Premier League Darts 2017 Results: Dave Chisnall Beats Phil Taylor at Belfast
Phil Taylor both claimed victory and suffered defeat in the Premier League Darts on Thursday in Belfast.
Taylor first got the better of Gary Anderson, staging a remarkable recovery from 4-0 down to win 7-4. Next up for the man known as the Power was Dave Chisnall and while Taylor fell behind again, he was eventually well-beaten 7-2 in his second match.
Elsewhere on the night, there was a 7-2 victory for league leader Michael van Gerwen in the clash with his compatriot Raymond van Barneveld. Chisnall beat Adrian Lewis in the first match of the evening, while Peter Wright ground his way to a 7-3 win over James Wade.
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Here’s how the schedule played out in Belfast, a reminder of the standings with just three more rounds before the finals and a look at some of the best moments from Thursday’s action.
| 1 | Michael ven Gerwen | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| 2 | Peter Wright | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 17 |
| 3 | Phil Taylor | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | Gary Anderson | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
| 5 | Raymond van Barneveld | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| 6 | Adrian Lewis | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | Dave Chisnall | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | -7 | 12 |
| 8 | James Wade | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | -12 | 10 |
Belfast Recap
In his first venture up to the oche, Taylor looked completely out of sorts against Anderson, as he struggled with both his scoring and his finishing.
The Power’s poor form allowed the Scotsman to race into a comfortable 4-0 lead, with Taylor looking as though his mind was wandering towards the second match of the night. But suddenly, the 16-time world champion found some rhythm.
It was a devastating rhythm too, as he closed the gap steadily and eventually restored parity. As we can see here courtesy of Sky Sports Darts, Taylor was beginning to enjoy himself:
At 4-4, Anderson was clearly getting edgy and started missing doubles; Taylor, as noted by BigSport, just kept on going:
"I just wanted to make the score respectable because I was fearing the worst at one stage," he said after the match, per Live Darts. "I put everything into that."
Taylor was back on stage for a second time later on, with Chisnall the player out to tame him; the man from St. Helens would have been confident, though, as he performed excellently in the first match of the evening to get the better of Lewis.
Once again, Taylor started slowly, with some inconsistent finishing seeing him slump 4-1 behind before he halved the deficit at 4-2. However, the same spark wasn’t on show as it had been in his tussle with Anderson, with Chisnall eventually romping to an easy win.
As the PDC Darts Twitter feed relayed, it was a pretty dominant display from the man dubbed as Chizzy:
The most anticipated match of the night saw the Dutch duo come together, as Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld have produced some classic encounters down the years.
To begin with, the pair went toe-to-toe, with the first four legs shared. However, Van Gerwen upped the ante to break Van Barneveld in the sixth leg, suddenly leaving his compatriot with a mountain to climb.
Van Barneveld quickly looked like a man who knew he had it all to do and when the league leader broke again, this one was all over. Van Gerwen was ruthless in seeing out a 7-2 victory. As noted by journalist Laure James, it was a bit too easy for the younger player:
Wright also kept the pressure up at the top of the table, as he battled to a win over Wade in a match that saw both players below their best.
Wright has produced some exceptional segments of play in the 2017 tournament and is one of the favourites to go all the way in the Premier League. But he couldn’t find fluency in this one, although thankfully for the Scotsman, neither could his opponent.
Eventually, the world No. 3 won an attritional encounter 7-3, cementing his spot in the top four and keeping Van Gerwen in his sights.
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