2018 Premier League Darts

The 2018 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fourteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 1 February at the 3Arena in Dublin and ended with the play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 17 May. This was the first year that the tournament is sponsored by Unibet.

2018 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Michael Smith
Score
11–4
Dates
1 February–17 May 2018
Edition
14th
Number of players
10
Venues
15 (1 cancelled)
Premier League Darts
< 2017 | 2018 | 2019 >

Michael van Gerwen won his fourth Premier League title (and his third in a row, after winning in 2016 and 2017^[1]) by defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the final.

This was also the first time that the event has had a round in Germany, when the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin hosted the 4th round on 22 February.

Storm Emma resulted in the Exeter round of the event being postponed on 1 March. This was the first time ever since the Premier League started in 2005 that a whole round in the league phase of Premier League Darts was postponed. The same extreme conditions would also go on to cause severe problems in the staging of that weekends UK Open in Minehead which resulted in the event having to be played entirely behind closed doors. In 2010, the play-offs were postponed for 24 hours after a power cut at Wembley Arena.^[2]

Format

The tournament format was identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks (Phase 1) each player played the other nine players once. The bottom two players were then eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks (phase 2) each player played the other seven players once. Phase 2 consisted of four weeks where five matches were played followed by two weeks where four matches were played. At the end of phase 2, the top four players contested the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.

Venues

Dublin	Cardiff	Newcastle	Berlin
3Arena Thursday 1 February	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 8 February	Metro Radio Arena Thursday 15 February	Mercedes-Benz Arena Thursday 22 February
Exeter	Leeds	Nottingham	Glasgow
Westpoint Arena Thursday 1 March (cancelled)	First Direct Arena Thursday 8 March	Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 15 March	SSE Hydro Thursday 22 March
Belfast	Liverpool	Sheffield	Rotterdam
SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 29 March	Echo Arena Liverpool Thursday 5 April (Judgement Night)	FlyDSA Arena Thursday 12 April	Rotterdam Ahoy Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 April
Manchester	Birmingham	Aberdeen	London
Manchester Arena Thursday 26 April	Arena Birmingham Thursday 3 May	BHGE Arena Thursday 10 May	The O2 Thursday 17 May

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.^[3] This was the first time in the event's history in which Phil Taylor did not take part, following his decision to retire. Unlike in previous years the six wildcards were joint decisions by the PDC and Sky Sports this year. There were no PDC specific wildcards or Sky Sports specific wildcards.^[4]

The tournament was noteworthy for its high-number of debuting players. Rob Cross qualified by right due to being in the world's top four at the end of the season, with wildcards going to World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney, Champions League winner Mensur Suljović, and world number 12 Gerwyn Price. In fact, only four of the previous year's ten players (van Gerwen, Wright, Anderson and van Barneveld) were included this year.

Player	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit Rank	Previous best performance	Qualification
Michael van Gerwen	6th	6	1	Winner (2013, 2016, 2017)	PDC Order of Merit
Peter Wright	5th	5	2	Runner-up (2017)	PDC Order of Merit
Rob Cross	1st	1	3	Debut	PDC Order of Merit
Gary Anderson	8th	8	5 (4)[a]	Winner (2011, 2015)	PDC Order of Merit
Daryl Gurney	1st	1	6	Debut	Wildcard
Mensur Suljović	1st	1	7	Debut	Wildcard
Simon Whitlock	6th	1	9	Runner-up (2012)	Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld	13th	13	12	Winner (2014)	Wildcard
Michael Smith	2nd	1	10	10th (2016)	Wildcard
Gerwyn Price	1st	1	13	Debut	Wildcard

1. Phil Taylor, who was ranked 4th in the PDC Order of Merit following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, retired following the tournament. Anderson therefore received the 4th automatic spot.

