Premier League Darts LIVE RESULTS: Aspinall WINS in Aberdeen as Luke Littler secures top spot and Price hit nine-darter
NATHAN Aspinall boosted his chances at finishing in the top four as he WON night 15 of Premier League Darts.
Luke Littler secured his place at the top of the Premier League Darts table on night 15, beating Luke Humphries to move too far away from 'Cool Hand.'
He eventually lost against Chris Dobey in the semi-final.
Gerwyn Price set history by hitting a nine-dart finish, setting a new Premier League Darts record.
Michael van Gerwen dropped to fifth spot with one week of action to go, as Nathan Aspinall picked up FIVE crucial points in nightly win, eliminating MVG in the process
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Gerwyn Price 2-1 Stephen Bunting
Price leaves 73 and Bunting leaves 72.
The bad news for Bunting is Price gets first go at his and checks out using three darts in hand for the hold of throw.
And lets out a huge roar in the process!
Gerwyn Price 1-1 Stephen Bunting
Good leg from Bunting with Price back on 280 as Bunting takes out a 76 checkout to level it up.
Strangely, it looks on the naked eye that he's playing a lot better than Price despite the level scoreline and not an awful lot happening.
Gerwyn Price 1-0 Stephen Bunting
Some good darts thrown - some absolute stinkers too.
But Price won't care too much as he holds throw despite darts missed at D12, D6 and D3.
Bunting can't punish him when missing a dart at tops in the previous visit.
Game on!
Gerwyn Price will throw first...
Match two
Speaking of which, here come Price and Bunting for match two!
Bunting playing to try and not finish bottom of the table, while Price is already qualified for finals night.
Real chance now
Aspinall plays the winner of Gerwyn Price vs Stephen Bunting in tonight's semi final.
A win there would take him two points clear of Van Gerwen in the table, meaning the Dutch legend would need to win two matches at least next week.
Still work to do then for Aspinall but THIS was the match he needed to win.
Super Nathan Aspinall is into the top four!
Michael van Gerwen 3-6 Nathan Aspinall
A monumental victory for Nathan Aspinall in his 02 hopes and done in some style!
Even after missing three match darts, he manages to pin the D20 with his next throw and you can see as he punches the air to the crowd how big that is.
Michael van Gerwen 3-5 Nathan Aspinall
Simple hold for Van Gerwen as Aspinall just throws one at the board when back over 300.
Good shooting from Van Gerwen to only need four darts from 216 to win the leg.
Michael van Gerwen 2-5 Nathan Aspinall
And a superb hold of throw, with some comfort I might add!
Leaving 90, Aspinall hits 7 by mistake but T17 and D16 later and he's one away from victory!
Van Gerwen needs to win four straight legs!
Michael van Gerwen 2-4 Nathan Aspinall
WHAT A BREAK OF THROW, ASPINALL!
A horror visit from Van Gerwen at the wrong time, on 164 and only manages to leave 129.
He might well be back with Aspinall on 140, having hit a 180 to leave that.
Until the Englishman pins T20 - T20 - D10 for a superb checkout of 140!
Michael van Gerwen 2-3 Nathan Aspinall
"Boooyaaa!" The shout from MVG after a huge break of throw!
Aspinall misses darts at D10 and D5 for the hold and Van Gerwen comes back for 65 and with two darts at tops, he takes a long time on the second attempt before finding the centre of the bed and punching the air.
Huge!
Michael van Gerwen 1-3 Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall misses a dart at tops for a 4-0 lead and a double break!
MVG had missed a dart at bullseye in his previous visit and comes back for 25 which he takes out on D8 with his third dart.
Michael van Gerwen 0-3 Nathan Aspinall
Dramatic third leg!
Aspinall with terrific set-up play to leave 41 and looks set to come back for it with MVG on 154.
But Van Gerwen hits T20, T20 and comes an inch or so away on the D17 to wrapping it up. Aspinall needs all three darts to check out the 41 but does so for the hold.
Michael van Gerwen 0-2 Nathan Aspinall
A 12-dart BREAK OF THROW for Aspinall! Stunning again.
