 April 2018. 19 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night 13. PDC. 26 April 2018. 26 April 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night 14. PDC. 3 May 2018. 3 May 2018.
Web site: 2018 Unibet Premier League Night 15. PDC. 10 May 2018. 10 May 2018.
Web site: Van Gerwen Claims Fourth Premier League Title. PDC. 17 May 2018. 17 May 2018.
Web site: 2018 Premier League Stats: Tournament Average. 1 February 2018.