Eight players from five nations over two hemispheres all battle it out to become the 2011 Premier League Darts Champion. The top seven ranked players along with twelfth in the world Mark Webster will fight for fifteen weeks to become the prestigious champion.
Up first was the first of the debutants, Welshman Mark Webster as he took on 2009 Premier League champion James Wade. Both players started the match with a 180 which finished with Webster taking the leg with the throw, checking out a ton. All matches are best of fourteen legs so a draw is always possible and it was looking that way at the break at 3-3. But following from the break Webster powered past a beleaguered and off-colour Wade to win the next five legs, with a 101 check-out in the ninth leg, to win his first ever Premier League match 8-3.
The second of the debutants followed with World Championship runner-up, Scotsman Gary Anderson taking on the Wizard from Oz, Simon Whitlock. Anderson took full control of the match to lead 6-3 but Whitlock battled to 7-5. The thirteenth leg should have also been won by Whitlock but his doubles weren't with him all night and missed a further five here. This left Anderson to take out Shanghai, 120, to win the match 8-5.
Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld was looking to put his frustrating 2010 behind him with a winning start against Terry 'The Bull' Jenkins. It was a scrappy start but Jenkins took the initiative after losing the opening leg to lead 3-1. Barney battled back to then take the following four legs to take the lead for the first time since the opening leg. They then took it 6-6 before Barney lost his way to allow Jenkins to win the final two legs to win 8-6.
The O2 Arena erupted when the final game was announced to start; recently crowned World Champion Adrian Lewis was taking on his former mentor Phil Taylor. People have started to question Taylor after a recent dip in form and people have also questioned whether fame has gotten to Lewis' head, after finishing with his missus (the mother of their daughter) and merely pronounced Taylor as a long-time practice partner. Unfortunately Taylor was battling the flu on stage and despite winning the first leg, Lewis looked extremely comfortable while showing his prowess. There were no ton plus finishes but Lewis hit bull then double top for a cheeky 90 finish in the sixth leg to make it 4-2. Taylor couldn't perform and Lewis rocked the O2 with an 8-2 demolition of the Power.
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