Premier League Darts 2018

Premier League Darts 2018
Tournament status
Tournament type	Invitation tournament
organizer	PDC
venue	, , , , , ,
Tournament dates
Defending champion	Michael van Gerwen
Attendees	10
Opening game	1st February 2018
Endgame	17th May 2018
Match days	16
Prize money (total)	£ 825,000
Prize money (winner)	£ 250,000
winner	Michael van Gerwen
statistics
highest average	112.37 points from Michael van Gerwen
highest finish	170 points from Michael van Gerwen , Gary Anderson (2 ×)
← 2017   2019 →

The Unibet Premier League Darts 2018 is an invitation tournament organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). It was the 14th edition of this tournament.

The series of events began on February 1, 2018 in the 3Arena in Dublin and ended on May 17, 2018 in the O2 Arena in London with the play-offs. A total of 16 game days were played.

The tournament was won by Michael van Gerwen from the Netherlands , who first beat Rob Cross in the semifinals with 10: 6- legs and then defeated Michael Smith with 11: 4- legs in the final.

Prize money

The Premier League totaled £ 825,000 in prize money. The prize money was distributed among the participants as follows:

Position (number of players)		Prize money
winner	(1)	£ 250,000
finalist	(1)	£ 120,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	0£ 80,000
5th place	(1)	0£ 65,000
6th place	(1)	0£ 55,000
7th place	(1)	0£ 50,000
8th place	(1)	0£ 45,000
9th place	(1)	0£ 30,000
10th place	(1)	0£ 25,000
First place after the 15th matchday	(1)	0£ 25,000

Since the Premier League is an invitation-only tournament, the prize money was not included in the world rankings.

qualification

As in the previous year, the first four players of the PDC Order of Merit (deadline: January 1st, 2018, after the final of the PDC World Darts Championship 2018 ) qualified for the Premier League . In addition, six other players received a wildcard for the Premier League through the PDC and Sky Sports . Compared to last year, five players, Adrian Lewis , James Wade , Dave Chisnall , Jelle Klaasen and Kim Huybrechts, had to leave the field. In addition, Phil Taylor was no longer there due to the end of his career.

player	Total participation in the Premier League	Participation in a row	Rank in the Order of Merit	Best placement	Qualified by
Michael van Gerwen	6th	6th	1	Victory (2013, 2016, 2017)	Order of Merit
Peter Wright	5.	5	2	2nd place (2017)	Order of Merit
Rob Cross	1.	1	3	debut	Order of Merit
Gary Anderson	8th.	8th	4th	Win (2011, 2015)	Order of Merit
Daryl Gurney	1.	1	5	debut	Wildcard
Scale length Suljović	1.	1	6th	debut	Wildcard
Simon Whitlock	6th	1	8th	2nd place (2012)	Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld	13.	13	10	Win (2014)	Wildcard
Michael Smith	2.	1	11	10th place (2016)	Wildcard
Gerwyn Price	1.	1	12	debut	Wildcard

Venues

date	round	place
1st February 2018	Preliminary round - 1st matchday	3Arena , Dublin
February 8, 2018	Preliminary round - 2nd matchday	Motorpoint Arena , Cardiff
15th February 2018	Preliminary round - 3rd matchday	Metro Radio Arena , Newcastle
February 22, 2018	Preliminary round - 4th matchday	Mercedes-Benz Arena , Berlin
1st March 2018	Preliminary round - 5th matchday	Westpoint Arena , Exeter 1
March 8, 2018	Preliminary round - 5th matchday	First Direct Arena , Leeds
15th March 2018	Preliminary round - 6th matchday	Capital FM Arena , Nottingham
March 22, 2018	Preliminary round - 7th matchday	The SSE Hydro , Glasgow
29th March 2018	Preliminary round - 8th matchday	SSE Arena , Belfast
5th April 2018	Preliminary round - 9th matchday	Echo Arena , Liverpool
April 12, 2018	Final round - 1st matchday	Sheffield Arena , Sheffield
April 18, 2018	Final round - 2nd matchday	Ahoy , Rotterdam
April 19, 2018	Final round - Matchday 3	Ahoy , Rotterdam
April 26, 2018	Final round - Matchday 4	Manchester Arena , Manchester
May 3, 2018	Final round - Matchday 5	Barclaycard Arena , Birmingham
May 10, 2018	Finals - Matchday 6	GE Oil and Gas Arena , Aberdeen
17th May 2018	Play-offs	The O2 Arena , London

¹The event in Exeter was canceled due to difficult travel conditions and safety concerns for fans and players as a result of the Emma snow storm. The canceled games were pushed to the end of the preliminary round schedule and are now taking place as Judgment Night in Liverpool, where the first day of the final round was actually planned. So that the final round includes six match days as planned, a double matchday will take place in Rotterdam.