Prize money

The prize fund remained the same as last year, £825,000.^[5]

Stage	Prize money
Winner	£250,000
Runner-up	£120,000
Semi-finalists	£80,000
5th place	£65,000
6th place	£55,000
7th place	£50,000
8th place	£45,000
9th place	£30,000
10th place	£25,000
League Winner Bonus	£25,000
Total	£825,000

League stage

^[6][7]

1 February – week 1 (Phase 1) 3Arena, Dublin Score [8] Mensur Suljović 103.71 5–7 Simon Whitlock 106.49 Gary Anderson 82.46 5–7 Michael Smith 89.12 Daryl Gurney 93.23 6–6 Raymond van Barneveld 93.78 Michael van Gerwen 100.80 7–2 Rob Cross 98.85 Peter Wright 92.93 6–6 Gerwyn Price 93.51 Night's Average:[a] 95.49 Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 160 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 5 Night's 180s: 25

8 February – week 2 (Phase 1) Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff Score [9] Michael Smith 99.15 7–4 Daryl Gurney 101.96 Rob Cross 87.74 1–7 Simon Whitlock 93.14 Michael van Gerwen 101.12 5–7 Peter Wright 101.04 Gerwyn Price 92.71 3–7 Gary Anderson 99.22 Raymond van Barneveld 100.39 7–5 Mensur Suljović 102.55 Night's Average:[a] 97.90 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 170 Most 180s: Gary Anderson 5 Night's 180s: 28

15 February – week 3 (Phase 1) Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle Score [10] Mensur Suljović 91.15 2–7 Michael Smith 94.80 Daryl Gurney 95.97 6–6 Gerwyn Price 93.22 Peter Wright 102.32 4–7 Rob Cross 98.46 Gary Anderson 110.79 3–7 Michael van Gerwen 110.62 Simon Whitlock 94.34 7–4 Raymond van Barneveld 93.29 Night's Average:[a] 98.50 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 170 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 7 Night's 180s: 32

22 February – Week 4 (Phase 1) Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin Score [11] Michael Smith 87.32 7–3 Simon Whitlock 85.60 Gerwyn Price 90.87 3–7 Mensur Suljović 106.20 Michael van Gerwen 103.42 7–2 Daryl Gurney 96.90 Rob Cross 96.46 7–3 Raymond van Barneveld 88.60 Peter Wright 104.65 6–6 Gary Anderson 105.25 Night's Average:[a] 96.53 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 150 Most 180s: Gary Anderson & Michael Smith 5 Night's 180s: 31

1 March – Initial Week 5 Cancelled Westpoint Arena, Exeter The scheduled 5th week was cancelled due to Storm Emma. The matches, which were scheduled to be played that day, were instead played in Week 9 in Liverpool, with that week's games now being Judgement Night. In order to complete the schedule within the timescale, two rounds of Phase 2 were played on Wednesday 18 April and Thursday 19 April (Week 11) in the Rotterdam Ahoy complex.

8 March – Week 5 (Phase 1) First Direct Arena, Leeds Score [12] Michael van Gerwen 100.17 7–4 Simon Whitlock 92.28 Gerwyn Price 89.01 5–7 Raymond van Barneveld 91.65 Peter Wright 91.54 1–7 Mensur Suljović 103.01 Gary Anderson 99.54 6–6 Daryl Gurney 94.62 Rob Cross 96.22 7–5 Michael Smith 92.61 Night's Average:[a] 95.07 Highest Checkout: Rob Cross & Raymond van Barneveld 121 Most 180s: Rob Cross 5 Night's 180s: 24

15 March – Week 6 (Phase 1) Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham Score [13] Michael Smith 95.02 7–1 Peter Wright 82.91 Simon Whitlock 96.38 6–6 Daryl Gurney 99.11 Mensur Suljović 94.65 2–7 Rob Cross 106.49 Gerwyn Price 92.64 3–7 Michael van Gerwen 104.80 Raymond van Barneveld 92.48 6–6 Gary Anderson 93.67 Night's Average:[a] 96.15 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 152 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney & Raymond van Barneveld 4 Night's 180s: 22

22 March – Week 7 (Phase 1) SSE Hydro, Glasgow Score [14] Daryl Gurney 98.63 7–3 Mensur Suljović 96.26 Michael van Gerwen 101.56 7–2 Michael Smith 92.41 Gary Anderson 102.68 7–4 Simon Whitlock 104.13 Peter Wright 88.18 1–7 Raymond van Barneveld 99.76 Rob Cross 102.57 7–1 Gerwyn Price 92.42 Night's Average:[a] 97.86 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 148 Most 180s: Gary Anderson 6 Night's 180s: 22

