2020 Premier League Darts

2020 Unibet Premier League Darts
	Winner
	Runner-up
	Score
	Dates
	6 February–15 October 2020
	Edition
	16th
	Number of players
	9 (plus 9 guests)
	Venues;
	16
	Nine Dart Finish
	Michael Smith
	Premier League Darts;
	< 2019 \| 2020 \| 2021 >

The 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts is an ongoing darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the sixteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February at the P&J Live in Aberdeen and will end with the Play-offs at the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield on Thursday 15 October, after a delay was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Michael van Gerwen is the four-time defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the 2019 final.

On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the double-header due to be played in Rotterdam had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.[1] The following day it was announced that the Rotterdam dates would be moved to September, with the culmination of the tournament taking place there instead of London.[2] On 16 March 2020 it was announced the round to be played in Newcastle would be moved to October, taking over as the tournament's final round.

The May dates were postponed on 9 April 2020, with the PDC announcing a fully rescheduled calendar, the play-offs now taking place in Sheffield.[3]

Format

The tournament format will remain the same as 2019, with the only difference being the re-branding of 'contenders' to 'challengers' for this season.[4]

Phase 1: In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.

Phase 2: In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.

Play-off Night: The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

Venues

The only change of venues from 2019 to 2020 was the introduction of the P&J Live in Aberdeen, which hosted the opening night's action.[5]

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the double header in Rotterdam originally scheduled for Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 March was postponed, and moved to Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September, with the play-offs now being held on in Sheffield.

Locations of the 2020 Premier League venues in the U.K. and Ireland.

Berlin

Rotterdam

Other locations of the 2020 Premier League venues in Europe.

Aberdeen	Nottingham	Cardiff	Dublin
P&J Live Thursday 6 February	Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 13 February	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 20 February	3Arena Thursday 27 February

Exeter	Liverpool	Birmingham	Belfast
Westpoint Arena Thursday 5 March	M&S Bank Arena Thursday 12 March	Arena Birmingham Thursday 30 July	SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 13 August

London	Leeds	Berlin	Rotterdam
The O₂ Arena Thursday 20 August	First Direct Arena Thursday 27 August	Mercedes Benz Arena Thursday 3 September	Rotterdam Ahoy Wednesday 9 & Thursday 10 September

Glasgow	Manchester	Newcastle	Sheffield
SSE Hydro Thursday 17 September	Manchester Arena Thursday 24 September	Utilita Arena Thursday 1 October	Sheffield Arena Thursday 15 October

Prize money

The prize money for the 2020 tournament remained at £825,000.

Stage	Prize Money
Winner	£250,000
Runner-up	£120,000
Semi-finalists (x2)	£80,000
5th place	£70,000
6th place	£60,000
7th place	£55,000
8th place	£50,000
9th place	£35,000

League Winner Bonus	£25,000

Total	£825,000

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by five wildcards.[4]

Player	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit Rank on 1/1/20	Previous best performance	Qualification
Michael van Gerwen	8th	8	1	Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)	PDC Order of Merit
Peter Wright	7th	7	2	Runner-up (2017)	PDC Order of Merit
Gerwyn Price	3rd	3	3	5th (2019)	PDC Order of Merit
Rob Cross	3rd	3	4	Runner-up (2019)	PDC Order of Merit
Michael Smith	4th	3	5	Runner-up (2018)	Wildcard
Gary Anderson	9th	1	6	Winner (2011, 2015)	Wildcard
Daryl Gurney	3rd	3	7	Semi-final (2019)	Wildcard
Nathan Aspinall	1st[lower-alpha 1]	1	8	Debut	Wildcard
Glen Durrant	1st[lower-alpha 1]	1	22	Debut	Wildcard

The format is similar to that of 2019, with 9 main players plus 9 invited players, now referred to as 'challengers' in a re-brand from the tag of 'contenders'. The 9 main players earn league points if they win or draw against the challengers. The challengers do not earn any league points but they earn financial bonuses if they win or draw their match.[4]

