Premier League Darts 2022 Night Three | Belfast Preview and Order of Play
Premier League Darts heads to Belfast for Night Three on Thursday as the knock-out action continues at the SSE Arena.
A revamped format for the 2022 Premier League sees each night feature a mini-tournament comprised of Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and a final, with a £10,000 bonus to each night’s winner.
Night Two of the 17-week invitational saw defending champion Jonny Clayton come out on top in Liverpool after a 6-4 victory over Joe Cullen in the final.
Having lost in the final on opening night in Cardiff, Clayton leads the way at the top of the early standings on eight points and will look to consolidate that position as the competition heads across the Irish Sea.
Clayton comes up against 2009 Premier League champion James Wade in the evening’s fourth Quarter-Final, with six points currently separating the two players.
Wade, making his 12th appearance in the Premier League, has reached the play-offs in only one of his last five attempts and will be keen to put points on the board to avoid losing ground on those above him.
The reigning UK Open champion defeated Gerwyn Price on opening night before losing out to Clayton, and was beaten in the Quarter-Finals last week by Joe Cullen.
His tournament average of 89.4 is the lowest of the field, but the left-hander showed signs of a return to form over the weekend with a run to the Quarter-Finals of Players Championship Three.
The night’s opening contest sees world number one Price take on two-time world finalist Michael Smith in a repeat of their World Championship Quarter-Final on New Year’s Day.
Smith prevailed in an epic ninth set decider at Ally Pally to bring Price’s title defence to an end, and the Welshman will be eyeing a small dose of revenge in their first meeting since.
After a disappointing homecoming in Cardiff, Price picked up his first points of the campaign last week by defeating Gary Anderson in the Quarter-Finals, but that was followed by a 6-5 defeat to man of the moment Cullen.
Missed doubles have proved costly for ‘The Ice Man’ so far, with his 30 per cent finishing rate the lowest of the eight competitors.
Smith, meanwhile, is the only player yet to register points in the new format following back-to-back Quarter-Final defeats on his Premier League return.
The world number five has suffered successive 6-3 defeats to Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton and has a tournament average of just 92, despite converting 75 per cent of his attempts at doubles.
Smith’s floor form will also come as a concern, having suffered two First Round exits in the opening four Players Championships, with his best run coming in Players Championship One – where he reached the Last 32.
In-form Joe Cullen aims to continue his incredible winning run when he faces five-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen.
Cullen, last week’s beaten finalist, comes into the night on the back of a 14-match unbeaten run, having claimed back-to-back Players Championship titles in Wigan last weekend.
The Masters champion recovered from his debut defeat in Cardiff by defeating Wade and Price in Liverpool before eventually being denied by Clayton, and will look to go one better in Belfast.
Van Gerwen will be out to avenge his 10-7 defeat to ‘The Rockstar’ in last month’s Masters as he aims to steady the ship after an indifferent start to the season.
The world number three reached the Semi-Finals of Saturday’s ProTour event before slipping to a Second Round exit on Sunday and has been left to rue missed opportunities in the early stages of the Premier League.
Van Gerwen thrashed Wright 6-1 in last week’s Quarter-Finals with a 103 average before squandering a 4-1 lead to Jonny Clayton in an eventual 6-4 defeat – in which the Dutchman averaged 105.
Meanwhile, multiple World Champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson go head-to-head for the third time this year.
A pulsating World Championship Semi-Final saw Wright prevail by six sets to four with a 104 average and a record 24 maximums, denying Anderson back-to-back appearances in the final at Ally Pally.
The world number two came out on top again when the pair met in the Semi-Finals of Night One in Cardiff, edging a last-leg decider with both averaging around 99.
Wright’s form, however, has dipped in recent weeks, with a Second Round and Third Round exit at the weekend – which included a 6-0 whitewash at the hands of Ryan Joyce.
Anderson is one of four players level on two points and will be determined to bounce back from a 6-3 defeat to Price last week with an average of just 90.
The action gets under way from 7pm GMT, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Premier League Darts 2022 Night Three Schedule
Thursday February 17
Quarter-Finals
7.15pm Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price
7.45pm Joe Cullen v Michael van Gerwen
8.15pm Gary Anderson v Peter Wright
8.45pm James Wade v Jonny Clayton
Semi-Finals
9.15pm Smith/Price v Cullen/Van Gerwen
9.45pm Anderson/Wright v Wade/Clayton
10.15pm Final
