The first phase of the 2013 Darts Premier League nears the half way point and Phil Taylor, Michael Van Gerwen and Robert Thornton all remain unbeaten after four matches. Three wins out of four also sees Raymond Van Barneveld level on points with those unbeaten. Wes Newton finally got his first ever Premier League win which leaves Adrian Lewis still searching for his first point of the competition and Gary Anderson drops into the relegation zone.
Anderson was involved in the first match in Exeter in the battle of Scotland against Thornton. The Thorn was rampant and quickly stormed into a 4-0 lead. Anderson's first shot at the double came in the fifth leg where he posted a 124-checkout via the bull to finally get a leg on the board. This didn't do anything to change the momentum and Thornton had quickly guaranteed a point to make sure he would remain undefeated. Anderson's second dart at a double came in the eighth leg where he scored a 104-checkout but Thornton would win the match in style with a 118-checkout, making it 7-2. Thornton also posted an average of 109.33 which is the highest of the tournament so far.
Van Gerwen was in fresh form after winning yet another Pro Tour event in Crawley at the weekend. He faced Andy Hamilton who took advantage of a slow start by the Dutchman to take the opening leg. Van Gerwen finally managed to equalise in the second leg at the fifth time of asking and that allowed him to settle. Four crucial missed darts from Hamilton put Van Gerwen 4-1 ahead before a ton checkout pulled a leg back for The Hammer. Again this didn't swing the momentum as Van Gerwen continued his assault and took the following three legs to also win 7-2. This victory means the Dutchman has now 25 of his last 26 matches in all competitions.
In a repeat of the 2010 Premier League final, James Wade took on Phil Taylor. Taylor had decided to change his darts the day before this event and seemed to take a while to get used to the thinner physique. Wade took the opening leg but missed a dart to break the throw and double his advantage. Taylor did manage to find a break in the fifth leg and managed to hold at the fifth time of asking to go 4-2 ahead. That soon became 5-3 before Taylor missed two darts to break for a second time and guarantee himself a point. At 6-4, many may have been forgiven for thinking Taylor would once again beat Wade but The Machine battled back to force a deciding leg before breaking The Power to earn a well deserved point.
For some, Lewis is already out of the tournament after failing to pick up a point now after four games and losing 7-3 in three of the four matches. It was a darting 'six-pointer' as Lewis faced Newton in the penultimate game of the night. Lewis tried finding two double tops to win the opening leg but four missed darts from Newton allowed Lewis to take it on double ten. The second leg again saw Lewis try to find two doubles to win the leg but this time it didn't work and Newton levelled to break back and more importantly level the match. From there, Newton surged in to a 4-1 lead before Lewis found a rare piece of brilliance with a 117-checkout. This also did nothing to change the game and Newton continued to go 6-2 in front and guarantee his second point of the competition. Two legs later and Newton consolidated that in to his victory to leave the beleaguered Lewis trailing without a point.
There's a real worry over the fitness of Van Barneveld who revealed in his post match interview that he is suffering blurred vision, possibly due to his diabetes. He said he couldn't see the trebles clearly, but he was extremely lucky for his darts to still find the target and comfortably beat Simon Whitlock who hit six 180s in the match. Barney was 2-0 up in no time and that became 3-1 when Whitlock missed two huge darts to level the match. A magnificent 116-checkout from the Dutchman put him three legs clear before he ended up missing two darts to make it 5-2. A double ten and double five helped Whitlock make it 4-3 and again he would miss two crucial darts to tie the match up. A 104-checkout secured a point for Van Barneveld before he wrapped the match up in the next leg to go level on points with the unbeaten trio. Table after week four:
1. Phil Taylor 6 +9
2. Michael Van Gerwen 6 +9
3. Raymond Van Barneveld 6 +8
4. Robert Thornton 6 +7
5. James Wade 5 +3
6. Andy Hamilton 4 -2
7. Wes Newton 3 -4
8. Simon Whitlock 2 -7
9. Gary Anderson 2 -8
10. Adrian Lewis 0 -15
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