2014 Premier League Darts

The 2014 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the tenth edition of the tournament. The event began at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Thursday 6 February, and ended at The O₂ Arena, London on Thursday 22 May. The tournament was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. The new title sponsor was Betway.^[1]

2014 Betway Premier League Darts
Winner
Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-up
Michael van Gerwen
Score
10–6
Date
6 February–22 May 2014
Edition
10th
Number of players
10
Venues
16
Premier League Darts
< 2013 | 2014 | 2015 >

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion and he reached the final this year, but lost 10–6 to Raymond van Barneveld who won his first Premier League title.^[2]

Players

The competitors were announced on 1 January 2014 following the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship final, with the top four players from the PDC Order of Merit to be joined by six Wildcards.^[3][4] The tournament format is identical to that of 2013, whereby after nine weeks the bottom two players are relegated. All players play each other once at that point. The remaining eight will then compete against each other in the final six rounds for the play-offs places.

Andy Hamilton (world no. 11) and 2009 Premier League Champion James Wade (world no. 6) did not return from last year, Wade there by missing out for the first time in seven years. PDC chairman Barry Hearn explained the decision was made to give Wade a rest to enable him more time to gain treatment for his health issues,^[5] but Wade released a statement the following day, describing the omission as "devastating" as he was "one of the four most consistent players in 2013".^[6] Wade also said he didn't ask to be left out and didn't decline an invitation, and that, with regards to the reason given by Hearn that he could gain treatment for his bipolar disorder, "no medical professional has suggested I take a break".^[6]

Player	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit rank	Previous best performance	Qualification
Michael van Gerwen	2nd	2	1	Winner (2013)	PDC Order of Merit
Phil Taylor	10th	10	2	Winner (2005–2008, 2010, 2012)	PDC Order of Merit
Simon Whitlock	5th	5	3	Runner-up (2012)	PDC Order of Merit
Adrian Lewis	7th	5	4	Runner-up (2011)	PDC Order of Merit
Dave Chisnall	1st	1	5	Debut	PDC Wildcard
Peter Wright	1st	1	7	Debut	PDC Wildcard
Wes Newton	2nd	2	8	9th place (2013)	PDC Wildcard
Robert Thornton	2nd	2	9	5th place (2013)	PDC Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld	9th	9	10	Semi-finalist (2006–09, 2011, 2013)	Sky Sports Wildcard
Gary Anderson	4th	4	17	Winner (2011)	Sky Sports Wildcard

Venues

Week seven saw a tournament record attendance with 11,000 fans in Leeds, which was also the only new city introduced on the circuit this year, although Glasgow had a new arena with The SSE Hydro making its debut.^[7]

Liverpool Bournemouth Belfast Glasgow Echo Arena Thursday 6 February Bournemouth International Centre Thursday 13 February Odyssey Arena Thursday 20 February SSE Hydro Thursday 27 February Exeter Nottingham Leeds Dublin Westpoint Arena Thursday 6 March Capital FM Arena Thursday 13 March First Direct Arena Thursday 20 March The O2 Thursday 27 March Cardiff Sheffield Aberdeen Manchester Motorpoint Arena Thursday 3 April Motorpoint Arena Thursday 10 April GE Oil & Gas Arena Thursday 17 April Phones 4u Arena Thursday 24 April Birmingham Newcastle Brighton London National Indoor Arena Thursday 1 May Metro Radio Arena Thursday 8 May Brighton Centre Thursday 15 May The O2 Arena Thursday 22 May

Liverpool Bournemouth Glasgow Exeter Nottingham Leeds Cardiff Sheffield Aberdeen Manchester Birmingham Newcastle Brighton London Belfast Dublin Locations of the 2014 Premier League venues

Prize money

The prize-money was increased to £550,000 from £520,000 in 2013.

