2020 Premier League Darts

The 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the sixteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February at the P&J Live in Aberdeen and ended with the Play-offs at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Thursday 15 October, after a delay was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

2020 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
England Glen Durrant
Runner-up
England Nathan Aspinall
Score
11–8
Dates
6 February–15 October 2020
Edition
16th
Number of players
9 (plus 9 guests)
Venues
8
Nine Dart Finish
England Michael Smith
Scotland Peter Wright
Premier League Darts
< 2019 | 2020 | 2021 >

Michael van Gerwen was the five-time defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the 2019 final. However, he was eliminated from the competition in week 16, after an 8–2 defeat to Daryl Gurney, and a poor run of form saw him slip out of the playoffs, for the first time in his career.[1]

Glen Durrant, who was making his debut in the tournament, finished the regular season in 1st place (becoming only the third player to do so, after van Gerwen and Phil Taylor, to set up a semi-final meeting between Gary Anderson. Durrant claimed a narrow 10–9 victory (including surviving 4 match darts from Anderson), before eventually winning the competition, by beating fellow debutant Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the final to claim his first televised PDC title.[2]

This was also the first time in Premier League Darts history that the four players that qualified for the finals had not appeared in the finals of the previous year's edition (the four players being van Gerwen, Gurney, Cross and James Wade).

On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the double-header due to be played in Rotterdam had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.[3] The following day it was announced that the Rotterdam dates would be moved to September, with the culmination of the tournament taking place there instead of London.[4] On 16 March 2020. it was announced the round to be played in Newcastle would be moved to October, taking over as the tournament's final round.

The May dates were postponed on 9 April 2020, with the PDC announcing a fully rescheduled calendar, the play-offs now taking place in Sheffield.[5] Further changes were announced in July and August, with the cancellation of the events in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and the double header in Rotterdam; and the reinstatement of The O2 Arena as the host of the final. Ten nights were added to the calendar to be held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.[6][7] The play-offs were subsequently moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and also played behind closed doors.[8]

Format

The tournament format will remain the same as 2019, with the only difference being the re-branding of 'contenders' to 'challengers' for this season.[9]

Phase 1: In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.

Phase 2: In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.

Play-off Night: The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

Venues

The only change of venues from 2019 to 2020 was the introduction of the P&J Live in Aberdeen, which hosted the opening night's action.[10]

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the rounds in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were cancelled, with rounds being added in Milton Keynes to make up.[6]

Locations of the 2020 Premier League venues in the UK and Ireland.
Other locations of the 2020 Premier League venues in Europe.
Scotland Aberdeen England Nottingham Wales Cardiff Republic of Ireland Dublin
P&J Live
Thursday 6 February		 Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Thursday 13 February		 Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Thursday 20 February		 3Arena
Thursday 27 February
England Exeter England Liverpool England Birmingham Northern Ireland Belfast
Westpoint Arena
Thursday 5 March		 M&S Bank Arena
Thursday 12 March		 Arena Birmingham
(cancelled)		 SSE Arena Belfast
(cancelled)
England Leeds Germany Berlin Netherlands Rotterdam England Milton Keynes
First Direct Arena
(cancelled)		 Mercedes Benz Arena
(cancelled)		 Rotterdam Ahoy
(cancelled)		 Marshall Arena
Tuesday 25 August – Saturday 5 September
Scotland Glasgow England Manchester England Newcastle England Sheffield
SSE Hydro (cancelled) Manchester Arena (cancelled) Utilita Arena Newcastle
(cancelled)		 Sheffield Arena
(cancelled)
England London England Coventry
The O2 Arena
(cancelled)		 Ricoh Arena
Thursday 15 October

Prize money

The prize money for the 2020 tournament remained at £825,000.

StagePrize Money
Winner£250,000
Runner-up£120,000
Semi-finalists (x2)£80,000
5th place£70,000
6th place£60,000
7th place£55,000
8th place£50,000
9th place£35,000
League Winner Bonus£25,000
Total£825,000

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by five wildcards.[9]

Player Appearance in
Premier League		 Consecutive
Streak		 Order of Merit
Rank on 1/1/20		 Previous best performance Qualification
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 8th 8 1 Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) PDC Order of Merit
Scotland Peter Wright 7th 7 2 Runner-up (2017) PDC Order of Merit
Wales Gerwyn Price 3rd 3 3 5th (2019) PDC Order of Merit
England Rob Cross 3rd 3 4 Runner-up (2019) PDC Order of Merit
England Michael Smith 4th 3 5 Runner-up (2018) Wildcard
Scotland Gary Anderson 9th 1[lower-alpha 1] 6 Winner (2011, 2015) Wildcard
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 3rd 3 7 Semi-final (2019) Wildcard
England Nathan Aspinall 1st[lower-alpha 2] 1 8 Debut Wildcard
England Glen Durrant 1st[lower-alpha 2] 1 22 Debut Wildcard
  1. Anderson qualified for the 2019 Premier League Darts, but withdrew following an injury.
  2. Competed in 2019 Premier League Darts as a contender.

