Final week of Premier League Darts
The Trent FM Arena in Nottingham plays host to the final round of the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts tonight, and the last three play-off positions are up for grabs, with five players in the hunt.
Phil Taylor, 15-times champion of the world, already booked his place in the semi-finals weeks ago, and is sitting undefeated at the top of the table.
Simon Whitlock, Mervyn King, Ronnie Baxter, James Wade and Adrian Lewis are the players looking to join Taylor in the last four.
Defending Premier League champion Wade lies outside the play-off positions, and a defeat tonight would end his chances of retaining his title. The loss to Whitlock last week has put pressure on him heading into his final match against Terry Jenkins. “I had a bad start to the season, losing my first four games, so I knew I'd made it tough for myself but I'm going into the game positive and looking to beat Terry. If I do that, it puts pressure on the other players in their games,” said Wade.
The blockbuster match of the night is between King and Whitlock. King, who made it to the final last year, suffered a defeat to Raymond van Barneveld last week and as a result lost second spot to Whitlock.
Currently in third position, he has 13 points, while Whitlock has 14 points and is in second. Amazingly, Whitlock could still miss out on the play-offs if he loses and other results go against him. The 2010 world championship finalist has been a revelation in his debut season, and is enjoying his time on the PDC circuit since switching from the rival body, BDO. His win against Wade last week increased his chances of qualifying.
“It’s going right to the wire and it’s really exciting. I was feeling the tension last week in Newcastle when I played James, and to win that was massive for me. I knew I had to go up there and win and it’s the same this week too. I'm really confident and feeling good about my game. My finishing has been good recently and that's the thing I practice most on, so if I'm hitting my checkouts I usually do well,” said the Australian.
Baxter holds the last qualifying place, and plays a resurgent Van Barneveld. A win would guarantee his place in the semi-finals. The Rocket can afford to draw and even lose and still advance. Van Barneveld cannot qualify, and he followed up his superb nine-darter two weeks ago with a convincing win against King last Thursday. Despite being rooted to the bottom of the table a few weeks ago, Van Barneveld can finish above Lewis, who is one place ahead of him. "I've got no pressure and all the pressure will be on Ronnie. I just want to finish as high as I can in the table and the way I've been playing I wish the Premier League was running for another five weeks now. I've lost eight games this season and that's disappointing for me but I can't control my opponent or what happens in Adrian's game. All I can do is play good darts,” said the Dutchman.
"Jackpot" Lewis needs to win his match against Taylor after getting a fortunate draw against Baxter in his last game. Of the play-off hopefuls, he had the most difficult task to qualify, and that task doesn’t get much easier, as The Power is not in a charitable mood. “I am going to go up there and enjoy the game. Adrian always gets up for matches against me and it could be crucial for him, but I won't be doing him any favours," said Taylor.
Taylor has run away at the top of the standings this year, and is looking to end the league format unbeaten. He has his eyes on reclaiming the Premier League title.
Five players will battle for three places for the right to join Taylor at Wembley Arena and the chance to compete for the £125,000 first prize on May 23rd.
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