2012 Darts Premier League Thread

Kingp35 · 08-02-2012 3:05pm #1

So the Premier League is back on our screens tomorrow for a new season. i always enjoy the tournament at the start and lose interest near the end.

Anyway here are tomorrows fixtures:

Week One
February 9 - Manchester Arena
Andy Hamilton v James Wade
Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld
Kevin Painter v Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis v Phil Taylor

Will be interesting to see how Painter and Hamilton get on.

monkey9 · 08-02-2012 8:16pm

I think Simon Whitock might win this tournament. I'd love to see him do.

It annoys me that Barney is there. He doesn't seem to care at the moment and wants everyone to know it. I get it's good for ratings for the Dutch angle, but you could get Van Der Voort or someone in!

minty16 · 09-02-2012 5:35am

I think Hamilton could cause Wade problems tomorrow night. I'd imagine Wade will still be gutted from the World's, where as Hamilton will be trying very hard to prove himself on his debut. 5/2 is a very good price in this format.

Couldnt call a game involving Barney. He is still capable of hammering most players, and showed some signs of a revival last week. Not going near it.

I think this format is excellent for Anderson. Painter will try hard but Anderson will continuously outscore him and 8-15 is a fair price.

On what we saw last week , bar the last singles game, you would have to favour Lewis over the Power. 15/8 about Lewis is backable.

leggo · 09-02-2012 11:15am

Barney, Painter and Hamilton are going to wreak havoc with my accumulators. I can see it coming a mile off. None of them are going to win, they may not even make the playoffs, but all are good enough to beat any of the field on any given night. There's no clear favourite for the Wayne Mardle Cup this year.

The field is a bit uninspired looking at first glance, nothing we haven't seen plenty of times before and the first-timers probably won't contend, but at the same time it could make for a very tight, unpredictable league.

As for tonight's predictions:

Andy Hamilton 7-7 James Wade
Simon Whitlock 8-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Kevin Painter 5-8 Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis 4-8 Phil Taylor

Not confident in the slightest about the above picks...

StephenHendry · 09-02-2012 1:07pm

Andy Hamilton 8-5 James Wade
Simon Whitlock 8-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Kevin Painter 7-7 Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis 5-8 Phil Taylor

kingkev26 · 09-02-2012 6:06pm

ham and wade 7-7 taylor lewis 7-7 barney to win 8-6 and anderson to win 8-4

mr.jingle · 09-02-2012 8:05pm

Wade 8-4 Hamilton
Whitlock 8-5 Barneveld
Anderson 8-5 Painter
Lewis 8-5 Taylor

MoscowFlyer · 09-02-2012 8:17pm

Wade 8-5 Hamilton
Whitlock 8-4 Barney
Anderson 8-3 Painter
Lewis 7-7 Taylor

ctrl-alt-delete · 09-02-2012 8:23pm

Great to have Sid Waddell back!

Some cracking quotes already,

"And there is the waywardness or wadewardness if you like"

dexter647 · 09-02-2012 9:07pm

Holy sh1t barny is smiling:D... Seriously though I hope he puts a bit of effort in tonight and give's whitlock a game...Would be nice to have the old Barny back:)

leggo · 09-02-2012 9:18pm

leggo wrote: »

Barney, Painter and Hamilton are going to wreak havoc with my accumulators.

Andy Hamilton 7-7 James Wade

What'd I say?

Very disheartening to see Wade give up in the last leg, especially when it could have been there for the taking and he had the darts for the final leg. Grr...

monkey9 · 09-02-2012 10:32pm

Gary Anderson's performances within a match tend to be very schizophrenic

mdwexford · 09-02-2012 10:48pm

Good to see Barney go someway towards proving the naysayers wrong, if he can keep averaging 100+ he could go all the way.

Anderson/Painter was a shocking game.

This should be a cracker.

Stevecw · 09-02-2012 10:54pm

C'mon Phil, love to see him hammer Lewis. Shud be great match tho anyway.

Stevecw · 09-02-2012 11:03pm

Wow Lewis playing amazing stuff here, Poor Phil doesn't know what's happenin

leggo · 09-02-2012 11:06pm

This is unreal. Lewis is playing the picture perfect game to beat Taylor here. Beating him at the game Taylor perfected: forcing silly mistakes, hitting doubles when it counts, those 180s at JUST the right times. He's over-powering The Power!

BUT...you still wouldn't put it past Phil. This could finish 8-1 Lewis or 8-6 Taylor yet.

Stevecw · 09-02-2012 11:10pm

leggo wrote: »

This is unreal. Lewis is playing the picture perfect game to beat Taylor here. Beating him at the game Taylor perfected: forcing silly mistakes, hitting doubles when it counts, those 180s at JUST the right times. He's out-powering The Power!

BUT...you still wouldn't put it past Phil. This could finish 8-1 Lewis or 8-6 Taylor yet.

Lewis 100% on doubles! Taylor with a 105 avg 5-1 down!! Amazing standard

mdwexford · 09-02-2012 11:16pm

Insane standard.