Stage	Prize Money
Winner	£150,000
Runner-up	£75,000
Semi-finallists (x2)	£60,000
5th place	£50,000
6th place	£45,000
7th place	£35,000
8th place	£30,000
9th place	£25,000
10th place	£20,000
Total	£550,000

Results

League stage

6 February – Week 1 (Phase 1) Echo Arena, Liverpool Score [8] Dave Chisnall 93.87 7 – 5 Robert Thornton 93.28 Peter Wright 97.53 7 – 3 Wes Newton 93.75 Raymond van Barneveld 108.52 7 – 2 Gary Anderson 100.71 Phil Taylor 99.45 0 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 109.59 Simon Whitlock 86.31 1 – 7 Adrian Lewis 99.13 Night's Average: 98.21 Highest Checkout: Adrian Lewis 130

13 February – Week 2 (Phase 1) Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth Score [9] Wes Newton 91.36 7 – 5 Raymond van Barneveld 89.69 Dave Chisnall 92.40 6 – 6 Peter Wright 83.83 Gary Anderson 98.13 7 – 2 Simon Whitlock 90.05 Adrian Lewis 100.57 7 – 3 Phil Taylor 98.27 Robert Thornton 90.23 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 95.83 Night's Average: 93.04 Highest Checkout: Wes Newton 149

20 February – Week 3 (Phase 1) Odyssey Arena, Belfast Score [10] Robert Thornton 105.21 7 – 2 Gary Anderson 95.02 Dave Chisnall 101.01 4 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 103.60 Peter Wright 100.40 7 – 4 Phil Taylor 101.03 Wes Newton 93.82 7 – 2 Adrian Lewis 89.54 Raymond van Barneveld 95.96 7 – 4 Simon Whitlock 95.44 Night's Average: 98.1 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 121

27 February – Week 4 (Phase 1) SSE Hydro, Glasgow Score [11] Peter Wright 93.32 7 – 1 Adrian Lewis 90.85 Robert Thornton 82.66 6 – 6 Wes Newton 88.45 Simon Whitlock 94.35 3 – 7 Phil Taylor 104.82 Michael van Gerwen 98.25 5 – 7 Raymond van Barneveld 107.31 Dave Chisnall 103.19 5 – 7 Gary Anderson 108.22 Night's Average: 97.14 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 170

6 March – Week 5 (Phase 1) Westpoint Arena, Exeter Score [12] Peter Wright 98.75 6 – 6 Robert Thornton 95.23 Raymond van Barneveld 87.69 6 – 6 Dave Chisnall 92.46 Adrian Lewis 98.19 6 – 6 Michael van Gerwen 97.49 Phil Taylor 99.91 5 – 7 Gary Anderson 96.10 Simon Whitlock 99.53 7 – 5 Robert Thornton* 103.12 Night's Average: 96.85 Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 150 *Wes Newton was originally scheduled to play against Simon Whitlock, but was sidelined with an illness, so Robert Thornton played twice in Week 5. Newton played Whitlock on 27 March (Week 8), when Robert Thornton was given the night off.

13 March – Week 6 (Phase 1) Capital FM Arena, Nottingham Score [13] Simon Whitlock 88.28 3 – 7 Peter Wright 100.72 Adrian Lewis 89.43 7 – 5 Gary Anderson 90.62 Michael van Gerwen 105.05 7 – 1 Wes Newton 103.36 Raymond van Barneveld 99.46 6 – 6 Robert Thornton 97.48 Phil Taylor 98.46 7 – 5 Dave Chisnall 92.43 Night's Average: 96.53 Highest Checkout: Peter Wright 132

20 March – Week 7 (Phase 1) First Direct Arena, Leeds Score [14] Dave Chisnall 96.15 6 – 6 Simon Whitlock 90.58 Robert Thornton 87.57 6 – 6 Adrian Lewis 93.62 Gary Anderson 99.02 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 102.30 Wes Newton 101.17 1 – 7 Phil Taylor 106.91 Peter Wright 97.80 6 – 6 Raymond van Barneveld 100.81 Night's Average: 97.59 Highest Checkout: Peter Wright 161

