PL 7 Night Preview - League Leader to Meet Snakebite in Nottingham

League leader Michael van Gerwen comes into Premier League Night 7 on the back of 3 straight nightly wins, as the darting roadshow heads to Nottingham. Mighty Mike will face Peter Wright in the 3^rd Quarter Final of the night, with the World Number 2 claiming his first points of the league phase last week after he clinched a last leg decider against Gerwyn Price.

The reigning champion beat World Number 1 Michael Smith 6-4 in last week’s Final to make it 2 wins out of 2 against the reigning World Champion in this year’s Premier League. The Green Machine sits top of the table with 20 points, 8 ahead of Bully Boy in 2^nd after 6 weeks played.

Joe Cullen achieved qualification for Finals Night last year with 24 points, with Van Gerwen just 4 points of the Rockstar’s tally after just 6 nights of action.

Peter Wright will want what happened last Thursday to be the start of a fightback in this year’s darting roadshow, with Snakebite 6 points off Gerwyn Price in 4^th despite only picking up the 1 win. The 53-year-old has the 1 win to his name since the new format started last year, having opened the 2022 competition with a victory on the opening night in Cardiff.  

The Scotsman used a new set of darts at the M&S Bank Arena: The Green Delta’s Torpedo style, with kite stealth flights. The set of arrows were very similar to those used by Phil Taylor, as Wright displayed evidence of the under-stacking technique which was something the former 16 time World Champion showed on a regular basis, on the oche.  

A huge battle also occurs in the race to qualify for the Play Offs, with an all-Welsh battle between Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton up second in Nottingham. Just 1 point separates the 2 Welshman, and both will want to pick up at least 2 points this week after the pair lost in the Quarter Finals on Night 6 in Liverpool.

The Iceman picked up 5 points on Night 2 in Cardiff after beating Chris Dobey, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall at the Cardiff International Arena. The Welshman has played well recently, reaching the Semi Finals of Players Championship 5 last weekend, losing in the Last 4 to former back-to-back World Champion Gary Anderson 7-5.

2021 Premier League Champion Clayton is yet to win a Night in this year’s competition, reaching the Final on Night 5 where he lost to Michael van Gerwen having beat Nathan Aspinall and Dimitri van den Bergh earlier on at the Westpoint Arena.

The action starts from 7pm live on Sky Sports, with 3^rd placed Nathan Aspinall starting the tungsten drama in Nottingham against former World Matchplay winner Dimitri van den Bergh.

By Harry Masterson

 

Premier League Night 7: Order of Play

 

Quarter Finals:

Dimitri van den Bergh v Nathan Aspinall

Jonny Clayton v Gerwyn Price

Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen

Chris Dobey v Michael Smith

 

Semi Finals:

Van den Bergh/ Aspinall v Clayton/ Price

Wright/ Van Gerwen v Dobey/ Smith

 

Final:

Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2

 

Premier League Darts Table:

 

1. Michael van Gerwen: 20pts
2. Michael Smith: 12pts
3. Nathan Aspinall: 11pts
4. Gerwyn Price: 8pts
5. Dimitri van den Bergh: 7pts
6. Jonny Clayton: 7pts
7. Chris Dobey: 5pts
8. Peter Wright: 2pts

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