2015 Premier League Darts

Last updated

2015 Betway Premier League Darts
Winner
Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson
Runner-up
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen
Score
11–7
Date
4 February–21 May 2015
Edition
11th
Number of players
10
Venues
16
Premier League Darts
< 2014 | 2015 | 2016 >

The 2015 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the eleventh edition of the tournament. The event began at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on 4 February, and ended at The O2 Arena, London on 21 May. The tournament was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. This was the second year that the tournament was sponsored by Betway.

Contents

Raymond van Barneveld was the defending champion, but he lost to Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in the semi-finals. Gary Anderson won his second Premier League Darts title by beating van Gerwen 11–7 in the final.

For the first time in the Premier League's history, 6-time winner Phil Taylor did not qualify for the play-offs.

Format

The tournament format was identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks (phase 1) each player plays the other nine players once. The bottom two players are eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks (phase 2), each player plays the other seven players once. Phase 2 consists of four weeks where five matches are played followed by two weeks where four matches are played. At the end of phase 2 the top four players contest the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.

Players

The competitors who competed at the tournament were announced following the 2015 PDC World Darts Championship final on 4 January 2015, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.

Robert Thornton (world number 8), Wes Newton (number 16), and Simon Whitlock (number 7) did not return from last year. James Wade returned this year following his absence from the 2014 Premier League, along with two debutants, Kim Huybrechts, the first Belgian to compete in the league, and Stephen Bunting, the 2014 BDO world champion who had a successful first year with the PDC. [1]

PlayerAppearance in
Premier League
Consecutive
Streak
Order of Merit
rank
Previous best performanceQualification
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen 3rd31Order of Merit
Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor 112Order of Merit
Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson 5th53Order of Merit
Flag of England.svg Adrian Lewis 8th64Order of Merit
Flag of Scotland.svg Peter Wright 2nd255th (2014)PDC Wildcard
Flag of England.svg James Wade 7th16PDC Wildcard
Flag of England.svg Dave Chisnall 2nd297th (2014)PDC Wildcard
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Huybrechts 1st117PDC Wildcard
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld 1010Sky Sports Wildcard
Flag of England.svg Stephen Bunting 1st124Sky Sports Wildcard

Venues

Prize money

The prize money was dramatically increased to £700,000 from £550,000 in 2014.

StagePrize Money
Winner£200,000
Runner-up£100,000
Semi-finalists (x2)£75,000
5th place£60,000
6th place£50,000
7th place£45,000
8th place£40,000
9th place£30,000
10th place£25,000
Total£700,000

Results

League stage

Play-offs – 21 May

Flag of England.svg The O2 Arena, London

Score
[17]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Dave Chisnall Flag of England.svg
98.34
9 – 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson
98.40
Michael van Gerwen Flag of the Netherlands.svg
106.44
10 – 8 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld
100.44
Final (best of 21 legs)
Michael van Gerwen Flag of the Netherlands.svg
105.81
7 – 11 Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson
104.85
Night's Average:102.38
Highest Checkout: Flag of England.svg Dave Chisnall 152

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine weeks (phase 1), the bottom two in the table are eliminated. Each remaining player plays a further seven matches (phase 2). The top four players then participate in the playoffs.

When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

#NamePldWDLPtsLFLA+/-LWAT100+140+180sA [18] HCC% [19]
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen RU1610332310171+303818315358105.1516047.87%
2 Flag of England.svg Dave Chisnall 161024229767+303819112162101.3916142.17%
3 Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson W16925209080+10282121265799.8315238.14%
4 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld 16835199082+8312271204897.6416141.86%
5 Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor 16637158783+43024612443102.9515139.55%
6 Flag of England.svg Adrian Lewis 16547147689−13231891195198.6314738.04%
7 Flag of England.svg James Wade 16367127693−17262361442397.1217041.14%
8 Flag of England.svg Stephen Bunting 16358117593−18261811124694.3716432.86%
9 Flag of Scotland.svg Peter Wright 914464057−1710144711893.7717036.96%
10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Huybrechts 912644259−177116712797.8317034.15%

Last updated: 15 May 2015
Source: Match reports from the results section.

Top four qualified for the Play-offs after Week 15.
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. A = Average C% = Checkout Percentage HC = High Checkout.

Streaks

Player1st Phase2nd PhasePlay-offs
123456789101112131415SFF
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen WWWDDWWWWWLWLWLDWL
Flag of England.svg Dave Chisnall WWDWWLLWWWWLLWWDL
Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson WWLWLWWWDLDLWLWWWW
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld LLDWLLWLDWWWWWDWL
Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor LWWDWLLWLLWDDLLWEliminated
Flag of England.svg Adrian Lewis WLDDLLDLWWWDLLWL
Flag of England.svg James Wade DWDLLWDWLLLDLDDL
Flag of England.svg Stephen Bunting DLLLWWDLDLLDWDLL
Flag of Scotland.svg Peter Wright LLDDDWDLLEliminated
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Huybrechts LLDLWLLLD
Legend:WWinDDrawLLossEliminated

Positions by round

PlayerRound
12345678910111213141516
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen 3111211111111111
Flag of England.svg Dave Chisnall 2222123322222222
Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson 4353432233334333
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Raymond van Barneveld 10877798887753444
Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor 7534344554445655
Flag of England.svg Adrian Lewis 1666689976566566
Flag of England.svg James Wade 5445555445688777
Flag of England.svg Stephen Bunting 67910866668877888
Flag of Scotland.svg Peter Wright 910108107779Eliminated
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Huybrechts 8989910101010

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond van Barneveld</span> Dutch darts player

Raymond van Barneveld is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number thirty-four, having been the world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", although originally known as "The Man", he is a five-time World Champion. van Barneveld is also a two-time UK Open champion, and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam and the Premier League. He is also a two-time World Masters winner, and a former World Darts Trophy champion. He is a three-time winner of both the International Darts League, the Dutch Open, and the WDF World Cup singles event.

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