2017 Premier League Darts

The 2017 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the thirteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 2 February at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 18 May. This was the fourth year that the tournament was sponsored by Betway.

2017 Betway Premier League Darts
Winner
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Scotland Peter Wright
Score
11–10
Dates
2 February–18 May 2017
Edition
13th
Number of players
10
Venues
16
Nine Dart Finish
England Adrian Lewis
Premier League Darts
< 2016 | 2017 | 2018 >

Michael van Gerwen, the 2016 champion, retained his title by winning the last-leg decider against Peter Wright in the final, after Wright missed six darts to win 11–9. Kim Huybrechts became the first player in Premier League Darts history to fail to win a match in the tournament.[1]

Format

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

Venues

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In the only change from 2016, Brighton returned to the calendar, replacing Bournemouth.

Locations of the 2017 Premier League venues in the Netherlands
  Newcastle   Nottingham   Leeds   Brighton
Metro Radio Arena
Thursday 2 February
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Thursday 9 February
First Direct Arena
Thursday 16 February
Brighton Centre
Thursday 23 February
       
  Exeter   Glasgow   Rotterdam   Manchester
Westpoint Arena
Thursday 2 March
The SSE Hydro
Thursday 9 March
Rotterdam Ahoy
Thursday 16 March
Manchester Arena
Thursday 23 March
       
  Cardiff   Dublin   Liverpool   Belfast
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Thursday 30 March
3Arena
Thursday 6 April
Echo Arena Liverpool
Thursday 13 April
SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 20 April
       
  Birmingham   Sheffield   Aberdeen   London
Barclaycard Arena
Thursday 27 April
Sheffield Arena
Thursday 4 May
GE Oil and Gas Arena
Thursday 11 May
The O2
Thursday 18 May
       

Players

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The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2017 PDC World Darts Championship final on 2 January 2017, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards – two chosen by Sky Sports and four by the PDC.

Previous PDC wildcards Robert Thornton and Michael Smith were dropped in favour of Jelle Klaasen and Kim Huybrechts. The 2017 edition marks the first time in which the six-time champion Phil Taylor appears as a wildcard entry, having finished outside the Order of Merit places. It is also the first Premier League without a player making his debut in the competition.

Player Appearance in
Premier League
Consecutive
Streak
Order of Merit
Rank
Previous best performance Qualification
  Michael van Gerwen 5th 5 1 Winner (2013, 2016) PDC Order of Merit
  Gary Anderson 7th 7 2 Winner (2011, 2015) PDC Order of Merit
  Peter Wright 4th 4 3 5th (2014, 2016) PDC Order of Merit
  Adrian Lewis 10th 8 4 Runner-up (2011) PDC Order of Merit
  James Wade 9th 3 5 Winner (2009) PDC Wildcard
  Phil Taylor 13th 13 6 Winner (2005–2008, 2010, 2012) Sky Sports Wildcard
  Dave Chisnall 4th 4 7 Semi-finals (2015) PDC Wildcard
  Jelle Klaasen 2nd 1 9 7th (2009) PDC Wildcard
  Raymond van Barneveld 12th 12 10 Winner (2014) Sky Sports Wildcard
  Kim Huybrechts 2nd 1 13 10th (2015) PDC Wildcard

Prize money

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The prize-money was increased to £825,000 from £725,000 in 2016.[2]

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

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[3]

Play-offs – 18 May

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  The O2 Arena, London

Score
[21]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Michael van Gerwen  
102.22
10–7   Gary Anderson
102.68
Peter Wright  
100.04
10–9   Phil Taylor
97.62
Final (best of 21 legs)
Michael van Gerwen  
104.76
11–10   Peter Wright
101.06
Night's Total Average: 101.4
Highest Checkout:   Gary Anderson 160
Most 180s:   Michael van Gerwen 13
Night's 180s: 35

