Premier League Darts 2022 Night Five | Brighton Preview and Order of Play
The 2022 Premier League Darts roadshow heads to Cardiff for Night Five on Thursday, featuring crucial clashes at both ends of the table.
The revamped ‘knock-out’ format has produced four different winners in as many nights so far, and more darting drama is to be expected at The Brighton Centre this week.
Reigning World Champion and newly-crowned world number one Peter Wright leads the way at the top of the table with ten points and will look to add to that tally when he faces defending champion Jonny Clayton.
Wright, who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Thursday, won the opening night of the competition in Cardiff and finished runner-up in Exeter a week ago.
The colourful Scot has since become world number one for the first time in his career following the weekend’s UK Open – where he lost out to William O’Connor in the Last 16.
Wright defeated Clayton 6-1 in the final of Night One with a blistering 113.02 average – which remains the highest of the tournament so far.
Clayton will be out to spoil Snakebite’s birthday celebrations as he bids to get his campaign back on track following successive Quarter-Final defeats.
The Ferret won Night Two in Liverpool but has not picked up a point since, though he remains handily poised in third spot in his quest to reach the play-offs for the second time in as many Premier League appearances.
Five-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen kicks off his quest for back-to-back weekly titles with a clash against 2009 champion James Wade.
Van Gerwen romped to victory in Exeter last week, dropping only three legs along the way, but an early exit to Damon Heta at the UK Open, coupled with other results, saw him drop to fifth in the PDC Order of Merit – his lowest ranking position in a decade.
Van Gerwen, whose tournament average of 100.7 is the highest of the field, is yet to face Wade in this year’s Premier League but has won 43 of their 61 previous meetings.
Wade has made a solid start to the season, picking up seven points courtesy of his runner-up spot on Night Three plus a further two Semi-Final appearances.
Quarter-finalist at the recent UK Open, ‘The Machine’ also reached the Last Eight of the opening European Tour event in Riesa a fortnight ago and has registered a number of ton-plus averages this season.
The opening match of the night sees two-time Premier League champion Gary Anderson take on seven-time major finalist Michael Smith.
The bottom two in the league table collide in a must-win encounter for both if they are to avoid becoming cut adrift in the play-off places.
Anderson has not registered a win since defeating Van Gerwen on Night One and will be determined to stop the rot, having also suffered a Fourth Round exit to MVG at the UK Open in Minehead.
Smith, meanwhile heads to the South Coast licking his wounds after suffering yet another agonising defeat in a major final, losing out 11-10 to Danny Noppert at the UK Open to extend his wait for an elusive maiden televised ranking title.
The 2018 Premier League runner-up secured his first win in this year’s competition a week ago by edging past Joe Cullen in a deciding leg before going down 6-2 to Van Gerwen in the Semi-Finals.
Anderson has won 13 of their 22 previous meetings, including both of their fixtures the last time they met in the Premier League in 2020.
The fourth Quarter-Final was scheduled to be three-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price versus Masters champion Joe Cullen.
However, Price has withdrawn from Night Five in Brighton due to a hand injury, meaning Cullen is handed a 6-0 walkover into the Semi-Finals.
Cullen has suffered back-to-back Quarter-Final defeats since finishing runner-up in Liverpool and has been punished for missing doubles at crucial times, with his checkout success rate of 28 per cent the lowest of the field by some distance.
The world number 11 was beaten 10-6 by Wright in the Fourth Round of the UK Open with a 91.7 average and will be keen to get back on track in Brighton.
Night Five of Premier League Darts 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 Five Schedule
Thursday March 10
Quarter-Finals
7.15pm Gary Anderson v Michael Smith
7.45pm Peter Wright v Jonny Clayton
8.15pm Michael van Gerwen v James Wade
Joe Cullen Bye (Gerwyn Price withdrawn)
Semi-Finals
8.45pm Anderson/Smith v Wright/Clayton
9.15pm Van Gerwen/Wade v Joe Cullen
9.45pm Final
