Premier League Darts: Week 2

The second week of Premier League darts was in the Capital FM Trent Arena, Nottingham. In 2008 it witnessed a record 44 180s in a single night and last night it witnessed fourteen ton plus finishes in the four games, with nearly thirty 180s.

Up first was Whitlock against Van Barneveld, both players were looking to bounce back after their defeats from last week. Whitlock wasn't at the races again for the first three legs but still took out 140 in the third to make it 2-1. Barney managed to extend his lead in the sixth leg with a 116 finish to make it 4-2 at the break. After the break Barney won the next two legs which included a 160 in the seventh before Whitlock found tops to make it 6-3. From there the Dutchman continued his best darts for a long time with a 156 finish in the tenth followed by a 141 in the eleventh to thrash Whitlock 8-3.

Lewis was looking to build from his spectacular victory over Taylor last week while his opponent Wade was looking to bounce back after his defeat against Webster. The first seven legs all went with throw with the highlights coming from Lewis with a 100 checkout in the fourth followed by a 121 in the sixth, but he was still 4-3 behind. Wade secured the crucial break of throw in the eighth with a 102 of his own before consolidating his lead at 6-3. Lewis pulled another leg back but Wade soon guaranteed himself his first point of the tournament with a 141. Lewis gave it one last shot by winning the twelfth and thirteenth legs to make it 7-6 but Wade fought back to win the last leg against the throw with a 136 checkout to win 8-6.

Phil Taylor was also looking to bounce back after his worst ever defeat last. His opponent was Webster but he felt the Power as Taylor took the first three legs. It could have been 4-0 with Taylor waiting on a double but Webster pulled out a 170 finish from nowhere. He kept biting at Taylor's ankles and managed a 160 finish in the eighth leg to make it 5-3 Taylor. But Taylor remained in control and saw out the match 8-5.

The final match of the night saw Jenkins take on Anderson with both players looking to win their second consecutive matches. The first three legs all went against throw but Anderson held it in the fourth to make it 3-1. Jenkins took a Shanghai 120 in the sixth to make it 4-2 going into the break and won the first leg following it to go within one of Anderson. But Anderson firmly shut the door by winning the next three legs to guarantee a point. Jenkins tried to comeback by taking the eleventh leg but Anderson wasn't going to be denied the win and won the final leg in style, by taking out a 127. After two weeks Anderson leads the table with two wins from two. The rest of the pack are all on two points except the out of sorts Whitlock who is yet to score his first points of the tournament.