Preliminary round

Games

The preliminary round schedule was published on January 16, 2018:

1st matchday Scale length Suljović 103.71 - Simon Whitlock 106.49 5: 7 Gary Anderson 82.46 - Michael Smith 89.12 5: 7 Daryl Gurney 93.23 - Raymond van Barneveld 93.78 6: 6 Michael van Gerwen 100.8 - Rob Cross 98.85 7: 2 Peter Wright 92.93 - Gerwyn Price 93.51 6: 6

2nd matchday Michael Smith 99.15 - Daryl Gurney 101.96 7: 4 Rob Cross 87.74 - Simon Whitlock 93.14 1: 7 Michael van Gerwen 101.12 - Peter Wright April 101 5: 7 Gerwyn Price 92.71 - Gary Anderson 99.22 3: 7 Raymond van Barneveld 100.39 - Scale length Suljović 102.55 7: 5

3rd matchday Scale length Suljović 91.15 - Michael Smith 94.8 2: 7 Daryl Gurney 95.97 - Gerwyn Price 93.22 6: 6 Peter Wright 102.32 - Rob Cross 98.46 4: 7 Gary Anderson 110.79 - Michael van Gerwen 110.62 3: 7 Simon Whitlock 94.34 - Raymond van Barneveld 93.29 7: 4

4th matchday Michael Smith 87.32 - Simon Whitlock 85.6 7: 3 Gerwyn Price 90.87 - Scale length Suljović 106.2 3: 7 Michael van Gerwen 103.42 - Daryl Gurney 96.9 7: 2 Rob Cross 96.46 - Raymond van Barneveld 88.6 7: 3 Peter Wright 104.65 - Gary Anderson 105.25 6: 6

5th matchday Michael van Gerwen 100.17 - Simon Whitlock 92.28 7: 4 Gerwyn Price 89.01 - Raymond van Barneveld 91.65 5: 7 Peter Wright 91.54 - Scale length Suljović 103.01 1: 7 Gary Anderson 99.54 - Daryl Gurney 94.62 6: 6 Rob Cross 96.22 - Michael Smith 92.61 7: 5

6th matchday Michael Smith 02.95 - Peter Wright 82.91 7: 1 Simon Whitlock 96.38 - Daryl Gurney 99.11 6: 6 Scale length Suljović 94.65 - Rob Cross 106.49 2: 7 Gerwyn Price 92.91 - Michael van Gerwen 104.80 3: 7 Raymond van Barneveld 92.48 - Gary Anderson 93.67 6: 6

7th matchday Daryl Gurney 98.63 - Scale length Suljović 96.26 7: 3 Michael van Gerwen 101.56 - Michael Smith 92.41 7: 2 Gary Anderson 102.68 - Simon Whitlock 104.13 7: 4 Peter Wright 88.18 - Raymond van Barneveld 99.76 1: 7 Rob Cross 102.57 - Gerwyn Price 92.42 7: 1

8th matchday Scale length Suljović 97.94 - Gary Anderson 96.91 5: 7 Michael Smith 93.84 - Gerwyn Price 87.44 7: 2 Raymond van Barneveld 96.82 - Michael van Gerwen 104.47 2: 7 Daryl Gurney 98.53 - Rob Cross 100.16 7: 5 Simon Whitlock 98.20 - Peter Wright 98.64 6: 6

9th matchday Simon Whitlock 81.94 - Gerwyn Price 76.94 7: 3 Raymond van Barneveld 96.58 - Michael Smith 103.15 0: 7 Gary Anderson 09.95 - Rob Cross 92.30 5: 7 Scale length Suljović 95.39 - Michael van Gerwen 106.34 4: 7 Daryl Gurney 98.67 - Peter Wright 99.78 6: 6

table

Note: After nine match days, places 9 and 10 were eliminated from the tournament.

Pl.	player	Sp.	S.	U	N	Legs	Diff.	Avg.	Points
1.	Michael van Gerwen	9	8th	0	1	61:29	+32	103.70	16
2.	Michael Smith	9	7th	0	2	56:31	+25	94.16	14th
3.	Rob Cross	9	6th	0	3	50:41	+9	97.69	12
4th	Simon Whitlock	9	4th	2	3	51:46	+5	94.72	10
5.	Gary Anderson	9	3	3	3	52:51	+1	98.40	9
6th	Daryl Gurney	9	2	5	2	50:52	−2	97.51	9
7th	Raymond van Barneveld	9	3	2	4th	42:51	−9	94.82	8th
8th.	Peter Wright	9	1	4th	4th	38:57	−19	95.78	6th
9.	Scale length Suljović	9	2	0	7th	40:53	−13	98.98	4th
10.	Gerwyn Price	9	0	2	7th	32:61	−29	89.89	2

Finals

Games

10th matchday Raymond van Barneveld 94.16 - Daryl Gurney 102.76 3: 7 Gary Anderson 104.26 - Peter Wright 96.22 7: 2 Simon Whitlock 89.58 - Michael van Gerwen 102.37 1: 7 Michael Smith 96.34 - Rob Cross 106.26 5: 7 Raymond van Barneveld 86.78 - Peter Wright 95.16 2: 7

