Premier League 2007 - Week 1

Kingp35

So the Premier League is finally here again as the first round of matches will be played this Thursday (Feb 1st).

Here is an article that I wrote for another site about the matches.

Kingp35 wrote:

Darts Premier League 2007 – Week 1 February 1st

Raymond Van Barneveld V Adrian Lewis

What a fantastic year it has been for Raymond Van Barneveld. He currently sits as World Number 2 only behind the great Phil Taylor. Barney won two majors last year, The UK Open Championship and the World Championship as well as losing in the final of the Las Vegas Desert classic. He won the first two tournaments of this year until he was finally beaten by Michael Van Gerwen in Gibraltar. Barney reached the Semi-Finals of the Premier League last year where he was beaten by Roland Sholten, who had the game of his life. During the League phase he beat everybody twice, except Phil Taylor where he drew one and lost one.

Adrian has had a good start to the season. He went out in the fifth round of the first tournament before getting to the final of the second where he lost to Barney. He then went on to make the Quarter-Finals of the last tournament. Lewis is a very highly rated young player on the PDC circuit. He is coached by Phil Taylor and has tremendous natural ability, especially when it comes to hitting the big scores. Disappointingly though, Lewis has never fulfilled his potential on the big stage. He has a tendency to lose focus during a game, especially in the big games, and more often than not ends up losing. He has never gotten past a Quarter-Final on the big stage and he tends to bottle the big games. This is his first appearance in the Premier League and it remains to be seen how he will cope with the pressure on the night.

Verdict: I can see nothing but a Barney win in this one. Barney has been on tremendous form as of late and this is the first time that Lewis has braced the Premier League stage. Lewis just doesn't perform on the big stage this should be no different. I would back a double on Barney and win and to get the highest finish.


Dennis Priestley V Terry Jenkins

Dennis has had a very poor start to the season. He has lost in the second round, third round and first round of the three tournaments played this year. This is very unlike him as he is usually in the later stages of every tournament he plays. He had his best year for a long time last year at the ripe old age of 58. He faded a little near the end of the season but he won quite a few tournaments and reached the final and semi-final of many others. He worked himself up to 6 in the World and now sits at 8. Dennis always performs on the big stage and is very tough to beat. He never loses a game by much and he is a very determined player. This is the first time that he has played in the Premier League and he will want to put on a good show. Expect the crowd to be right behind him.

Terry Jenkins has a reasonably good start to the year. He made the semi-finals of the first tournament but amazingly lost in the first round of the second. He found his old form though in the last tournament as he made it to the fifth round. He is probably the most consistent player on the circuit in that he always averages in the mid 90's, that is why he is one of the most feared players and no one likes to play him. Again this is his Premier League debut but Jenks is fazed by nothing, so expect him again to average in the mid 90's. The crowd generally don't get behind him as he is a very shy man and this could have a bearing on his Premier League performances.

Verdict: This is a very tough one to call. Both players are of a very similar standard. Jenks is the more inform player but I think the crowd could play a part in this match. The tie is great value at 4/1 and to me would seem the most logical outcome of this match.

Peter Manley V Colin Lloyd

Peter Manley has been on reasonably good form so far this year. He has made the Semi-Finals on one tournament so far this season as well as the Quarter-Finals and 5th round of the other two. He is a consistent player who generally makes the later stages of a tournament. However, he has yet to get out of the group stage of the Premier League in two attempts. He had a strong start last year before fading in the later weeks and just missing out on qualification for the Semi-Finals.

Colin Lloyd had a terrible year in the major tournaments last year. He lost in the first round of three different events and lost in the second round of the World Championships. However he did show that he was back to his best in that epic second round match against Barney. He has been a good form as he has reached the fourth round, Quarter-Finals of tournaments so far this year and he was beaten in the final of the last tournament by Andy Hamilton. He has never failed to get out of the group stages of the Premier League and I don't see this year being any different.

Verdict: They both beat each other once by a score of 8-6 in last year's tournament but Lloyd was going through a patch of very poor form. Recent tournaments have shown that Lloyd may be back to his best and I can see him winning this game 8-5 or 8-6.

Roland Scholten V Phil Taylor

Scholten has made a decent start to the year. He was beaten in the final of the year's first tournament by Barney. Scholten then went on to make the Quarter-Finals and fourth round of the next two tournaments. The problem with Scholten is that he tends to have trouble with his doubles. He is a phenomenal 180 scorer and if he can hit his doubles then he will give anyone a match. Sadly though, he tends to miss his doubles more often than he hits them. He made the final of the tournament last year where he was beaten by Phil Taylor convincingly by Taylor by a score of 16-6.

Phil Taylor will really be hurting after his defeat to Barney in the final of the World Championships. He is a proud man and he will want nothing more than to get back up on stage and start winning matches. He hasn't entered any tournaments yet this year, instead choosing to concentrate on practicing for the Premier League. He is the only man that has never lost a Premier League match, the only match he didn't win was the draw with Barney last year. He has been on great form as he finished the World Championships with his greatest ever tournament average.

Verdict: Only one winner in this and its Phil Taylor. Scholten has never beaten Taylor in the Premier League and it doesn't look like changing anytime soon. A good bet to put on is Scholten to score more 180's than Phil at 4/6.

Ronan|Raven

These are on sky sports?

Kingp35

Yeah all games are on Sky Sports. Its on this Thursday at either 7 or half 7.