The format is similar to that of 2019, with 9 main players plus 9 invited players, now referred to as 'challengers' in a re-brand from the tag of 'contenders'. The 9 main players earn league points if they win or draw against the challengers. The challengers do not earn any league points but they earn financial bonuses if they win or draw their match.[9]

Player Venue Order of Merit
Rank on 1/1/20
Scotland John Henderson Aberdeen 31
England Fallon Sherrock Nottingham 91[lower-alpha 1]
Wales Jonny Clayton Cardiff 16
Republic of Ireland William O'Connor Dublin 37
England Luke Humphries Exeter 35
England Stephen Bunting Liverpool 17
England Chris Dobey Milton Keynes 19
Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan Milton Keynes 20
Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena Milton Keynes 23
  1. Not a PDC Tour Card holder following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship

League stage

Players in italics are "Challengers", and only play on that night.

Play-offs – 15 October

England Ricoh Arena, Coventry

Score
[27]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
England Glen Durrant
86.10		10 – 9Scotland Gary Anderson
87.82
Scotland Peter Wright
94.02		7 – 10England Nathan Aspinall
95.67
Final (best of 21 legs)
England Glen Durrant
91.84		11 – 8England Nathan Aspinall
92.15
Night's Total Average: 91.01
Highest Checkout: England Nathan Aspinall 141
Most 180s: England Nathan Aspinall 13
Night's 180s: 26

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.

The nine challengers are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. 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.

# Name Matches Legs Scoring
Pld W D L Pts LF LA +/- LWAT 100+ 140+ 180s A HC C%
1 England Glen Durrant W168532110485+19362221363598.0516740.63
2 Scotland Peter Wright169252010284+18292191356299.6617047.00
3 England Nathan Aspinall RU169161910392+11362231426198.6217039.02
4 Scotland Gary Anderson16835199892+6362091355297.0717039.74
5 Wales Gerwyn Price16655179984+15332201224598.5616441.60
6 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 16817178993–4282061054399.0514441.06
7 England Michael Smith16538138996−7331931107397.2016736.33
8 Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney164391186101−15312121234193.5016438.91
9 England Rob Cross 913554458−1417119691994.6114337.61


W = Winner RU = Runner Up

Streaks
Player Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9 Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16 Play-offs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 SF F
England Glen Durrant W D W L W W D W W W D W D D L L W W
Scotland Peter Wright L D W L W W D W W L L L W W W W L —
England Nathan Aspinall W L W W L D W L W L W L W L W W W L
Scotland Gary Anderson W D L W L D W L W W D W W W L L L —
Wales Gerwyn Price D D D W L L L W W L W W L D D W —
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen W W L W L W W L L W L W L D W L —
England Michael Smith L D W W W L L W L W L L D L D L —
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney L L D L D L W W L L W L L D L W —
England Rob Cross D W L L D D L L L Eliminated
Challengers L D L L W D L L L —
Legend: WWinDDrawLLoss—Eliminated

Positions by Week
Player Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9 Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
England Glen Durrant 1 2 1 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Scotland Peter Wright 8 7 7 8 7 5 5 3 2 3 4 6 4 3 3 2
England Nathan Aspinall 2 5 3 2 4 4 3 4 3 6 2 5 3 4 4 3
Scotland Gary Anderson 3 4 8 6 6 6 4 5 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 4
Wales Gerwyn Price 6 6 6 3 5 7 7 7 6 7 6 4 6 6 6 5
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 4 1 2 1 3 2 1 2 4 2 5 3 5 5 5 6
England Michael Smith 9 8 4 5 2 3 6 6 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 7
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
England Rob Cross 5 3 5 7 8 8 8 9 9 Eliminated

References
  1. "Premier League Darts 2020: Michael van Gerwen loses to Daryl Gurney as four-year reign ends". Sky Sports.
  2. "Premier League Darts 2020: Glen Durrant crowned unibet Premier League Champion". PDC.
  3. "Rotterdam Double-Header Postponed". PDC.
  4. "Rotterdam double-header moved to September". PDC.
  5. "Unibet Premier League's May dates moved". PDC.
  6. Phillips, Josh. "Revised 2020 Unibet Premier League schedule confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. "Four further Unibet Premier League nights rescheduled". PDC.
  8. Phillips, Josh. "Ricoh Arena to host three further TV events & Winter Series". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  9. Phillips, Josh. "2020 Premier League to feature 'Challengers'". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  10. "2020 Unibet Premier League dates confirmed". PDC.
  11. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night One". PDC. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Two". PDC. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  13. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Three". PDC. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  14. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Four". PDC. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  15. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Five". PDC. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  16. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Six". PDC. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  17. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Seven". PDC. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  18. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Eight". PDC. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  19. "2020 Premier League Darts; Judgement Night". PDC. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  20. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night Ten". PDC. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 11". PDC. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  22. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 12". PDC. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  23. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 13". PDC. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  24. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 14". PDC. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  25. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 15". PDC. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  26. "2020 Premier League Darts; Night 16". PDC. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  27. "2020 Premier League Darts; Play-offs". PDC. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
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