27 March – Week 8 (Phase 1) The O2, Dublin Score [15] Gary Anderson 97.41 7 – 3 Wes Newton 91.45 Adrian Lewis 99.14 6 – 6 Dave Chisnall 101.22 Wes Newton 92.82 6 – 6 Simon Whitlock 91.89 Michael van Gerwen 101.22 7 – 5 Peter Wright 96.84 Phil Taylor 96.92 6 – 6 Raymond van Barneveld 98.72 Night's Average: 96.76 Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 160

3 April – Week 9 (Phase 1) Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff Score [16] Gary Anderson 94.15 5 – 7 Peter Wright 92.87 Michael van Gerwen 103.67 6 – 6 Simon Whitlock 100.34 Adrian Lewis 90.95 6 – 6 Raymond van Barneveld 89.43 Wes Newton 88.02 5 – 7 Dave Chisnall 95.85 Phil Taylor 102.48 7 – 4 Robert Thornton 99.12 Night's Average: 95.69 Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 170

10 April – Week 10 (Phase 2) Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield Score [17] Dave Chisnall 101.29 5 – 7 Raymond van Barneveld 94.72 Peter Wright 98.21 4 – 7 Gary Anderson 100.91 Michael van Gerwen 104.31 7 – 5 Robert Thornton 94.76 Phil Taylor 100.96 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 98.53 Raymond van Barneveld 95.91 7 – 5 Peter Wright 96.09 Night's Average: 98.57 Highest Checkout: Dave Chisnall 164

17 April – Week 11 (Phase 2) GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen Score [18] Gary Anderson 96.38 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 99.44 Michael van Gerwen 101.48 4 – 7 Phil Taylor 106.30 Peter Wright 95.72 4 – 7 Dave Chisnall 103.50 Robert Thornton 87.67 1 – 7 Raymond van Barneveld 99.73 Michael van Gerwen 95.89 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 95.60 Night's Average: 98.17 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 138

24 April – Week 12 (Phase 2) Phones 4u Arena, Manchester Score [19] Robert Thornton 98.16 5 – 7 Peter Wright 97.71 Gary Anderson 98.01 6 – 6 Phil Taylor 106.65 Raymond van Barneveld 104.19 7 – 3 Adrian Lewis 89.49 Michael van Gerwen 99.51 7 – 4 Dave Chisnall 96.31 Gary Anderson 91.11 6 – 6 Robert Thornton 94.49 Night's Average: 97.56 Highest Checkout: Robert Thornton 137

1 May – Week 13 (Phase 2) National Indoor Arena, Birmingham Score [20] Robert Thornton 104.30 7 – 5 Dave Chisnall 97.99 Raymond van Barneveld 95.63 6 – 6 Phil Taylor 95.69 Michael van Gerwen 97.48 4 – 7 Gary Anderson 100.80 Adrian Lewis 98.67 6 – 6 Peter Wright 97.70 Dave Chisnall 92.65 2 – 7 Phil Taylor 101.98 Night's Average: 98.29 Highest Checkout: Adrian Lewis 122

8 May – Week 14 (Phase 2) Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle Score [21] Gary Anderson 97.90 7 – 4 Dave Chisnall 94.48 Adrian Lewis 96.59 7 – 5 Robert Thornton 89.25 Phil Taylor 100.47 6 – 6 Peter Wright 100.79 Raymond van Barneveld 96.14 4 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 105.49 Night's Average: 97.64 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 132

15 May – Week 15 (Phase 2) Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth Score [22] Dave Chisnall 92.05 4 – 7 Adrian Lewis 95.71 Gary Anderson 101.30 7 – 4 Raymond van Barneveld 95.65 Robert Thornton 95.18 5 – 7 Phil Taylor 101.29 Peter Wright 104.54 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 110.85 Night's Average: 99.57 Highest Checkout: Peter Wright 161