Kingp35

PHIL TAYLOR will begin his challenge to regain darting supremacy from Raymond van Barneveld when the 2007 Holsten Premier League Darts kicks off on Thursday night.

Taylor lost his Ladbrokes.com World Championship crown to the Dutchman a month ago, letting a 3-0 lead slip at the Circus Tavern before van Barneveld won 7-6 in a sudden death final leg.

The pair will meet twice in the next 14 weeks during the league phase of the £275,000 Holsten Premier League, with the first night taking place at the Plymouth Pavilions.

Taylor has yet to be defeated in the two years of the Premier League, and meets Roland Scholten on Thursday in a repeat of the 2006 final.

"I can't wait," said Taylor, 46. "It has been a long month wanting to get back into action - you can practice all you like but there's nothing like being on stage.

"I love the Premier League, it has been great for the game and the fans are always amazing, wherever we go in the country.

"Roland is in some good form and he showed his quality by reaching the final last year.

"I have been practicing hard, though, and I will be ready for him.

"I'm not taking anything for granted in the Premier League. There are eight quality players and it will be so hard over the next three months."

Van Barneveld opens his challenge against Premier League debutant Adrian Lewis - and is looking to erase the painful memory of his shock 11-3 loss to Scholten in last year's semi-final in Plymouth.

"The venue does not have happy memories, but Thursday is a new day," said the 39-year-old Dutchman.

"I was very disappointed to lose to Roland last year but I've had many wins since then.

"Adrian will be a big challenge, we played in the final of an event in Gibraltar recently and he is a quality player."

Lewis is one of three debutants in the expanded 2007 Holsten Premier League, which has increased to eight players.

The 22-year-old from Stoke hailed van Barneveld's World Championship comeback as "amazing", and added: "Ray is playing absolutely brilliantly.

"I can't fault him for what he's done, winning three straight tournaments including the World Championship in the past month or so.

"I'm really looking forward to it and think I can cause an upset there. It would be a bit of revenge for his win over me in Gibraltar!"

Double World Champion Dennis Priestley and World Grand Prix finalist Terry Jenkins will meet in their first appearances in the tournament.

"I am excited," said Priestley, the oldest man in the tournament at 56.

"For the past two years I've been an older professional looking in from the outside, but now I am in I'm feeling good about it."

The night's other game sees Colin Lloyd and Peter Manley, ranked third and fourth in the world respectively, clash.

"I think Peter's only had one win against me in the Premier League so far, but that means nothing," said Lloyd. "It's a tough opening game and I will be ready to tackle him come Thursday night.

"You want to get in there and start stamping a bit of authority straight away. You want to show people that you're on form, up for it and playing well."

Manley has been named as the 50/1 outsider for the tournament, but said: "A place in the semi-finals is obviously everybody's aim.

"In the first year I made the semis and last year I was almost in there until only a couple of games from the end," said Manley.

"Looking at the betting, I've been made the rank outsider with Dennis Priestley and sometimes that can be quite good because you aim to try and prove everyone wrong."

The tournament sees the eight players face each other twice in best-of-14-leg matches over the coming 14 weeks.

The top four players in the league table following this will progress to the play-offs, which are held on Monday 28 May at the Brighton Centre.

Coverage starts at half 7 on Sky Sports. Im really looking forward to this now!

Carrickman

Premier League Darts
Raymond van Barneveld 8-5 Adrian Lewis
Dennis Priestley 8-5 Terry Jenkins
Peter Manley 8-5 Colin Lloyd
Phil Taylor 7-7 Roland Scholten

Reports here

Kingp35

Good night of darts. The first match between Barney and Lewis was a great game. It was a really high standard with some great 180 scoring. Barney was slow out of the blocks and Lewis went 2-0 up but then Barney showed why he is world champion as he came back at Lewis. You have to give Lewis credit though as he stayed with Barney and he really should have made it 7-6 but he missed three clear darts on doubles to let Barney take the match. It was the same old story for Lewis as he impressed but blew it in the end. If he can keep that kind of form up though then he will get through.

Im delighted Priestley won his first game. To be still playing with the best at 56 is a great achievement and Dennis seems to be getting back to his old self. Not quite the same standard as the first game but both were understandably nervous going into this one. The bookies have Priestley as the rank outsider but this win gives him a great chance.

Lloyd failed to live up to his reputation yet again as he failed to impress against Manley. He was very poor for the first 8 or 9 legs and only then did he start to play a bit. He didnt hit his first 180 until the last leg of the match where he hit but amazingly lost the leg. Manley was excellent on his doubles and thats what won him the game. At one point his checkout rate was 60% which is enough to win any match. Manley to me is a player that I dont rate but he always seems to do well and that win has got him off to a great start.

The final match of the night was expected to be a Phil Taylor walk over but Scholten had other ideas. I must admit that I haven't seen Taylor play as badly as he did last night in a long time. I think his final average was around the 93 mark but at one stage it was as low as 88. Scholten looked beaten when he went 6-3 down but he won 4 legs on the bounce to go 7-6 up and was throwing for the match. You have to give credit to Taylor though for coming back and snatching the draw to keep his record of never been beaten in the Premier League. He wont be happy with his start or how he played though.

Ronan|Raven

I think lloyd might need to go for heavier darts!

Kingp35

Yeah he had a few bounce outs alright. That one that was hanging on for a few seconds was gas