Fifteen weeks of gruelling, arrow flinging contest began tonight with eight of the top darts players battling for the Premier League crown. Manchester hosted the opening night and it began with debutant Andy Hamilton against James Wade. Gary Anderson won the league last year in his debut year so Hamilton and fellow debutant Kevin Painter will look to do the same.
Commentator Sid Waddell was back behind the microphone after his recent cancer scare and witnessed Hamilton take a 1-0 lead with a 74-checkout. Hamilton then hit the first 180 of the 2012 Premier League, but it didn't prevent Wade from levelling the match. The Machine then hit a 121-checkout on the bull to again level the match at 2-2. Wade saved himself from having his throw broken by making a 126-checkout, again on the bull, to make it 3-3 going into the break. The first break of throw came straight after the interval with Wade taking a 4-3 lead with a 61-checkout but Hamilton instantly broke back to equalise. The Hammer finally broke daylight between the players by breaking Wade again to lead 6-4. Hamilton then held his nerve to make it four legs in a row and guaranteed himself at least a point. Hamilton completed a dream debut with double tops to beat Wade 8-5. Wade started lasted year with three losses and he will hoping that doesn't manifest itself again this time around.
The second game of the night saw Simon Whitlock face Raymond Van Barneveld. The pair last week in the World Cup with Whitlock winning it 4-2. The first two legs went with throw before Barney broke Whitlock to take a 2-1 lead at the fourth time of asking. The fourth leg saw five 140s between the players but they then both hit the wrong double before Barney took a 3-1 lead. The pair then both held their throws to make it 4-2 going into the adverts. Whitlock levelled the match courtesy of a couple of 180s to put the match back on throw. The Australian then took the lead for the first time since the opening leg as he was able to hold his throw. Whitlock then made it 6-5 on the sixth time of asking after Barney missed a crucial dart a double-16. It was the same double that prevented Barney from equalising as Whitlock guaranteed himself at least a point at 7-5. The Dutchman then managed to hold his throw before hitting double eight to secure the first draw of this year's Premier League. It does end Barney's 100% record at the MEN Arena but the draw was fully deserved.
Defending champion, Gary Anderson, began his defence against debutant Kevin Painter. Painter's first darts of his Premier League scored 180 and went on to win the leg courtesy of a 74-checkout and then broke Anderson to lead 2-0. The Artist then hit a 134-checkout to take remarkable 4-0 lead over a disappointing Scotsman. Anderson missed his first two doubles of the match in the fifth leg as Painter took out 144 to almost certainly give Painter his dream debut. Anderson finally took his first leg, after eleven attempts to make it 5-1 as they headed off stage. The break looked to have been kind to Anderson as he managed to pull it back to 5-3. But the Scot again missed darts at the double as Painter extended the lead again. Painter's nerves finally got the better of him and Anderson was able to come back to level at 6-6, with two doubles ones, two doubles twos and a double five. But The Artist guaranteed himself a debut point with a fantastic 128-check-out before sealing the match with a 50-checkout. This means that both débutantes won their games to be at the top of the table.
This time last year, newly crowned World Champion, Adrian Lewis, thrashed Phil Taylor 8-2. This time around, the pair are fresh off the back of winning the World Cup last week. The current back-to-back World Champion took out 138 to secure an early break of throw against Taylor. Lewis then found an easier tops to secure a second break of throw to make it 4-0 against a good playing Taylor. The Power finally held his throw with his second double of the match, after having previously missed his first in that leg, making the score 5-1 going into the break. But Taylor was able to pull it back to 6-4 as the momentum began to shift before levelling the match up. Lewis stopped the five leg rot to guarantee himself at least a point but Taylor deserved a point for participating in a fantastic match and that's exactly what he got on the third time of asking.
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