11th matchday Michael Smith 96.0 - Gary Anderson 109.91 2: 7 Rob Cross 9/96 - Daryl Gurney 91.71 7: 4 Raymond van Barneveld 101.44 - Simon Whitlock 89.49 7: 3 Peter Wright 08/99 - Michael van Gerwen 106.87 7: 5 Rob Cross 98.22 - Gary Anderson 99.87 3: 7

12th matchday Simon Whitlock 90.58 - Michael Smith 97.46 1: 7 Daryl Gurney 93.00 - Gary Anderson 109.73 3: 7 Rob Cross 96.44 - Peter Wright 92.22 6: 6 Michael van Gerwen 103.73 - Raymond van Barneveld 95.21 5: 7 Daryl Gurney 99.20 - Simon Whitlock 85.28 7: 1

13th matchday Peter Wright 97.86 - Michael Smith 104.86 1: 7 Daryl Gurney 100.16 - Michael van Gerwen 104.96 6: 6 Simon Whitlock 96.78 - Gary Anderson 94.45 7: 5 Raymond van Barneveld 94.02 - Rob Cross 94.55 6: 6 Michael Smith 96.28 - Michael van Gerwen 94.76 1: 7

14th matchday Peter Wright May 93 - Simon Whitlock 90.68 7: 4 Daryl Gurney 98.82 - Michael Smith 99.36 6: 6 Rob Cross 101.71 - Michael van Gerwen 111.57 2: 7 Gary Anderson 96.64 - Raymond van Barneveld 100.11 3: 7

15th matchday Michael Smith 93.45 - Raymond van Barneveld 97.28 6: 6 Peter Wright 97.47 - Daryl Gurney 88.05 6: 6 Michael van Gerwen 100.41 - Gary Anderson 98.28 5: 7 Rob Cross 89.86 - Simon Whitlock 88.38 6: 6

table

Note: The remaining eight players played against each other again. The first four places qualified for the play-offs.

Pl.	player	Sp.	S.	U	N	Legs	Diff.	Avg.	Points
1.	Michael van Gerwen	16	11	1	4th	103: 60	+43	103.62	23
2.	Michael Smith	16	9	2	5	90:65	+25	95.70	20th
3.	Gary Anderson	16	8th	3	5	95:80	+15	99.92	19th
4th	Rob Cross	16	8th	3	5	87:82	+5	97.65	19th
5.	Daryl Gurney	16	4th	8th	4th	89:88	+1	96.96	16
6th	Raymond van Barneveld	16	6th	4th	6th	80:88	−8	95.15	16
7th	Peter Wright	16	4th	6th	6th	74:94	−20	95.82	14th
8th.	Simon Whitlock	16	5	3	8th	74:92	−18	92.70	13

Play-offs

	Semi-finals best of 19 legs					Final best of 21 legs
	1	Michael van Gerwen 103.65	10
	4th	Rob Cross 04/96	6th
						1	Michael van Gerwen 112.37	11
						2	Michael Smith 97.01	4th
	2	Michael Smith 97.49	10
	3	Gary Anderson 95.35	6th

Michael van Gerwen	Semi-final 1: best of 19 legs	Rob Cross
10	Result	6th
103.65	3-dart average	96.04
17th	100+	17th
7th	140+	4th
9	180s	5
128	Supreme finish	118
50.00	Double quota	54.55

Michael Smith	Semi-final 2: best of 19 legs	Gary Anderson
10	Result	6th
97.49	3-dart average	95.35
13	100+	23
11	140+	4th
8th	180s	5
120	Supreme finish	60
40.00	Double quota	33.33

Michael van Gerwen	Final: best of 21 legs	Michael Smith
11	Result	4th
112.37	3-dart average	97.01
18th	100+	17th
10	140+	7th
7th	180s	6th
112	Supreme finish	125
68.75	Double quota	36.36

statistics

player	country	Games	100+	140+	180s	Hö. Check- out	Checkout Av .%	Average
									Michael van Gerwen		18th	227	145	72	170	47.15	104.11
Rob Cross		17th	214	107	59	144	45.37	97.55
Gary Anderson		17th	228	118	62	170	41.39	99.65
Peter Wright		16	226	142	31	132	39.78	95.82
Raymond van Barneveld		16	215	131	42	167	38.28	95.15
Daryl Gurney		16	195	132	67	167	38.70	96.96
Michael Smith		18th	187	137	55	160	41.94	95.87
Simon Whitlock		16	169	105	43	164	37.00	92.70
Scale length Suljović		9	153	87	14th	138	44.44	98.98
Gerwyn Price		9	112	53	11	148	32.99	89.89
total			1926	1157	456

Web links

• Official website of the Unibet Premier League Darts 2018
• Report on dartn.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Overview of the prize money in the database of DartsDatabase.co.uk (English)
2. ↑ 2018 Unibet Premier League Field. Professional Darts Corporation, January 1, 2018, accessed January 2, 2018 . 
3. ↑ 2018 Unibet Premier League Fixtures. Professional Darts Corporation, January 16, 2018, accessed January 16, 2018 . 
4. ↑ 2018 Unibet Premier League Announcement. Professional Darts Corporation, March 5, 2018, accessed March 6, 2018 .