29 March – Week 8 (Phase 1) SSE Arena, Belfast Score [15] Mensur Suljović 97.94 5–7 Gary Anderson 96.91 Michael Smith 93.84 7–2 Gerwyn Price 87.44 Raymond van Barneveld 96.82 2–7 Michael van Gerwen 104.47 Daryl Gurney 98.53 7–5 Rob Cross 100.16 Simon Whitlock 98.20 6–6 Peter Wright 98.64 Night's Average: 97.29 Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 160 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 9 Night's 180s: 36

5 April – Week 9 (Phase 1 – Judgement Night) Echo Arena, Liverpool The night was overshadowed by the sudden death of 5 time World Champion Eric Bristow, who suffered a heart attack outside the venue. His death was announced during the Gurney v Wright match. The crowd paid tribute to Bristow at the end of the night's play. Score [16] Simon Whitlock 81.94 7–3 Gerwyn Price 76.94 Raymond van Barneveld 96.58 0–7 Michael Smith 103.15 Gary Anderson 95.09 5–7 Rob Cross 92.30 Mensur Suljović 95.39 4–7 Michael van Gerwen 106.34 Daryl Gurney 98.67 6–6 Peter Wright 99.78 Night's Average: 94.62 Highest Checkout: Simon Whitlock 164 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 10 Night's 180s: 36

12 April – week 10 (Phase 2) FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield Score [17] Raymond van Barneveld 94.16 3–7 Daryl Gurney 102.76 Gary Anderson 104.26 7–2 Peter Wright 96.22 Simon Whitlock 89.58 1–7 Michael van Gerwen 102.37 Michael Smith 96.34 5–7 Rob Cross 106.26 Raymond van Barneveld 86.78 2–7 Peter Wright 95.16 Night's Average: 97.39 Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 158 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 5 Night's 180s: 25

18 April – week 11A (Double Header, Phase 2) Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam Score [18] Michael Smith 96.00 2–7 Gary Anderson 109.91 Rob Cross 96.09 7–4 Daryl Gurney 91.71 Raymond van Barneveld 101.44 7–3 Simon Whitlock 89.49 Peter Wright 99.08 7–5 Michael van Gerwen 106.87 Rob Cross 98.22 3–7 Gary Anderson 99.87 Night's Average: 99.82 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 148 Most 180s: Gary Anderson & Rob Cross 7 Night's 180s: 27

19 April – week 11B (Double Header, Phase 2) Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam Score [19] Simon Whitlock 90.58 1–7 Michael Smith 97.46 Daryl Gurney 93.00 3–7 Gary Anderson 109.73 Rob Cross 96.44 6–6 Peter Wright 92.22 Michael van Gerwen 103.73 5–7 Raymond van Barneveld 95.21 Daryl Gurney 99.20 7–1 Simon Whitlock 85.28 Night's Average: 96.29 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 170 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 7 Night's 180s: 32

26 April – week 12 (Phase 2) Manchester Arena, Manchester Score [20] Peter Wright 97.86 1–7 Michael Smith 104.86 Daryl Gurney 100.16 6–6 Michael van Gerwen 104.96 Simon Whitlock 96.78 7–5 Gary Anderson 94.45 Raymond van Barneveld 94.02 6–6 Rob Cross 94.55 Michael Smith 96.28 1–7 Michael van Gerwen 94.76 Night's Average: 97.87 Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 156 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 7 Night's 180s: 30

3 May – week 13 (Phase 2) Arena Birmingham, Birmingham Score [21] Peter Wright 93.05 7–4 Simon Whitlock 90.68 Rob Cross 101.71 2–7 Michael van Gerwen 111.57 Daryl Gurney 98.82 6–6 Michael Smith 99.36 Gary Anderson 96.64 3–7 Raymond van Barneveld 100.11 Night's Average: 98.99 Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 167 Most 180s: Daryl Gurney 6 Night's 180s: 17

