A highly anticipated clash will kick start Night 4 of the 2023 Premier League, with bottom of the table Peter Wright facing current league leader Michael Smith in the opening Quarter Final at the 3Arena in Dublin.
Snakebite, a double World Champion, is still on the hunt for his first Premier League win of the competition so far, losing to Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall and Dimitri van den Bergh in his first three matches.
The World No.1 Smith comes into Ireland on the back of winning his first night last week in Glasgow, averaging just short off 110 in his first nightly Final win over Van den Bergh.
Both players will hope 2023 will be the year they get their hands on the trophy for the first time, with the colourful Scot only needing the Premier League trophy to join the elusive Triple Crown club.
Only Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson have won the World Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League in their darting careers.
Wright came agonisingly close back in 2017 having missed multiple match darts to beat MVG in the Final, and will know that the first win in this year’s competition could be the start of a huge bounce back for the World Number 2.
The Red Dragon player showed during the 2021 Matchplay that if he can play to his very best standard, not many players in the sport will be able to keep up. Snakebite’s only score below 100 during his Winter Gardens campaign two years ago was against Danny Noppert, with the Scot averaging 99.75 in a 10-2 victory over The Freeze.
Michael Smith sits top of the Premier League and is unbeaten in his last two Premier League Quarter Finals, with Bully Boy beating Jonny Clayton 6-3 on Night 2 in Cardiff. The World Number 1 stopped Gerwyn Price in the Last 8 seven days ago, including 4 180s in a 6-3 victory over the Iceman.
The Premier League action starts from 7pm live on Sky Sports, with Michael van Gerwen facing Chris Dobey in a repeat of the opening night Final whilst Jonny Clayton faces 2nd placed Nathan Aspinall.
Premier League Night 4: Order of Play
Quarter Finals:
Michael Smith v Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price v Dimitri van den Bergh
Jonny Clayton v Nathan Aspinall
Chris Dobey v Michael van Gerwen
Semi Finals:
Smith/ Wright v Price/ Van den Bergh
Clayton/ Aspinall v Dobey/ Van Gerwen
Final:
Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
