Premier League Darts 2023 | Night Nine Berlin Preview and Order of Play
Premier League Darts heads to Berlin on Thursday for Night Nine of the competition as the race to reach the play-offs intensifies.
The second half of the league phase is now under way with The O2 in sight, as well as the £10,000 weekly winner’s bonus.
The roadshow touches down in the German capital this week in front of an expected crowd of more than 10,000 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Man of the moment Gerwyn Price is bidding for a hat-trick of weekly titles as he looks to close the gap on Michael van Gerwen at the top of the table.
Price heads to Berlin on the back of a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, having triumphed in Nottingham and Newcastle to join MVG on three weekly titles for the campaign and move to within seven points of the Dutchman.
Price continued his prolific run of form by winning the European Darts Open in Leverkusen at the weekend and will aim to pick up from where he left off when he opens up against a struggling Peter Wright.
The pair met on Night Six in Liverpool, with Price rallying back from 5-2 down to force a deciding leg, but only for Wright to seal his first, and so far only, win of the season.
Wright remains rooted to the foot of the table on two points after eight defeats from nine matches played, and has averaged below 90 in each of his last two outings.
The world number two’s miserable run extended to the European Tour as he squandered a 5-1 lead to Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko in Leverkusen on Saturday.
Meanwhile, reigning champion Van Gerwen looks to stretch his lead at the top of the table and kickstart his challenge for a fourth weekly title of the season by overcoming an out of sorts Jonny Clayton.
Van Gerwen has reached the final in five of the eight league nights so far and boasts a tournament average of 98.3, as well as 51 maximums.
The world number three has won all three of his meetings with Clayton in this season’s Premier League to date, including the final of Night Five in Exeter.
Van Gerwen has suffered just one Quarter-Final defeat so far and faces an opponent who is without a win in his last three outings.
Clayton’s barren run has seen him slip to second from bottom in the standings and five points adrift of the play-off places, having claimed the title on debut in 2021 before finishing top of last year’s table and falling at the Semi-Final hurdle.
The Welshman will be determined to get back on track and atone for last week’s dismal display against Price – in which he averaged just 81 in a 6-1 defeat.
The opening match of the night sees World Champion Michael Smith take on recent UK Open semi-finalist Dimitri van den Bergh.
Smith occupies fourth spot heading into the night, having won Night Three in Glasgow and finished runner-up on Night Six in Liverpool.
The world number one has won both of his Premier League meetings with Van den Bergh so far this term, as well as 6-4 success at the Bahrain Masters in January.
Van den Bergh saw his 10-match winning streak against Nathan Aspinall come to an end last week after a narrow 6-5 defeat in the Quarter-Finals.
The Belgian star remains just three points outside of the play-off places and continues to hunt down a maiden weekly title.
Chris Dobey enjoyed a memorable reception on his homecoming in Newcastle last week, defeating Smith 6-4 before losing out to eventual winner Price by the same scoreline in the Semi-Finals.
After five weeks without a win, Masters champion Dobey is now upwardly mobile following his runner-up spot in Nottingham, plus a further two points on Tyneside.
He now comes up against his close friend Aspinall for the third time in the competition, with the pair having exchanged a win apiece.
Aspinall is sitting pretty in third position, three points ahead of Dobey, and has registered points in all but two of the weeknights so far.
Night Nine of 2023 Premier League Darts gets under way in Berlin from 7pm BST, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Premier League Darts 2023 Night Nine Schedule
Thursday March 30
7pm-11pm
Quarter-Finals
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Michael Smith
Nathan Aspinall v Chris Dobey
Jonny Clayton v Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
Van den Bergh/Smith v Aspinall/Dobey
Clayton/Van Gerwen v Wright/Price
Final
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