Premier League Darts 2017 Results: Scores, Standings, Schedule After Leeds
Phil Taylor beat familiar foe Raymond van Barneveld 7-4 on the third day of the 2017 Premier League Darts at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on Thursday. The old rivals were playing perhaps their last encounter in this tournament, as Taylor inches toward retirement, according to James Dielhenn and Raz Mirza of Sky Sports.
Taylor's win means the Power is one of only three players still undefeated in the league. The others, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade, maintained their unbeaten starts with wins over Jelle Klaasen and Adrian Lewis.
Elsewhere, Peter Wright beat Gary Anderson and Dave Chisnall proved too strong for Kim Huybrechts. Chisnall's win moved him off the foot of the table.
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Here are the full results from Thursday's matches:
| Player | Score | Player |
| Gary Anderson | 5-7 | Peter Wright |
| Adrian Lewis | 4-7 | James Wade |
| Phil Taylor | 7-4 | Raymond van Barneveld |
| Michael van Gerwen | 7-4 | Jelle Klaasen |
| Dave Chisnall | 7-4 | Kim Huybrechts |
Here's what those results mean for the updated standings:
| Position | Player | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Legs | Points |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +7 | 5 |
| 2 | Phil Taylor | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +7 | 5 |
| 3 | James Wade | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +5 | 5 |
| 4 | Peter Wright | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| 5 | Gary Anderson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 6 | Raymond van Barneveld | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
| 7 | Adrian Lewis | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Dave Chisnall | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -6 | 2 |
| 9 | Kim Huybrechts | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 1 |
| 10 | Jelle Klaasen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -10 | 0 |
Here's the schedule:
| Date | Event | Venue |
| Thursday, February 23 | Night 4 | The Brighton Centre, Brighton |
| Thursday, March 2 | Night 5 | Westpoint Arena, Exeter |
| Thursday, March 9 | Night 6 | The SSE Hydro, Glasgow |
| Thursday, March 16 | Night 7 | Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam |
| Thursday, March 23 | Night 8 | Manchester Arena |
| Thursday, March 30 | Judgement Night | Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff |
| Thursday, April 6 | Night 10 | 3Arena, Dublin |
| Thursday, April 13 | Night 11 | Echo Arena, Liverpool |
| Thursday, April 20 | Night 12 | The SSE Arena, Belfast |
| Thursday, April 27 | Night 13 | The Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham |
| Thursday, May 4 | Night 14 | Sheffield Arena, Sheffield |
| Thursday, May 11 | Night 15 | GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen |
| Thursday, May 18 | Finals Night | The O2, London |
Recap
Taylor and Van Barneveld renewing their professional rivalry was billed as the marquee match of the night. So it proved as Barney's resilience made life difficult for Taylor early on.
The Power made steady work of going 2-1 in front, but Van Barneveld checked out on 32 to even things at two legs apiece. Two legs later a double-eight put Barney back all square at three each.
Taylor fired back to take out 85 for a 4-3 lead. The Power then broke throw despite missing on double-12. It didn't seem to matter, though, when Taylor stretched the lead to 6-3.
A maximum put Taylor on the brink of winning the match, but he hit his own dart going for double-19. The gaffe allowed Barney to land double-14 to keep the game alive.
Taylor then missed twice when aiming for double-16, but Van Barneveld couldn't hit bull to close out the leg. Faced with a third chance at double-16, Taylor didn't waste it and took the match against his oldest rival.
Barney paid suitable tribute to the player he has spent close to three decades doing battle with, per Live Darts:
Determined not to be outdone, Van Gerwen raced into a two-leg lead against Klaasen. Mighty Mike broke throw to secure the second, hitting a maximum along the way.
However, back-to-back double-19s got Klaasen back in it, before he took out double-eight to even the score. Klaasen's comeback was a mild surprise, but it was positively shocking to see him go 3-2 ahead after landing double-10.
MVG soon rallied, though, taking double-eight and double-four to retake the initiative at 4-3. Yet it was initiative he soon lost when Klaasen hit a double-10 after Van Gerwen couldn't find bull.
Double-10 proved the decisive score again when Mighty Mike moved 5-4 in front while establishing a typically awesome scoring average:
Van Gerwen needed a break to finally create some distance, and he duly got it after making double-eight to ensure a point. Tops then wrapped up both points and the win for MVG.
Earlier, Wade might have delivered the performance of the night as he battled back to beat Lewis. The Machine was 4-3 down, but he rattled off three-straight legs to win.
A double-12 helped him break throw to go 5-4 ahead and leave Jackpot rattled. Wade was even better in the 10th leg as he maintained terrific form on doubles:
The day's play began with Wright proving too much for Anderson. A double-eight was enough to put Snakebite 6-4 up and guarantee him at least a point.
Anderson wasn't done yet, though, as he piled in a ton-plus checkout to stay in the match. However, not even the Flying Scotsman was able to manage Wright's prolific form at the oche on the day.
Snakebite missed tops but duly found double-10 to seal the win. In the process, he'd accumulated a quite stunning scoring average, according to PDC Darts:
A 112 average helped Chisnall move 2-1 in front of Huybrechts in the day's final match, before he turned on the style to extend his advantage to 4-2. It was 5-2 before Huybrechts completed a 66 checkout to get back in it.
Scoring 141 got Chisnall his point, but Huybrechts took out a 64 finish to keep hope alive. However, Chisnall extinguished those hopes
Wright and Wade continued fine starts to their respective Premier League campaigns while serving notice to the rest by beating quality players in former world champions Anderson and Lewis.
Yet it's Van Gerwen who remains the form player in this league, even if Taylor and Van Barneveld can still produce some magic for the nostalgic fans.
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