The BIC, Bournemouth, witnessed the third staging of the 2013 Darts Premier League and there were changes to the table. After two convincing wins, Raymond Van Barneveld fell victim to playing Michael Van Gerwen rather than the board, although Van Gerwen played very well throughout, to give the younger Dutchman his first victory of the competition and remain unbeaten. Phil Taylor goes top after thrashing Simon Whitlock to also remain unbeaten while a second draw for Robert Thornton sees still to lose as Wes Newton threw away the opportunity for his first victory. But the draw for Newton means that Adrian Lewis is now the only player still searching for his first point of the competition.
It was Lewis who kicked the night off against his old enemy, James Wade. Thankfully there were no shenanigans like in their recent meetings as both players did their talking on the board. The start was rather cagey and it took Lewis six attempts to level the match at 1-1. He then crucially missed two darts to break the throw and Wade punished him by cruising into a 4-1 lead. Wade missed the double for a 124-checkout to guarantee himself a point, keeping Lewis in it at 5-3. The point was secured in the following leg before Wade then missed his favourite double ten to take out 140 and win the match 7-3, which would have been the third defeat by that scoreline for Lewis. But Wade remained unfazed and again took the following leg to win 7-4 for his second victory of the tournament. This leaves in turmoil and will feature in a must win 'six pointer' against Newton next week.
After a nervy opening couple of weeks in Newton's debut Premier League, he finally managed to bag himself a point to go above Lewis. Newton looked like his usual self at the start, quickly taking a 2-0 lead. Thornton pulled a leg back with the fourth attempt at the double before a 111-checkout regained Newton's two leg lead. Thornton wasn't to be outdone and responded with a classy 114-checkout only to watch Newton make it 4-2 with a fantastic 134-checkout. Thornton made it 4-3 before missing three darts to level the match and a Shanghai 120-checkout from Newton earned his first point and looked to be heading for his first win at 6-3. The Warrior then missed a dart at double to take the victory and a further two legs saw Thornton somehow manage to steal a draw and remain unbeaten.
The 16-time World Champion is back on familiar territory with another big victory over Whitlock, who didn't play as bad as the scoreline suggests. A magnificent 140-checkout from the Wizard levelled the match at 1-1. The first three legs all went against throw before Taylor found a 127-checkout to hold and go 3-1 in front. Taylor then missed two darts to make it 4-1 as Whitlock was able to pull one back. But that would be the last leg Whitlock won in the match as Taylor didn't give him a sniff. He reeled off the next three legs to guarantee the point before Whitlock missed three darts to pull a leg back, giving Taylor the 7-2 victory.
The battle of Dutchmen didn't quite live up to its billing as Barney seemed to play Van Gerwen rather the board for most of the match. But take nothing away from Van Gerwen as he produced some magnificent darts at times and well deserved his first win of the tournament. Van Gerwen missed three darts to go 2-0 up, allowing Van Barneveld to level with an 86-checkout on the bull. Barney returned the favour by missing a dart to break the throw and go ahead before missing the bull in the fifth leg to go 3-2 in front. It continued to happen for Van Barneveld as he went on to miss another two darts to level the match for the third time but Van Gerwen then gifted the seventh leg to his elder by missing three darts of his own, making it 4-3 to Van Gerwen. Then the young man suddenly flicked a switched and he had now taken a 6-3 lead using just 20-darts shared equally. Barney missed another three darts to keep himself in the game and Van Gerwen gleefully took the 7-3 victory.
It was another tale of disaster doubles for Gary Anderson against Andy Hamilton in the final match of the night. The Scot missed a total of 16-darts and blew the opportunity to earn a point. Prior to the match, Anderson looked relatively pleased as his doubles were going in on the practice board and he no trouble winning the opening leg. But he then missed two darts to make it 2-0 and this took a lot out Anderson and he didn't really recover. Hamilton smelt the blood and surged into a 4-1 lead before posting a 152-checkout, the highest so far in the league this year, to make it 5-2. Hamilton then missed three darts to gain a point and Anderson made it 5-5 with his seventh attempt at the double after Hamilton missed a further three chances. The Hammer finally gave himself a point with his third attempt in the 11th leg and it should have finished 6-6 but Anderson missed another three crucial attempts at the double to give Hamilton both of the points. Table after week three:
1. Phil Taylor 5 +9
2. Raymond Van Barneveld 4 +4
3. Michael Van Gerwen 4 +4
4. Andy Hamilton 4 +3
5. James Wade 4 +3
6. Robert Thornton 4 +2
7. Gary Anderson 2 -3
8. Simon Whitlock 2 -3
9. Wes Newton 1 -8
10. Adrian Lewis 0 -11
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