A trio of Red Dragons will train their fire on Rotterdam on Thursday evening as the Cazoo Premier League enjoys one of it’s annual highlights.
Gerwyn Price has cut 6-time Champion Michael Van Gerwen lead at the top of the table to just 2pts. The Iceman is also the first player in this year’s competition to win 4 separate nights, claiming successes in Cardiff, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Brighton.
2021 World Champion Price will be looking to overhaul MVG and become the first player since the format changed, to win 5 separate nights in 1 campaign. Only himself and compatriot Clayton have won 4 nights since the structure of the competition changed, at the start of 2022 together with new sponsors Cazoo and the introduction of the Winmau Blade 6 dartboard.
The former rugby union professional takes on World Number 1 Michael Smith in the 2nd Quarter Final of the night, with the pair meeting in the Final on Night 11 last Thursday. The Welshman produced a stunning display to move onto 27pts in the league table, averaging 115.97 in his Quarter Final victory over Chris Dobey and 108.08 against league leader Van Gerwen in the Semi’s, a match which included 14 180s.
Price is in fantastic form and looks in very good shape to qualify for Finals Night for the first time in his career, with 12pts separating him from 5th placed Nathan Aspinall.
The second of the three Red Dragon thrower’s has been showing signs of a return to his best. Jonny Clayton occupies 4th place in the table and will hope to add to his tally in Rotterdam, as he looks to continue his 100% record of qualifying for every Premier League Finals Night.
The Ferret sits 2pts clear of Nathan Aspinall, with 2-night wins in Berlin and Birmingham kickstarting a late surge from the 2021 Champion.
The Pontyberem player will face Chris Dobey in the opening match at the Ahoy Arena, with Hollywood not registering a match win since Night 8 in his hometown of Newcastle.
The third of the famous fearsome threesome find himself in a clash of the leagues bottom 2 players.
Peter Wright takes on Dimitri van den Bergh while sitting just 2pts off the Dream Maker in the table. The Scotsman has staged a mini revival
reaching the Final on Night 10 in Birmingham and the Semi Finals last week.
The World Number 2 included 6 180s and an average of 100.71 in beating Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in Brighton and will hope to continue his late revival in the darting roadshow.
Just 5 Nights remain now in the league format before we find out which 4 players will head to the O2 Arena for Finals Night. Defending champion Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price look in very good shape, but both know there is still work to do to guarantee their qualification.
Night 12 starts from 7pm live on Sky Sports with 2022 table topper Jonny Clayton opening the action at the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena, against Chris Dobey in the Quarter Finals.
Premier League: Night 12 Order of Play
Quarter Finals:
Chris Dobey v Jonny Clayton
Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price
Dimitri van den Bergh v Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen v Nathan Aspinall
Semi Finals:
Dobey/ Clayton v Smith/ Price
Van den Bergh/ Wright v Van Gerwen/ Aspinall
Final:
Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2
2023 Premier League Table:
Michael van Gerwen: 29pts
Gerwyn Price: 27pts
Michael Smith: 18pts
Jonny Clayton: 17pts
Nathan Aspinall: 15pts
Chris Dobey: 10pts
Dimitri van den Bergh: 9pts
Peter Wright: 7pts
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
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