Player	Venue	Order of Merit Rank on 1/1/20
John Henderson	Aberdeen	31
Fallon Sherrock	Nottingham	91 [lower-alpha 2]
Jonny Clayton	Cardiff	16
William O'Connor	Dublin	37
Luke Humphries	Exeter	35
Stephen Bunting	Liverpool	17
Chris Dobey	~~Newcastle~~Birmingham TBC	19
Jeffrey de Zwaan	~~Rotterdam (25 March)~~Belfast TBC	20
Jermaine Wattimena	~~Rotterdam (26 March)~~London TBC	23

Competed in 2019 Premier League Darts as a contender.
Not a PDC Tour Card holder following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship

League stage

Players in italics are "Challengers", and only play on that night.

6 February – Week 1 (Phase 1)

P&J Live, Aberdeen

	Score
Michael Smith 95.41	3 – 7	Glen Durrant 95.01
Gary Anderson 94.71	7 – 5	Daryl Gurney 91.65
Michael van Gerwen 104.13	7 – 5	Peter Wright 97.71
Nathan Aspinall 89.19	7 – 3	John Henderson 81.93
Gerwyn Price 95.86	6 – 6	Rob Cross 100.10
Night's Average: 94.57[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Nathan Aspinall 170
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright 4
Night's 180s: 25

13 February – Week 2 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Nottingham

	Score
Rob Cross 94.71	7 – 5	Nathan Aspinall 95.48
Gerwyn Price 98.11	6 – 6	Michael Smith 101.71
Gary Anderson 95.58	6 – 6	Peter Wright 88.72
Glen Durrant 92.21	6 – 6	Fallon Sherrock 87.36
Daryl Gurney 93.92	1 – 7	Michael van Gerwen 105.05
Night's Average: 95.29[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 140
Most 180s: Peter Wright 6
Night's 180s: 27

20 February – Week 3 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff

	Score
Peter Wright 101.95	7 – 5	Rob Cross 90.13
Jonny Clayton 97.44	1 – 7	Michael Smith 105.51
Michael van Gerwen 97.61	5 – 7	Nathan Aspinall 101.12
Daryl Gurney 97.46	6 – 6	Gerwyn Price 93.70
Glen Durrant 97.24	7 – 4	Gary Anderson 96.89
Night's Average: 97.91[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 167
Most 180s: Four players 3
Night's 180s: 21

27 February – Week 4 (Phase 1)

3Arena, Dublin

	Score
Glen Durrant 92.81	5 – 7	Nathan Aspinall 93.82
Rob Cross 91.36	5 – 7	Gary Anderson 97.77
Daryl Gurney 85.98	5 – 7	Michael Smith 88.19
William O'Connor 95.31	4 – 7	Michael van Gerwen 97.62
Gerwyn Price 98.75	7 – 1	Peter Wright 83.59
Night's Average: 92.52[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Glen Durrant 144
Most 180s: Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney 4
Night's 180s: 22
Nine Dart Finish: Michael Smith

5 March – Week 5 (Phase 1)

Westpoint Arena, Exeter

	Score
Rob Cross 98.55	6 – 6	Daryl Gurney 94.88
Gerwyn Price 96.68	3 – 7	Glen Durrant 100.76
Nathan Aspinall 99.67	3 – 7	Peter Wright 110.00
Gary Anderson 87.76	5 – 7	Luke Humphries 88.67
Michael Smith 95.42	7 – 4	Michael van Gerwen 99.43
Night's Average: 97.18[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 134
Most 180s: Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson 4
Night's 180s: 26

12 March – Week 6 (Phase 1)

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

	Score
Michael Smith 94.00	4 – 7	Peter Wright 100.78
Daryl Gurney 95.43	5 – 7	Glen Durrant 95.39
Gerwyn Price 98.07	5 – 7	Michael van Gerwen 106.27
Rob Cross 90.14	6 – 6	Stephen Bunting 91.25
Gary Anderson 94.27	6 – 6	Nathan Aspinall 107.64
Night's Average: 97.32[lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout: Gerwyn Price 157
Most 180s: Nathan Aspinall 8
Night's 180s: 37

