Premier League Darts 2024 | Night 16 Sheffield Preview and Order of Play
The battle to secure the final remaining Premier League Darts play-off spot reaches a gripping climax in Sheffield on Thursday.
The 16th and final night of fixtures sees Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith face off in a straight shootout for the right to complete the play-off field at The O2 in London next week.
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen have already assured themselves of a place on finals night, leaving the two former finalists to lock horns in a bid to join them.
Aspinall won their first two fixtures in this year’s BetMGM Premier League, though when the pair met Leeds last week, Smith ran out a 6-3 winner to preserve his hopes of a top four finish.
World Matchplay champion Aspinall has claimed two weekly titles and has reached a further three finals, maintaining a top four position since Night Six, while Smith won the opening night in Cardiff and has also finished runner-up on a further three occasions, but has not been in the play-off places since Night Eight.
Smith, who claimed glory in Sheffield last year, secured a play-off spot by finishing second in the 2023 table, while ‘The Asp’ is out to atone for his Night 16 heartbreak when he missed out on a top four finish only by virtue of winning less nights than Jonny Clayton.
Elsewhere, Luke Littler aims to wrap up top spot by overcoming struggling Peter Wright in the night’s opening quarter-final.
Littler is bidding to become only the sixth different player to finish top of the table in the 20-year history of the competition, and the 17-year-old could also set a new points record since the introduction of this format if he was to reach the final at the Utilita Arena.
The two-time European Tour event winner is also one of three players (alongside Van Gerwen and Humphries) with the opportunity to become the first to register five weekly titles during a Premier League campaign.
Littler has four weekly titles to his name since opening his account on Night Nine and thrashed Wright 6-1 when the pair met in Leeds last week.
Wright is certain to finish bottom of the table for the second successive season after a torrid tournament in which he has mustered only two match wins.
The two-time World Champion ended last year’s campaign on nine points, but has picked up five fewer this time around, with his only victories coming on Night Seven and Night Nine.
Reigning and seven-time Premier League champion Van Gerwen looks to cement third spot and avoid a potential semi-final clash with Littler, having triumphed in Berlin, Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham this season.
The three-time World Champion has now made the Play-Offs in 11 of his 12 Premier League appearances, but is bidding to avert what would be a fourth straight defeat to Cross in this year’s tournament.
Cross cannot make the play-offs but will be determined to end the campaign on a high by challenging for a first weekly title and picking up from where he left off in Kiel last weekend.
The 2018 World Champion sensationally secured his second European Tour title by defying a nine-darter from Humphries in the final of the Baltic Sea Darts Open.
Reigning World Champion Humphries looks to continue his red hot run of form when he comes up against last year’s runner-up Price in the quarter-finals.
Leeds fan Humphries enjoyed a dream debut in West Yorkshire last week, storming to his fourth weekly title courtesy of a narrow 6-5 win over MVG in the final.
He came close to extending his unbeaten run after reaching the final in Kiel on Sunday, only to be denied despite a roof-raising nine-darter and an average of 104.4
Humphries has won both of his Premier League clashes against Price, though it was the Welshman who ended Cool Hand’s 20-match unbeaten run in all competitions at the Bahrain Masters back in January.
Price returned to action in Leeds last week after missing the trip to Aberdeen through injury, though he has also opted out of a clutch of Players Championship and European Tour events in recent weeks.
Despite averaging just shy of 99 for the tournament, it has proved to be a frustrating campaign for the 2021 World Champion – who has failed to pick up a weekly title after racking up four en route to topping the table last season.
Night 16 of 2024 Premier League Darts gets under way from 7pm BST, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Premier League Darts 2024 Night 16 Schedule
Thursday May 16
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Peter Wright
Nathan Aspinall v Michael Smith
Luke Humphries v Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
Semi-Finals
Littler/Wright v Aspinall/Smith
Humphries/Price v Van Gerwen/Cross
Final