Pity its not a World final.

whatawaster · 09-02-2012 11:18pm

This is incredible

whatawaster · 09-02-2012 11:20pm

Wow. This might be the best i've ever seen Taylor play

leggo · 09-02-2012 11:20pm

This is finishing a draw.

monkey9 · 09-02-2012 11:22pm

Jesus, these are some darts from Taylor to come back. What a match!!

Stevecw · 09-02-2012 11:23pm

wow 6-6 with an avg of 113 what a man Taylor is!! Hope he can finish it now with the win

mdwexford · 09-02-2012 11:28pm

Amazing.

Any of that 7/4 Taylor for the League still around

leggo · 09-02-2012 11:29pm

I can't remember a better Premier League game than that since Taylor came from behind to beat Barney to avenge his world final loss. Can anyone else?

Amazing match. Perfect way to end this week in darts.

Will I Amnt · 09-02-2012 11:30pm

Some game.Lewis was brilliant early on but Taylor was absolutely ridiculous the last 7 legs.
Great stuff.

Stevecw · 09-02-2012 11:33pm

That was top class, what a comeback by Taylor. 7-7 a fair result. 113 Avg by Taylor wow.

sc86 · 10-02-2012 1:03am

that game proved that generally taylor is not gettin worse, the rest of the field are gettin better
2 years ago taylor wouldv won 8-3 against anybody playin like that
brilliant game, all i could do was laugh as the 180s went in

Evolution Enter · 10-02-2012 4:52am

Superb night - biggest compliment I can give that last match is that nobody is talking about how good the Whitlock Barney match was - which was awesome - unbelievable - anyone dismisses this tournament as an exhibition is having a laugh!!

stylie · 10-02-2012 11:30am

What I learnt from last night

Wade, shows no sign of winning his mental problems. Body language changed in the game and it looked like he didnt want to be there.

Hammy, has kept his form from the worlds, and is the type of guy to prove the people doubting his wild card wrong.

Barney, one swallow does not a summer make and one game does not make a Barney come back

Whitlock, would love to see him win a major, he has the game but needs that special something to see him over the line

Painter, in my opinion should not be a wild card and did nothing to prove me wrong last night.

Anderson, has brought his BDO game to the PDC, well done sir. Needs a kick up the hole to get going again

Lewis, those first five legs were special, needs a good run in this and a major or two this year to join the pedestal with other greats. His trophy cupboard is a little too bare for a 2 time world champion.

Taylor, rumours of his demise are a little too premature. I think he needs to change his approach to games to peak at the right times, like golfers and tennis players for major events.

StephenHendry · 10-02-2012 1:13pm

Evolution Enter wrote: »

Superb night - biggest compliment I can give that last match is that nobody is talking about how good the Whitlock Barney match was - which was awesome - unbelievable - anyone dismisses this tournament as an exhibition is having a laugh!!

agree with you mate, barney whitlock was a brilliant game. i only get to see the first 2 games but they were both excellent ones. i had a feeling the hammer would win and he proved me right. saw brief of the taylor game. shows he's still producing brilliant darts. as others of said , the rest have upped their game alright but phil isn't dropping his standard

StephenHendry · 10-02-2012 1:15pm

Stevecw wrote: »

That was top class, what a comeback by Taylor. 7-7 a fair result. 113 Avg by Taylor wow.

is that a new world record?. i remember in the 09 premier league , he averaged 111 against part i think. anyway i'd say there will be a lot of draws in this years PL

StephenHendry · 10-02-2012 1:21pm

It was nice to see sid back, i know he do you head in with his taylorisms,
waffle etc. but hopefully his health will continue to improve.

minty16 · 12-02-2012 3:36am

Stylie some awful comments out of you. ''One swallow does not make a summer'' in relation to barney. Exactly the point of why you should never right off a 5 time world champion.

As far as Anderson bringing his BDO game to the PDC? Where have you been for the last few years?

stylie · 12-02-2012 7:17pm

What has Barney done since he beat Taylor in the worlds in 2007 ? Runner up once in it and I dont think he has won a TV tournament

Where have I been the last few years ? watching Anderson bottle it in the later stages of major tournaments like he did in the BDO

minty16 · 12-02-2012 7:28pm

stylie wrote: »

What has Barney done since he beat Taylor in the worlds in 2007 ? Runner up once in it and I dont think he has won a TV tournament

Where have I been the last few years ? watching Anderson bottle it in the later stages of major tournaments like he did in the BDO

Only a couple of 9 darters ? Not to mention a Major final and a couple of semi finals too. Granted he has not played to 'that' level, but that level was the very best in the world. The demise of Barney has been greatly exaggerated, the standard has simply improved tenfold in the last couple of years.

As for Anderson, he has been to the very last hurdle of almost every major tournament, averaged 100 in a world final against a man who threw a 9 darter in the world final for the first time in history, and was exemplary on the night. He is the reigning Premier League champion and despite what I would agree is was a shocking performance the other night, has risen into the top 4 in the world and is consistently and generally the best scorer in the game. His game is ten times better than his BDO form of being knocked in rounds one and two!?

