Premier League Darts 2017 Results: Scores, Standings, Schedule After Rotterdam
Raymond van Barneveld moved into the top four of the 2017 Premier League Darts after thrashing Gary Anderson 7-2 at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday. Barney's victory came on a night when Peter Wright guaranteed he'll be leading the table for the next round in Manchester after edging to a nervy, 7-4 win over Dave Chisnall.
However, the marquee match of the night pitted Michael van Gerwen against Phil Taylor, with defending league champion MVG winning a scrappy encounter 7-4.
Here are the results from Thursday's matches:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Player | Score | Player |
| James Wade | 7-3 | Jelle Klassen |
| Peter Wright | 7-4 | Dave Chisnall |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 7-2 | Gary Anderson |
| Kim Huybrechts | 3-7 | Adrian Lewis |
| Phil Taylor | 4-7 | Michael van Gerwen |
Sky Sports Darts provided the updated standings:
| Position | Player | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Legs | Points |
| 1 | Peter Wright | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| 2 | Michael van Gerwen | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 10 |
| 3 | James Wade | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | Raymond van Barneveld | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Adrian Lewis | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | Phil Taylor | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | Gary Anderson | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | Dave Chisnall | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -10 | 6 |
| 9 | Kim Huybrechts | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | -11 | 3 |
| 10 | Jelle Klaasen | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -12 | 3 |
Here's what the schedule looks like after Rotterdam:
| Date | Event | Venue |
| Thursday, March 23 | Night 8 | Manchester Arena |
| Thursday, March 30 | Judgement Day | 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, Amsterdam |
| Thursday, May 18 | Final Night | The 02, London |
Recap
The night's main attraction began with Taylor taking out tops to go 1-0 in front against Van Gerwen. A maximum helped The Power on his way to a 2-0 lead, an advantage he confirmed by taking out double-eight in style.
Van Gerwen was struggling, while Taylor's complaints about the unsteady stage in Rotterdam weren't hurting his play. In fact, Taylor bemoaning the rocking oche only served to slow the pace and seemed to frustrate MVG.
Tops made it 3-0 Taylor, who was perfect on doubles at this stage.
Next, it was Van Gerwen's turn to hit tops and get on the board. A 180 built MVG's momentum, en route to a second leg in a row courtesy of double-16.
Van Gerwen took out tops to even things at three apiece. MVG was now in a ruthless mood and went 4-3 ahead in clinical fashion, per PDC Darts:
Taylor missed tops when trailing 5-3 but got a reprieve when he hit double-10 to close the gap to one. Yet The Power was soon the one letting MVG off the hook when he missed double-16 and then double-eight to fall behind 6-4.
It proved a fatal mistake. Interestingly, Van Gerwen felt Taylor lost focus, according to Live Darts:
Van Barneveld was in sensational scoring form as he raced into a three-leg lead against the Flying Scotsman. As PDC Darts noted, Barney was prolific at the oche, putting together a stunning average:
Anderson tried to check his opponents' blistering pace by getting back on form at doubles to reduce the gap to 3-1. However, it was soon 4-1, then 5-1, with Van Barneveld sealing his latest leg after taking down 156.
Anderson still battled on, cutting the gap to three by maintaining his own excellent average, per Live Darts:
A maximum put Barney in position to go 6-2 ahead, a chance he took when he hit double-18. Anderson was bewildered and soon sank to a demoralising defeat.
As for Van Barneveld, he saluted the pumped-up crowd in Rotterdam:
Earlier, Snakebite had to stay steady and hold his nerve to see off Chisnall. This year's UK Open winner couldn't score with any consistency and was erratic on doubles.
Wright appeared in firm control when he checked out on 60 to move 5-2 in front. However, Chisnall was able to rally more than once, finding bull to move to 5-3, before pushing things to 6-4 after Wright wasted two match darts.
Snakebite eventually saw things out, but as statistics from PDC Darts show, there was little to choose between either player on the night:
There was a spiky affair between Kim Huybrechts and Adrian Lewis in the evening's penultimate match. The latter trailed 3-1 after Huybrechts took down 89.
However, Jackpot checked out on 126 as part of a sequence of three wins in a row. A double-five from Lewis put him 5-3 ahead, and the two players exchanged words.
Jackpot followed with a well-taken 180, and Huybrechts appeared rattled. Lewis then found tops to seal his win.
In the evening's other game, James Wade proved too much for Jelle Klaasen in a composed performance. The latter appeared to be nursing a wrist injury and could now face elimination along with a crestfallen Huybrechts.
At the other end, the sport's dominant players are proving their credentials to win this league in style.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
