Two Wins For Michael Van Gerwen sees him in full control of claiming the first place in the Premier League play-offs. With the first two players relegated last week, the beginning of two players playing two matches in one night started in Sheffield with Van Gerwen taking on James Wade. The Dutchman went in to the second game after condemning Phil Taylor to his fourth loss of the league, the first time that's ever happened to The Power in Premier League history, while Wade saw off his nemesis Adrian Lewis earlier on in the night.
Raymond Van Barneveld remained level on points with Wade, now with a game in hand over The Machine, after somehow seeing off the tenacious Andy Hamilton. But it's not all rosy for Van Barneveld though as he knows he has to travel to Dublin next week with the unenviable task of playing Van Gerwen and Taylor. The other match of the night saw Simon Whitlock keep his play-off chances alive with a crucial win over Robert Thornton.
The Australian slightly avenged his 7-1 defeat in Glasgow, week eight, against Thornton and it began by taking a 2-1 lead after losing the opening leg. But Thornton looked in the mood in the early going and he took the next three legs to make it 4-2. The Scot should have made it five but he uncharacteristically missed five darts at the double, allowing Whitlock back in to the leg before taking out 40. That changed the match and Whitlock took the lead after Thornton again missed a dart at the double. Both players ended up missing three darts in the tenth leg before Whitlock again took it to guarantee himself a point. The Wizard made it five legs in a row to win the game 7-4 and keep him afloat.
The win for Whitlock means that Lewis once again returns to the bottom of the league. A mixture of a 103.91 average from Wade and another poor display from Jackpot consummated in the defeat for Lewis. Wade was quick out of the blocks and he quickly took a 3-0 lead. Lewis managed to halt the damage for a leg before Wade extended his advantage to 5-1. Lewis won on his throw for the only time in the match in leg seven before Wade took the following two legs to win 7-2, boosting his legs difference whilst further damaging Lewis'.
Van Gerwen trumped that performance with a 104 average over Taylor and properly achieving what he should have achieved in the opening week when they drew. Taylor wasn't really in full flow and three missed darts in the second leg allowed Van Gerwen to take a 2-0 lead. Van Gerwen reciprocated the gift in the third leg by missing four darts of his own to make it 3-0. The gifts continued as Taylor unusually missed double ten and hit a single-15, opening the door for Van Gerwen to regain his three leg advantage. Van Gerwen then managed to make it 4-1 and 5-2 before missing five darts to secure a point in the eighth leg. There was no harm done though as the Dutchman earned the point in the next leg before managing to win 7-3 after Taylor missed a further two darts at the double.
Van Barneveld managed to make it two 7-5 victories over Hamilton after another hard fought match. It began a lot easier for the Dutchman as he took a 3-0 lead, Hamilton missed two darts in the second leg to level the match. It should have been 4-0 to Van Barneveld but he missed three darts to win the leg. But Hamilton couldn't maintain the momentum and missed four darts of his own in the fifth leg, making it 4-1 to Barney. The Hammer managed to respond with a great 124-checkout before a 90-checkout on the bull saw Hamilton turn the match around and lead 5-4. This time it was Van Barneveld's turn to change the match by taking the remaining three legs to squeeze past Hamilton with a huge sigh of relief.
After their impressive performances earlier on in the night, it was perhaps unsurprising to have a less than exciting match between Van Gerwen and Wade. You can tell how well both players played by noting that only three 180s were scored in the whole match. Wade may have played better but someone seemed to upset him the crowd and, after a long stare down followed by security moving in to the fans' area, he continued to practice despite being visibly rattled. That showed in the opening leg when Wade missed five darts to win it. Wade finally got on to the board in the third leg before he took the fifth leg to make it 3-2 to the Dutchman. Van Gerwen looked to find a breakthrough by taking legs six, seven and eight to guarantee himself a point. But Wade managed to respond by taking the following three legs to somehow force a deciding leg. Van Gerwen managed to hold his nerve though to win the final leg and move six points clear of the fifth placed Taylor. Table after ten weeks:
1. Michael Van Gerwen PL11 16 +22
2. James Wade PL11 14 +16
3. Raymond Van Barneveld PL10 14 +13
4. Robert Thornton PL10 11 +5
5. Phil Taylor PL10 10 +5
6. Andy Hamilton PL10 10 0
7. Simon Whitlock PL10 8 -12
8. Adrian Lewis PL10 7 -14
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