StephenHendry · 13-02-2012 9:30am

minty16 wrote: »

Only a couple of 9 darters ? Not to mention a Major final and a couple of semi finals too. Granted he has not played to 'that' level, but that level was the very best in the world. The demise of Barney has been greatly exaggerated, the standard has simply improved tenfold in the last couple of years.

As for Anderson, he has been to the very last hurdle of almost every major tournament, averaged 100 in a world final against a man who threw a 9 darter in the world final for the first time in history, and was exemplary on the night. He is the reigning Premier League champion and despite what I would agree is was a shocking performance the other night, has risen into the top 4 in the world and is consistently and generally the best scorer in the game. His game is ten times better than his BDO form of being knocked in rounds one and two!?

true, anderson is on a bad run but i still see him making the final 4. barney did look good against whitlock, hopefully he can be consistent. barney did get to the semis last year against anderson in the PL so i wouldn't be too quick to write him off

stylie · 13-02-2012 11:00am

minty16 wrote: »

Only a couple of 9 darters ? Not to mention a Major final and a couple of semi finals too. Granted he has not played to 'that' level, but that level was the very best in the world. The demise of Barney has been greatly exaggerated, the standard has simply improved tenfold in the last couple of years.

As for Anderson, he has been to the very last hurdle of almost every major tournament, averaged 100 in a world final against a man who threw a 9 darter in the world final for the first time in history, and was exemplary on the night. He is the reigning Premier League champion and despite what I would agree is was a shocking performance the other night, has risen into the top 4 in the world and is consistently and generally the best scorer in the game. His game is ten times better than his BDO form of being knocked in rounds one and two!?

So a five year return of a couple of nine darters, runner up and a couple of semi's is a good return for a 5 time world champion ? So you disagree that in the last two years especially his form has dipped way below his 2007 levels ?

Anderson was a choker in the BDO and is a choker in the PDC thats his form, he can score for fun but any other top 10 player is a better finisher than him. Your statement above points to this, for a player of his scoring ability he should have more than a premier league win under his belt.

spud06 · 13-02-2012 12:53pm

Thought last weeks darts were great. Taylor/Lewis was one of the best games ive seen in a long time and Barney/Whitlock wasnt too far behind. Hopefully this week will be as good.

leggo · 13-02-2012 8:55pm

stylie wrote: »

Anderson was a choker in the BDO and is a choker in the PDC thats his form, he can score for fun but any other top 10 player is a better finisher than him. Your statement above points to this, for a player of his scoring ability he should have more than a premier league win under his belt.

This statement is statistically untrue. Anderson's 'choker' mantle came from the fact that he always failed to perform to his full ability in the BDO World Championships.

Reaching the final on his second time of trying in the PDC (a much more competitive field) put that well and truly to bed. The only way he could've improved on that is by winning it, which is effectively stating that everyone who plays darts and isn't the reigning World Champion is a 'choker'...a ridiculous notion!

Has he fulfilled his potential yet? No. That'd be a fair argument, though I'd say he still has a lot of time to do a lot of damage.

Is he going through a dodgy run of form? Yes, but that's part and parcel of being a darts player. It has happened to Taylor multiple times over the years and he's the best that ever lived.

cgpg5 · 13-02-2012 9:35pm

stylie wrote: »

So a five year return of a couple of nine darters, runner up and a couple of semi's is a good return for a 5 time world champion ? So you disagree that in the last two years especially his form has dipped way below his 2007 levels ?

Anderson was a choker in the BDO and is a choker in the PDC thats his form, he can score for fun but any other top 10 player is a better finisher than him. Your statement above points to this, for a player of his scoring ability he should have more than a premier league win under his belt.

He actually won the next two majors after he beat Taylor in that final. He made quite a number of finals in a period in which Taylor was untouchable also. Its only in the past year in which he has started to decline really.

StephenHendry · 16-02-2012 10:52am

Week2 (my predictions)Adrian Lewis

8–6

Raymond van Barneveld
Gary Anderson

5-8

Andy Hamilton
Phil Taylor

8-–4

Kevin Painter
Simon Whitlock

7–7

James Wade

leggo · 16-02-2012 3:56pm

Adrian Lewis 7-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Gary Anderson 8-5 Andy Hamilton
Phil Taylor 8-1 Kevin Painter
Simon Whitlock 7-7 James Wade

A €5 accumulator on the above outcomes returns €293. Not bad value at all, at all.

Degag · 16-02-2012 7:30pm

leggo wrote: »

Adrian Lewis 7-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Gary Anderson 8-5 Andy Hamilton
Phil Taylor 8-1 Kevin Painter
Simon Whitlock 7-7 James Wade

A €5 accumulator on the above outcomes returns €293. Not bad value at all, at all.

I've gone

Lewis
Draw
Taylor
Draw.

Returns €405

The same bet returned €312 with PP, so good to shop around.

hawkwing · 16-02-2012 10:21pm

Hate the man but class is permanent

leggo · 16-02-2012 10:24pm

Lads my heart is in my mouth. Got home from work, saw Taylor 4-5 down and a tear almost immediately came out of my eye. Then he only goes and hits a 9-darter!

3 out of 4 for the accumulator. But the last one is the toughy...