He actually moves ahead in the leg and leaves 81 with MVG back on 228.
The Dutchman pins a 180 to pile the pressure on the 81 from The Asp but he finds T19 and then the D12 comes with his second dart at it.
Michael van Gerwen 0-1 Nathan Aspinall
Beauty of a start from Aspinall with a fabulous hold!
The pair are nip-and-tuck throughout the leg with neither man establishing a sizeable lead.
Aspinall leaves 70 and MVG follows to leave 84 but a superb two-dart combo - T18, D8 - sees Aspinall hold.
Michael van Gerwen 0-0 Nathan Aspinall
Nathan Aspinall to throw first in the opening leg.
How important might that be...
GAME ON!
Here they come
Great reception for both players - both with very different demeanours...
Aspinall all smiles bounding down the walkway and high-fiving the crowd.
MVG with that stern look of focus. Both men with a steely look as they embrace on the stage too.
Huge half hour or so ahead.
Huge opener
It's a monster of a first game tonight. Huge.
Is it winner takes all between Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen? Potentially.
Either way, they'll both see it as must-win!
Scottish welcome
A huge Scottish welcome for Emma Paton as she opens up the TV coverage of tonight's action.
It's a nice, big arena in Aberdeen and the atmosphere should hopefully really pick up.
Favourite's chance
No surprises to see Luke Littler top the betting to win tonight.
The bookmakers also a little cautious with their big prices for the outsiders after a couple of big priced winners in the last few weeks.
No surprises to see that unfold here either...
Night Winner:
- Luke Littler - 15/8
- Luke Humphries - 4/1
- Gerwyn Price - 11/2
- Michael van Gerwen - 13/2
- Stephen Bunting - 9/1
- Chris Dobey - 11/1
- Nathan Aspinall - 11/1
- Rob Cross - 11/1
*Odds provided by .
Order of play
Just under 10 minutes until the TV coverage gets going in Aberdeen.
Here's how the matches are starting out tonight:
- Michael van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall - 7.15pm
- Gerwyn Price vs Stephen Bunting - 7.45pm
- Chris Dobey vs Rob Cross - 8.15pm
- Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries - 8.45pm
The winner of Van Gerwen / Aspinall faces Price or Bunting and the winner of Dobey vs Cross faces one of the Lukes.
Prize money
Here's a quick look at the prize money - many might see the tournament as being over for some players but the thought of £35,000 in two weeks would certainly be enough to get me motivated to play.
- Winner - £275,000
- Runner-up - £125,000
- Semi-finalists (x2) - £85,000
- Fifth place - £75,000
- Sixth place - £70,000
- Seventh place - £65,000
- Eighth place - £60,0000
- Nightly win bonus - £10,000
Too little, too late
Stephen Bunting started this year's Premier League darts in awful fashion, losing his first eight matches in a row.
While the record books will put that down as one of the worst showings in the competition, Bunting was unlucky in a number of losses.
He averaged over 100 in four of those defeats - including a ridiculous 104.89 in a loss to Littler on Night 4 (when Littler averaged 112.34).
After his Night 9 win, Bunting also reached the final on Night 11 but poor showings the next two weeks saw him KO'd.
Bunting can still finish as high as fifth, which would mean the difference between £60,000 for eighth and £75,000.
There's also £20,000 still to earn for two nightly winners.
Credit: AFP Instant KO
Rob Cross and Chris Dobey face each other in their first round match tonight with it all to play for.
While both face a tall order to reach the final four, whoever loses tonight will have their elimination confirmed.
Dobey must take nightly wins both tonight and next Thursday to qualify, while Cross needs at least one win and another decent performance.
Credit: Alex Young/Every Second Media High Voltage
Rob Cross remains an outsider to finish in the top four despite a lack of nightly wins this season.
He and Van Gerwen are the only players not to take home a £10,000 bonus for a nightly win this season, although Cross is the only player not to reach a final at all.
Van Gerwen has two final losses.
But Cross is still fighting as he has been more consistent than Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting, despite those players having a nightly win each.
Cross also has a higher average than all except Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, but just can't seem to get over the hump in the semis.
Credit: PA