Premier League Darts: Season review and play-off predictions from Paul Nicholson
The new Premier League Darts format hasn't been a disaster. It's been interesting to see how the players have coped with the increased number of matches. The influx of European Tour and World Series events on top of all the Premier league games has taken its toll.
This year's tournament was less exciting than previous years. The players were tired by the end of the night and the finals were disappointing. There were many repeat fixtures which took away the hype of certain match-ups. The tournament is geared more for the fans in the arenas than for those watching at home.
There has been criticism about the number of 80+ averages recorded by all players during the season. The format matches are so short that it is easy to slip down to those levels without playing too shabbily. There will be edgy games during such a long season so it's reasonable to expect them to be below par on several occasions. The seasonal averages range from 99.2 from Michael van Gerwen to 92.14 from Joe Cullen.
Gerwyn Price has never reached the play-offs in Premier League. Peter Wright won more first-round matches than James Wade and Joe Cullen. Joe won 14 matches overall, but he lost 7 semi-finals. Michael Smith has not won a major title. Paul Nicholson predicts that Price will win the Premier league. He also predicts Michael will do so. The season is over. It's time to review the season. For more information, visit PremierLeague.com. for more details. and for Paul's predictions, click here.
Gary Anderson may be retiring after this year's World Championship and have a farewell season in 2023. He was inconsistent and went home after one match on 13 occasions. He won in Nottingham and Barnsley but apart from that he's struggling to dominate on a regular basis.
Michael Smith finished sixth in Premier League this season. He won the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden and European Tour title. Since May 1st he had played 34 matches and won 29 of them. He had lost to MVG twice 6-5, Jonny Clayton, Danny Noppert and Rowby-John Rodriquez in the first round of European tour.
Jonny Clayton and Joe Cullen are in the semi-finals of the Premier League. They will play each other in Berlin on Monday night. Michael van Gerwen and James Wade are the other semi finals contenders. They are going to play for the title. The winner will be crowned the winner of both the Masters and Premier league. It will spark the ranking money debate again. Joe will not get past the Ferret. He will lose to Michael. Van Gerwen is injured and awaiting surgery. Wade is a bit rusty. His recent World Series win over MVG in Copenhagen suggests he will win. he is also a good away player.
Jonny hasn't won any titles since the start of 2021. He's been consistently reaching high standards. Jonny is going to win the title and collect £275,000. Peter Wright won the World Matchplay and World Championship double in that time.