Play-offs – 22 May

The O₂ Arena, London

	Score
[23]
Semi-finals (best of 15 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 101.18	8 – 7	Gary Anderson 99.07
Raymond van Barneveld 92.27	8 – 5	Phil Taylor 93.43
Final (best of 19 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 102.98	6 – 10	Raymond van Barneveld 101.93
Night's Average: 98.48
Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 116

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine weeks, the bottom two in the table were eliminated from the competition. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

#	Name	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A[24]	HC	C%[25]
1	Michael van Gerwen RU	16	11	2	3	24	102	75	+27	39	207	156	55	102.00	164	40.80%
2	Raymond van Barneveld W	16	7	6	3	20	98	82	+16	32	240	122	46	97.47	160	50.52%
3	Phil Taylor	16	8	4	4	20	92	80	+12	37	244	111	41	101.36	144	38.02%
4	Gary Anderson	16	9	2	5	20	94	82	+12	33	237	122	46	97.86	170	43.32%
5	Peter Wright	16	6	5	5	17	95	86	+9	34	263	137	37	97.05	161	41.48%
6	Adrian Lewis	16	5	5	6	15	83	90	−7	30	200	107	54	95.34	130	38.07%
7	Dave Chisnall	16	3	4	9	10	83	101	−18	31	218	140	64	96.68	164	37.73%
8	Robert Thornton	16	2	5	9	9	84	100	−16	26	215	125	63	94.86	137	35.00%
9	Wes Newton	9	2	2	5	6	39	54	−15	15	129	48	25	93.80	149	31.71%
10	Simon Whitlock	9	1	3	5	5	38	58	−20	13	99	62	25	92.97	170	43.18%

Last updated: 16 May 2014
Source: Match reports from the results section.

Top four qualified for the Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. A = Average C% = Checkout Percentage HC = High Checkout.

Streaks

Player		1st Phase												2nd Phase											Play-offs
		1	2	3	4	5		6	7	8		9		10		11		12		13		14	15		SF	F
Michael van Gerwen		W	W	W	L	D		W	W	W		D		W		L	W	W		L		W	W		W	L
Raymond van Barneveld		W	L	W	W	D		D	D	D		D		W	W	W		W		D		L	L		W	W
Phil Taylor		L	L	L	W	L		W	W	D		W		W		W		D		D	W	D	W		L	—
Gary Anderson		L	W	L	W	W		L	L	W		L		W		W		D	D	W		W	W		L	—
Peter Wright		W	D	W	W	D		W	D	L		W		L	L	L		W		D		D	L		Eliminated
Adrian Lewis		W	W	L	L	D		W	D	D		D		L		L	L	L		D		W	W
Dave Chisnall		W	D	L	L	D		L	D	D		W		L		W		L		L	L	L	L
Robert Thornton		L	L	W	D	D	L	D	D	DNP		L		L		L		L	D	W		L	L
Wes Newton		L	W	W	D	DNP		L	L	L	D	L		Eliminated
Simon Whitlock		L	L	L	L	W		L	D	D		D

Legend:	W	Win	D	Draw	L	Loss	DNP	Did not play	—	Eliminated

Positions by round

Player	Round
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Michael van Gerwen	1	2	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Raymond van Barneveld	3	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2
Phil Taylor	10	9	9	9	9	9	6	6	5	4	4	4	3	3	3
Gary Anderson	7	6	8	6	4	5	7	5	7	5	5	5	5	4	4
Peter Wright	4	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	5	5
Adrian Lewis	2	1	4	5	6	4	4	4	4	6	7	7	6	6	6
Dave Chisnall	5	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	6	7	6	6	7	7	7
Robert Thornton	6	8	7	7	7	6	5	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Wes Newton	8	7	5	4	5	7	9	9	9	Eliminated
Simon Whitlock	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10