10 May – week 14 (Phase 2) BHGE Arena, Aberdeen Score [22] Michael Smith 93.45 6–6 Raymond van Barneveld 97.28 Simon Whitlock 88.38 6–6 Rob Cross 89.86 Peter Wright 98.11 6–6 Daryl Gurney 88.05 Michael van Gerwen 100.41 5–7 Gary Anderson 98.28 Night's Average: 94.15 Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 126 Most 180s: Rob Cross 5 Night's 180s: 28

1. Please note these are not calculated properly and are not indicative of actual averages for each night.

Play-offs – 17 May

The O2 Arena, London

	Score
[23]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 103.65	10–6	Rob Cross 96.04
Michael Smith 97.49	10–6	Gary Anderson 95.35
Final (best of 21 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 112.37	11–4	Michael Smith 97.01
Night's Total Average: 100.32
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 128
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 16
Night's 180s: 40

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine weeks (phase 1), the bottom two in the table are eliminated. In the next six weeks (phase 2) the eight remaining players each play a further seven matches. The top four players then compete in the playoffs.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. 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	Matches					Legs				Scoring
		Pld	W	D	L	Pts	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A[24]	HC	C%
1	Michael van Gerwen W	16	11	1	4	23	103	60	+43	38	192	128	56	103.56	170	45.37%
2	Michael Smith RU	16	9	2	5	20	90	66	+24	37	157	119	41	95.21	160	42.45%
3	Gary Anderson	16	8	3	5	19	95	80	+15	33	205	114	57	99.11	170	42.04%
4	Rob Cross	16	8	3	5	19	87	82	+5	32	192	103	54	97.33	144	44.85%
5	Daryl Gurney	16	4	8	4	16	89	88	+1	32	195	132	67	96.77	167	38.70%
6	Raymond van Barneveld	16	6	4	6	16	80	88	–8	27	215	131	42	95.01	167	38.28%
7	Peter Wright	16	4	6	6	14	74	94	–20	27	226	142	31	96.17	132	39.78%
8	Simon Whitlock	16	5	3	8	13	74	92	–18	26	169	105	43	92.77	164	37.00%
9	Mensur Suljović	9	2	0	7	4	40	53	–13	12	153	87	14	99.06	138	44.44%
10	Gerwyn Price	9	0	2	7	2	32	61	–29	12	112	53	11	89.67	148	32.99%

Last updated: 10 May 2018
Source: Match reports from the results section.

Top four will qualify for the Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs won against throw. A = Average. C% = Checkout percentage. HC = High checkout.

Streaks

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9										Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14											Play-offs
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		10		11A		11B		12		13	14		SF	F
Michael van Gerwen	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W		W		L		L		D	W	W	L		W	W
Michael Smith	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W		L		L		W		W	L	D	D		W	L
Gary Anderson	L	W	L	D	D	D	W	W	L		W		W	W	W		L		L	W		L	—
Rob Cross	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W		W		W	L	D		D		L	D		L	—
Daryl Gurney	D	L	D	L	D	D	W	W	D		W		L		L	W	D		D	D		Eliminated
Raymond van Barneveld	D	W	L	L	W	D	W	L	L		L	L	W		W		D		W	D
Peter Wright	D	W	L	D	L	L	L	D	D		L	W	W		D		L		W	D
Simon Whitlock	W	W	W	L	L	D	L	D	W		L		L		L	L	W		L	D
Mensur Suljović	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L		Eliminated
Gerwyn Price	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	L

Legend:	W	Win	D	Draw	L	Loss	—	Eliminated

Positions by Week

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9										Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		10	11A	11B	12	13	14
Michael van Gerwen	1	5	3	2	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1	1
Michael Smith	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2		2	4	4	2	2	2
Gary Anderson	9	6	6	6	7	6	5	4	5		4	3	2	4	4	3
Rob Cross	10	10	9	5	4	3	3	3	3		3	2	3	3	3	4
Daryl Gurney	6	7	7	9	9	8	7	7	6		5	5	5	5	5	5
Raymond van Barneveld	4	3	5	7	5	5	4	6	7		7	7	6	6	6	6
Peter Wright	7	4	4	4	8	9	9	8	8		8	8	7	8	7	7
Simon Whitlock	2	1	1	3	3	4	6	5	4		6	6	8	7	8	8
Mensur Suljović	8	9	10	8	6	7	8	9	9		Eliminated
Gerwyn Price	5	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10