30 July – Week 7 (Phase 1)

Arena Birmingham, Birmingham

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

13 August – Week 8 (Phase 1)

SSE Arena, Belfast

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

20 August – Week 9 (Phase 1) (Judgement Night)

The O₂ Arena, London

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

27 August – Week 10 (Phase 2)

First Direct Arena, Leeds

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

3 September – Week 11 (Phase 2)

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

9 September – Week 12A (Phase 2)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

10 September – Week 12B (Phase 2)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

17 September – Week 13 (Phase 2)

SSE Hydro, Glasgow

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

24 September – Week 14 (Phase 2)

Manchester Arena, Manchester

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

1 October – Week 15 (Phase 2)

Utilita Arena, Newcastle

	Score
	–
	–
	–
	–
Night's Average: [lower-alpha 1]
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

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

Play-offs – 15 October

FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield

	Score
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
	–
	–
Final (best of 21 legs)
	–
Night's Total Average:
Highest Checkout:
Most 180s:
Night's 180s:

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.

The nine challengers are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.

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	Pts	Matches				Legs				Scoring
#	Name	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A	HC	C%
1	Glen Durrant	9	6	4	1	1	39	28	+11	15	82	54	6	95.57	144	43.68
2	Michael van Gerwen	8	6	4	0	2	37	29	+8	12	85	44	18	101.69	144	51.39
3	Michael Smith	7	6	3	1	2	34	30	+4	11	76	40	17	96.71	167	39.53
4	Nathan Aspinall	7	6	3	1	2	35	33	+2	11	69	42	20	97.82	170	41.67
5	Peter Wright	7	6	3	1	2	33	32	+1	10	70	49	22	97.13	157	43.42
6	Gary Anderson	6	6	2	2	2	35	36	−1	10	87	50	20	94.50	122	36.08
7	Gerwyn Price	5	6	1	3	2	33	33	0	9	82	31	16	96.86	157	41.25
8	Rob Cross	5	6	1	3	2	35	37	−2	14	76	46	17	94.17	128	41.18
9	Daryl Gurney	2	6	0	2	4	28	40	−12	9	72	51	13	93.22	144	38.36

(Q) = Qualified For The Playoffs (E) = Eliminated From Playoff Contention

Streaks

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9									Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 15							Play-offs
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15A	15B	SF	F
Glen Durrant	W	D	W	L	W	W
Michael van Gerwen	W	W	L	W	L	W
Michael Smith	L	D	W	W	W	L
Nathan Aspinall	W	L	W	W	L	D
Peter Wright	L	D	W	L	W	W
Gary Anderson	W	D	L	W	L	D
Gerwyn Price	D	D	D	W	L	L
Rob Cross	D	W	L	L	D	D
Daryl Gurney	L	L	D	L	D	L
Challengers	L	D	L	L	W	D				N/A

Legend:	W	Win	D	Draw	L	Loss	—	Eliminated

Positions by Week

Player	Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9									Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 15
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15A	15B
Glen Durrant	1	2	1	4	1	1
Michael van Gerwen	4	1	2	1	3	2
Michael Smith	9	8	4	5	2	3
Nathan Aspinall	2	5	3	2	4	4
Peter Wright	8	7	7	8	7	5
Gary Anderson	3	4	8	6	6	6
Gerwyn Price	6	6	6	3	5	7
Rob Cross	5	3	5	7	8	8
Daryl Gurney	7	9	9	9	9	9

References

External links

PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website
PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website, Tournaments

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[fn1-6] Competed in 2019 Premier League Darts as a contender.

[7] Not a PDC Tour Card holder following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship

[fn1-8] Please note these are not calculated properly and are not indicative of actual averages for each night.

[1] ttps://www.pdc.tv/news/2020/03/12/rotterdam-double-header-postponed

[2] ttps://www.pdc.tv/news/2020/03/13/rotterdam-double-header-moved-september

[3] ttps://www.pdc.tv/news/2020/04/09/unibet-premier-leagues-may-dates-moved

[Challengers-4] Phillips, Josh. "2020 Premier League to feature 'Challengers'". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

[5] ttp://www.pdc.tv/news/2019/09/09/2020-unibet-premier-league-dates-confirmed