Premier League Darts: Raymond van Barneveld saves four-leg deficit to hold Gerwyn Price to a draw
Written by News on 15/02/2019
Raymond van Barneveld delighted the Glasgow crowd by holding Gerwyn Price to a 6-6 draw in Premier League Darts.
Michael van Gerwen has maximum points after two weeks having beaten Mensur Suljovic 7-3, but Glen Durrant’s first major match as a PDC player ended in defeat to Daryl Gurney.
Peter Wright 6-6 Michael Smith
‘Bully Boy’ Smith was forced to scrap for a point to avoid losing his opening two Premier League matches, having been beaten by Van Gerwen last week.
A 171 finish in the final leg secured the first point on the board for Smith, last year’s finalist.
He had previously led 5-2 but ‘Snakebite’ nailed a 14-dart leg to close the gap. At 5-5 Smith, missed six darts for the leg. Eventually he was made to settle for a draw.
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Rob Cross 7-4 James Wade
Cross won a fourth straight leg with a 12-darter to go 5-3 up, and break the gritty challenge of Wade who briefly saw a path to maximum points from the opening two weeks.
Wade nearly saved himself with a 138 finish but wired it – from there, Cross struck double five to emerge with a draw and a victory from his first two matches.
Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gerwyn Price
Price was greeted by vociferous boos every time he threw a dart but seemed set to silence the crowd when he roared into a 6-2 lead over Van Barneveld, who is playing his final season before retiring.
Price, fined last month for his behaviour while winning the Grand Slam of Darts, missed four match darts and was made to pay.
With the crowd fiercely backing Barney, Price’s coolness deserted him and he missed a 144 finish in the final leg. Van Barneveld pinched it for his first point of the new season.
Daryl Gurney 7-3 Glen Durrant
Gurney, beaten last week by Price, stormed into a 4-0 lead against Durrant, who was replacing the injured Gary Anderson.
Gurney twice completed a 121 finish and, when BDO champion Durrant missed a double, took out 78. Gurney failed with a 161 bullseye but completed an easy win. This was Durrant’s first televised match as a full-time PDC professional.
Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Michael van Gerwen
The writing was quickly on the wall when Suljovic missed three darts to win the third leg, and fell 3-0 behind. Van Gerwen was only averaging 92 at this point.
Suljovic kept the defending champion honest but Van Gerwen won a leg with 12 darts to go 5-2 up. He romped to the finish line to become the only player with maximum points after two weeks.
Premier League Darts heads to Dublin on Thursday February 21. You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsDarts and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/darts
(c) Sky News 2019: Premier League Darts: Raymond van Barneveld saves four-leg deficit to hold Gerwyn Price to a draw