Table and streaks

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Table

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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 Pld W D L Pts LF LA +/- LWAT 100+ 140+ 180s A[22] HC C%
1   Michael van Gerwen W 16 10 4 2 24 102 70 +32 34 174 154 54 104.92 170 40.54%
2   Peter Wright RU 16 10 3 3 23 98 68 +30 30 203 144 46 98.86 156 38.89%
3   Phil Taylor 16 8 3 5 19 92 85 +7 32 206 133 37 98.15 142 40.17%
4   Gary Anderson 16 7 4 5 18 91 79 +12 35 192 127 53 102.16 170 39.91%
5   Dave Chisnall 16 6 4 6 16 82 87 −5 25 166 107 65 99.76 160 39.47%
6   Raymond van Barneveld 16 6 2 8 14 79 89 −10 26 186 131 58 98.69 156 37.09%
7   James Wade 16 5 3 8 13 82 95 −13 23 278 133 28 95.29 121 37.36%
8   Adrian Lewis 16 6 1 9 13 76 90 −14 25 197 122 46 96.84 170 36.89%
9   Jelle Klaasen 9 1 1 7 3 42 58 −16 15 120 51 19 92.30 152 34.71%
10   Kim Huybrechts 9 0 3 6 3 37 60 −23 11 93 70 24 95.58 140 34.58%

Last updated: 12 May 2017
Source: Match reports from the results section.

Top four qualified for the Play-offs after Week 15.
NB: LWAT = Legs won against throw. A = Average C% = Checkout percentage HC = High checkout. C = Champion

RU = Runner-up

Streaks

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Player Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9 Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 15 Play-offs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 SF F
  Michael van Gerwen D W W D DNP W W W L W W D W D W L W W W
  Peter Wright W L W D W W W L W† D D L W W W W W L
  Phil Taylor W D W D D L L W W W L W L L W W L
  Gary Anderson D W L D D W L W W L D W L W W L L
  Dave Chisnall L L W L W W L L DNP L D D W W D W D Eliminated
  Raymond van Barneveld W D L D L W W W W L W L L L L L
  James Wade W D W D L L W L L L L W L W L D
  Adrian Lewis L W L D L W W W L W W L L L L L
  Jelle Klaasen L L L W D L L L L Eliminated
  Kim Huybrechts L D L D D L L L L†
Legend: W Win D Draw L Loss DNP Did not play Awarded by forfeit Eliminated

Positions by Week

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Player Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9 Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
  Michael van Gerwen 5 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Peter Wright 2 7 4 4 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
  Phil Taylor 1 1 2 2 1 4 7 6 5 4 5 3 4 4 3
  Gary Anderson 6 3 5 5 6 3 6 4 4 5 3 4 3 3 4
  Dave Chisnall 10 10 8 10 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 5 5
  Raymond van Barneveld 3 4 6 6 7 6 4 3 3 3 4 5 5 6 6
  James Wade 4 5 3 3 4 5 3 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 7
  Adrian Lewis 7 6 7 7 8 8 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 7 8
  Jelle Klaasen 9 9 10 9 10 10 10 9 9 Eliminated
  Kim Huybrechts 8 8 9 8 9 9 9 10 10

References

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  1. ^ "Premier League Darts: Michael Van Gerwen beats Peter Wright to win third title". BBC Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Record Prize Money On Offer In 2017". PDC. 19 December 2016.
  3. ^ "2017 Betway Premier League Fixtures". PDC. 16 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Betway Premier League Night One". PDC. 2 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Two". PDC. 9 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Three". PDC. 16 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Four". PDC. 23 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Five". PDC. 2 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Injured Van Gerwen Misses Exeter". PDC. 1 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Six". PDC. 9 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Seven". PDC. 16 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Eight". PDC. 23 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Nine". PDC. 30 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Huybrechts To Miss Cardiff Night". PDC. 30 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Betway Premier League Night Ten". PDC. 6 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Betway Premier League Night 11". PDC. 13 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Betway Premier League Night 12". PDC. 20 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Betway Premier League Night 13". PDC. 27 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Betway Premier League Night 14". PDC. 4 May 2017.
  20. ^ "Betway Premier League Night 15". PDC. 11 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Stunning Final-Leg Glory For Van Gerwen". PDC. 18 May 2017.
  22. ^ "2017 Premier League Stats: Tournament Average". Retrieved 2 February 2017.
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