Last week, the Premier League Darts league stage was completed in Newcastle on what was an intriguing night of action.
Michael Smith landed his first win in the League Stage when defeating Jonny Clayton 6-3 in the final game of the night, but it was a big night for Joe Cullen who picked up a point to ensure that he would qualify for the Playoffs in Munich on June 13th.
The new look tournament saw Gerwyn Price complete the feat of two nine-dart finishes in a night on Week 3 in Belfast, in a week when he also scored the maximum 170 check out.
Let’s now take a look at how the tournament has shaped up.
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Premier League Darts – League Stage Round Up – Weeks 1-16
The Premier League decided on a new format for the tournament, with eight players taking part across 16 weeks of action.
On each week, a tournament consisting of four quarterfinals, two semi finals and one final would take place to decide which players landed which points for each event.
The new points system was outlined below:
Winner – 5 Points, plus £10,000 prize moneyRunner Up – 3 PointsLosing Semi Finalists – 1 Point EachLosing Quarter Finalists – 0 points
The eight players awarded a place in the tournament were Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Joe Cullen, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Michael Smith and James Wade.
Let’s now take a look at each of the 16 weeks results seeing which players won the night, who finished runner up and which two players picked up points for reaching the semifinals.
Winner – Peter Wright, Runner Up – Jonny Clayton, Semi Finalists – James Wade, Gary Anderson
Winner – Jonny Clayton, Runner Up – Joe Cullen, Semi Finalists – Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price
Winner – Gerwyn Price, Runner Up – James Wade, Semi Finalists – Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen
Winner – Michael van Gerwen, Runner Up – Peter Wright, Semi Finalists – Michael Smith, James Wade
Winner – Michael van Gerwen, Runner Up – Michael Smith, Semi Finalists – Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen
Winner – Gary Anderson, Runner Up – Michael Smith, Semi Finalists – Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price
Winner – Joe Cullen, Runner Up – Michael van Gerwen , Semi Finalists – Peter Wright, Jonny Clayton
Winner – Jonny Clayton, Runner Up – James Wade, Semi Finalists – Peter Wright, Joe Cullen
Winner – Michael van Gerwen, Runner Up – James Wade, Semi Finalists – Jonny Clayton, Peter Wright
Winner – James Wade, Runner Up – Joe Cullen, Semi Finalists – Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton
Winner – Jonny Clayton, Runner Up – Michael van Gerwen, Semi Finalists – Peter Wright, James Wade
Winner – James Wade, Runner Up – Jonny Clayton, Semi Finalists – Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith
Winner – Jonny Clayton, Runner Up – Michael van Gerwen , Semi Finalists – Gary Anderson, Michael Smith
Winner – Gerwyn Price, Runner Up – Michael van Gerwen, Semi Finalists – Joe Cullen, Michael Smith
Winner – Joe Cullen, Runner Up – Jonny Clayton, Semi Finalists – Michael Smith, Peter Wright
Winner – Michael Smith, Runner Up – Jonny Clayton, Semi Finalists – Gerwyn Price, Joe Cullen
Jonny Clayton was the most successful player in the league stage, with the 2021 Premier League champion winning four out of the 16 nights, as well as finishing as a losing finalist on four occasions too.
He clearly took top spot in the league table, while Gary Anderson suffered, losing in the quarterfinals 13 times out of 16 occasions and managing just one tournament win.
Every player won at least one night in the League stage and just five points separated Gerwyn Price in 7th from James Wade in third as the table below shows:
Final Premier League Darts League Table
PosPlayerPointsNights Won1Jonny Clayton (Wal)4042Michael van Gerwen (Hol)3133James Wade (Eng)2524Joe Cullen (Eng)2425Peter Wright (Sco)2216Michael Smith (Eng)2117Gerwyn Price (Wal)2028Gary Anderson (Sco)91
Players shown in bold have qualified for the playoffs. The remaining players are eliminated from the tournament at this stage.
The players finishing 5th to 8th in the table earn £75,000, £70,000, £65,000 and £60,000 for competing in the event, plus their £10,000 per night won in the league stage.
Premier League Darts – Playoffs Preview – June 13th
The four seeded players from the league stage now move on to the end of season playoffs, which take place on June 13th in Munich, Germany at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Top seed Jonny Clayton takes on Joe Cullen in the first semi-final between the second and third seeds, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade meet up in the second.
The two winners of those games then contest the Final to win the Premier League Darts tournament outright.
The winner of the tournament will pocket £275,000, with the runner up taking home £125,000 and the losing semifinalists in the playoffs £85,000 each.
Those amounts are in addition to the £10,000 awarded to the player who wins any of the 16 League tournaments outlined above.
Outlined below are the matches scheduled for the playoffs, together with the latest semi-final and tournament winner betting odds.
Finally, we will give you our tip on who we think will come through the playoffs to be crowned Premier League Darts Champion 2022.
Playoffs – Munich
Semi Finals
Jonny Clayton (4/9) v Joe Cullen (7/4)Michael van Gerwen (2/5) v James Wade (2/1)
Final
Clayton or Cullen v van Gerwen or Wade
Latest Tournament Betting
Michael van Gerwen – 11/8Jonny Clayton – 13/8Joe Cullen, James Wade – 11/2
All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing but may change in the meantime.
Our Tip For The Premier League Darts Playoffs
The playoffs are always a big event in the darts world and the Premier League is now firmly established as one of the top tournaments to win alongside the World Championship and World Matchplay.
Michael van Gerwen is the slight favourite here, simply because if he hits top form then he is so difficult to beat, but as we have seen throughout the tournament, the gap between the Dutchman and the rest of the world is now closing rapidly.
Jonny Clayton, last year’s Champion, has been the most consistent player in this year’s tournament as his very strong form from last season continued this. The Welshman would be my pick at 13/8 here as I think his consistency will ensure that he stays in games.
However, this is a very open tournament and literally anybody could win it. After 16 weeks of league action, just the playoffs remain to decide who is the Champion.
And it should be a cracking night of darts on June 13th when the winner is decided.
