2009 Premier League Darts

Last updated

2009 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts
Winner
Flag of England.svg James Wade
Runner-up
Flag of England.svg Mervyn King
Score
13–8
Date
5 February–25 May 2009
Edition
5th
Number of players
8
Venues
15
Premier League Darts
< 2008 | 2009 | 2010 >

The 2009 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation.

Contents

The tournament kicked off at the Echo Arena Liverpool, which hosted the biggest ever crowd for a PDC event of almost 8,000 in 2008.

New venues in Edinburgh and Exeter joined some of the UK's biggest arenas, including Belfast's Odyssey Arena, Manchester's MEN Arena, Birmingham's National Indoor Arena, the Sheffield Arena and Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena.

The tournament came to a conclusion with the play-offs on Monday 25 May at the Wembley Arena – coinciding with the Football League play-offs at the neighbouring Wembley Stadium over the same weekend. Phil Taylor was defending his Whyte & Mackay Premier League title once again, however he failed to retain it after losing to Mervyn King 10–6 in the semi-finals. James Wade beat King 13–8 in the final, to claim the £125,000 first prize and the first Premier League not to be claimed by Taylor.

Qualification

The top six players from the PDC Order of Merit following the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship were confirmed on 5 January. Jelle Klaasen and Wayne Mardle were named as the two Sky Sports wild card selections on 9 January. [1]

Qualifiers are as follows:

  1. Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor
  2. Flag of England.svg James Wade
  3. Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld
  4. Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg John Part
  5. Flag of England.svg Terry Jenkins
  6. Flag of England.svg Mervyn King
  7. Flag of England.svg Wayne Mardle
  8. Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jelle Klaasen

Venues

Fifteen venues were used in the 2009 Premier League, with the only changes from 2008 being Edinburgh and Exeter replacing Plymouth and Bournemouth.

Flag of England.svg Liverpool Flag of Scotland.svg Edinburgh Flag of England.svg Coventry Ulster Banner.svg Belfast Flag of England.svg Newcastle
Echo Arena Liverpool
5 February
Royal Highland Showground
12 February
Ricoh Arena
19 February
Odyssey Arena
26 February
Metro Radio Arena
5 March
Echo Arena Liverpool at night.jpg The Ricoh Arena -Coventry -22Jan2008.jpg OdysseyArena.JPG Metroradio Arena, Newcastle.jpg
Flag of England.svg Manchester Flag of England.svg Brighton Flag of England.svg Birmingham Flag of Scotland.svg Glasgow Flag of England.svg Exeter
MEN Arena
12 March
Brighton Centre
19 March
National Indoor Arena
26 March
SECC
2 April
Westpoint Arena
9 April
MEN Arena.jpg Brighton Centre.JPG NIA, Birmingham.jpg Wfm secc front.jpg Westpoint Arena, Devon County Showground.jpg
Flag of England.svg Nottingham Flag of Scotland.svg Aberdeen Flag of England.svg Sheffield Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Cardiff Flag of England.svg London
Trent FM Arena
16 April
AECC
23 April
Sheffield Arena
30 April
Cardiff International Arena
7 May
Wembley Arena
25 May
National Ice Centre - Trent FM Arena.jpg Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre.jpg The Sheffield Arena.jpg CIA Cardiff Wales 001.jpg Wembley Arena.jpg

Prize money

The prize fund increased again with the top prize now reaching £125,000, and the total prize fund rising to £400,000.

StagePrize Money
Winner£125,000
Runner-up£65,000
Semi-finalists (x2)£40,000
5th place£32,500
6th place£30,000
7th place£27,500
8th place£25,000
High Checkout (per night)£1,000
Total£400,000

Results

League stage

Notes

† – Wayne Mardle didn't play in week ten because of a virus. John Part played two matches in week ten, with Mardle due to play two matches in week eleven, giving Part the night off that week. [16] However, Mardle was rushed into hospital with mumps on 15 April, which ruled him out of week eleven. [17] This meant that Mervyn King and James Wade each played twice during week eleven, with Mardle now due to play five matches in the last three weeks. Mardle had been due to play two matches in both weeks thirteen and fourteen, which would give King the night off in Sheffield, and Wade the night off in Cardiff. [18] However, Mardle was re-admitted to hospital, ruling him out of week twelve, and in accordance with tournament regulations after missing three consecutive Premier League match nights, was removed from the tournament. Mardle's match results from the tournament were also annulled, hurting some of the remaining players more than others. Following Mardle's removal from the tournament, in order for each remaining night to have four matches, there was a series of challenge matches featuring Robert Thornton, Adrian Lewis, Dennis Priestley, Mark Webster and Gary Anderson. [19]

* – Phil Taylor's average of 116.01 was, at the time, the highest recorded three-dart average in televised darts history. He broke his own record of 114.53, set against Wes Newton during the 2008 UK Open.

Play-offs – 25 May

Flag of England.svg Wembley Arena, London

Score
[20]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Phil Taylor Flag of England.svg
95.78
6 – 10 Flag of England.svg Mervyn King
89.86
James Wade Flag of England.svg
97.93
10 – 8 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld
95.26
Final (best of 25 legs)
Mervyn King Flag of England.svg
85.83
8 – 13 Flag of England.svg James Wade
90.38
High Checkout: Mervyn King 156 (Final)

Table and Streaks

Table

PosNamePldWDLPtsLFLA+/-LWAT100+140+180sAHC
1 Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor 12741188858+302919412856104.43170
2 Flag of England.svg James Wade W12732178166+15281811144397.44170
3 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld 12534137671+5251881224399.13167
4 Flag of England.svg Mervyn King RU12444127670+6282031143796.67130
5 Flag of England.svg Terry Jenkins 1225597483−9262071294695.89141
6 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg John Part 1225596386−2318180722592.38150
7 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jelle Klaasen 1214766690−2426173933391.24170

Top four qualify for Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

Streaks

PlayerWeekPlay-offs
1234567891011121314SFF
Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor WWDLDWWWWDDWWWL
Flag of England.svg James Wade DLWWWWWDLWWDWWWW
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld LDLWDWWLWLDWWDL
Flag of England.svg Mervyn King WWWWDLLWWLDDDLWL
Flag of England.svg Terry Jenkins DDDLLLWLWDLDWD
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg John Part DDLWWDLDLWDLLL
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jelle Klaasen DLLLLDLWLDDLLW
Flag of England.svg Wayne Mardle LDWLDLLLLWithdrawn
Challengers
Flag of Scotland.svg Robert Thornton L
Flag of England.svg Adrian Lewis L
Flag of England.svg Dennis Priestley L
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Webster L
Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson W

NB: W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; N/A = Did Not Play; indicates match did not count towards final standings

Player statistics

The following statistics are only for league stage games that contributed to the final standings. Annulled fixtures, challenge matches and play-offs are not included.

Phil Taylor

James Wade

Raymond van Barneveld

Mervyn King

Terry Jenkins

John Part

Jelle Klaasen

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