Glasgow Awaits with Just Four Weeks to Go Until Berlin:
The Premier League will make its way to Glasgow for Night 13 with Jonny Clayton the current leader, after beating Michael van Gerwen in Aberdeen two weeks ago. James Wade won in Dublin last week against The Ferret in the Final and the two will meet again in Glasgow.
Both players took part in the Austrian Darts Open at the weekend with Wade losing out to eventual winner Michael van Gerwen in a last leg decider to miss out on a place in the Quarter Finals. Clayton lost at the same stage to Danny Noppert in the opening match on Sunday despite a 144 checkout in the seventh leg to save the match on double twelve.
Wade’s win in Dublin last week made him only the third player in the league to win multiple nights, with van Gerwen and Clayton winning on three occasions so far. Both players are clear in the top four with The Machine ten points clear of Joe Cullen in fifth.
The final match of the night sees an all Winmau affair as Michael van Gerwen faces Joe Cullen in a repeat of the Rotterdam Final on night 7. It was the Rockstar who came out on top in van Gerwen’s home country and needed a last leg decider to earn the 5 points and the £10000 bonus for a night win.
Mighty Mike comes into Glasgow though on the back of yet another Euro Tour win after beating another Winmau star in Danny Noppert in the Final. The Dutchman also included an average over 106 in beating compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode in the Quarter Final, as he sits four points of top of the league Clayton.
Joe Cullen lost to Gerwyn Price last week in Dublin and reached the Quarter Finals in Austria over the weekend where he too lost to Danny Noppert who had a very strong weekend in Graz.
Glasgow is the destination for this week’s action, and what better way to get the crowd into it than an all Scottish-affair and a repeat of the recent World Championship Semi Final, as Peter Wright faces Gary Anderson. Snakebite is fourth despite not winning a night since the opening Premier League night in Cardiff back in February.
The world number one lost in the Semis in Aberdeen and Quarter Finals in Dublin last week, so a win against Anderson is much needed with the likes of Cullen and Gerwyn Price still hunting down a Play Off spot.
The Flying Scotsman is all but out of this year’s competition, 13 points of his opponent in fourth after losing a massive bottom of the table clash to Michael Smith last week. Anderson has not won a match in the league since his win in Nottingham on night 6, with a Quarter Final victory over MVG in Cardiff being his other win thus far.
Anderson did not play in Graz this weekend, whilst Wright lost again in his opening match of a European Tour event as he was shown the exit door by Callan Rydz who progressed on to the final day of action. The World Number one also lost to Scott Waites in the opening round of the recent German Darts Grand Prix in Munich.
Gerwyn Price reached the Semi Final last week in Dublin and will need a stronger run if he is to make the top four. The Iceman faces Michael Smith in the third Quarter Final in Glasgow with Smith still yet to win in the competition so far. Bully Boy did get his first win since Nottingham after beating Anderson 6-2 last week and will hope for a similar performance against Price.
Neither player took part in Austria at the weekend, so both will enter Glasgow having not played a game since the pair lost in the Semi Finals last week. Price is seven of the Play Offs whilst Smith is ten so the need for points is huge, making this one an absolute must win for both.
Action gets underway on Sky Sports from seven tonight with Peter Wright v Gary Anderson first up on the Glasgow stage.
Night 13 Glasgow
Quarter Finals:
Peter Wright v Gary Anderson
Jonny Clayton v James Wade
Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Joe Cullen
Semi Finals:
Wright/ Anderson v Clayton/ Wade
Price/ Smith v van Gerwen/ Cullen
Final:
Winner of SF1 V Winner of SF2
League Table:
Jonny Clayton: 29pts
Michael van Gerwen: 25pts
James Wade: 25pts
Peter Wright: 20pts
Joe Cullen: 15pts
Gerwyn Price: 13pts
Michael Smith: 10pts
Gary Anderson: 7pts
—–Ends—–
Words: Harry Masterson
Images: PDC
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