2016 Premier League Darts

The 2016 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the twelfth edition of the tournament.

2016 Betway Premier League Darts
Winner
Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Phil Taylor
Score
11–3
Date
4 February–19 May 2016
Edition
12th
Number of players
10
Venues
16
Premier League Darts
< 2015 | 2016 | 2017 >

The event began on 4 February at the First Direct Arena in Leeds and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on 19 May. The tournament saw its first visit to the Netherlands after agreeing to go to the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam on 12 May, joining 15 other venues across the UK and Ireland.[1][2] This is the third year that the tournament was sponsored by Betway.

Gary Anderson was the defending champion, but he lost to Phil Taylor 10–7 in the semi-finals. Michael van Gerwen won his second Premier League Darts title by beating Taylor 11–3 in the final.[3]

Van Gerwen also recorded the highest televised 3-dart average of 123.40 against Michael Smith during night 4 in Aberdeen.

Format

The tournament format remained 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.

Venues

Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena became the first arena from outside the British Isles to host a Premier League event, it replaced the Brighton Centre.

Leeds	Newcastle upon Tyne	Dublin	Aberdeen
First Direct Arena Thursday 4 February	Metro Radio Arena Thursday 11 February	3Arena Thursday 18 February	GE Oil & Gas Arena Thursday 25 February
Exeter	Nottingham	Glasgow	Liverpool
Westpoint Arena Thursday 3 March	Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 10 March	SSE Hydro Thursday 17 March	Echo Arena Thursday 24 March
Cardiff	Sheffield	Belfast	Bournemouth
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 31 March	Sheffield Arena Thursday 7 April	SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 14 April	Bournemouth International Centre Thursday 21 April
Birmingham	Manchester	Rotterdam	London
Barclaycard Arena Thursday 28 April	Manchester Arena Thursday 5 May	Rotterdam Ahoy Thursday 12 May	The O2 Thursday 19 May

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2016 PDC World Darts Championship final on 3 January 2016, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.[1] The ten players made up the top ten in the PDC Order of Merit following the World Championship. Stephen Bunting (world number 16) and Kim Huybrechts (world number 14) did not return from last year. Robert Thornton returned after a year out, and Michael Smith made his début.

Player	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit Rank	Previous best performance	Qualification
Michael van Gerwen	4th	4	1	Winner (2013)	Order of Merit
Gary Anderson	6th	6	2	Winner (2011, 2015)	Order of Merit
Adrian Lewis	9th	7	3	Runner-up (2011)	Order of Merit
Phil Taylor	12th	12	4	Winner (2005–2008, 2010, 2012)	Order of Merit
Peter Wright	3rd	3	5	5th (2014)	PDC Wildcard
James Wade	8th	2	6	Winner (2009)	PDC Wildcard
Robert Thornton	3rd	1	7	5th (2013)	PDC Wildcard
Michael Smith	1st	1	8	Debut	PDC Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld	11th	11	9	Winner (2014)	Sky Sports Wildcard
Dave Chisnall	3rd	3	10	Semi-finals (2015)	Sky Sports Wildcard

Prize money

The 2016 Premier League saw the introduction of a £25,000 League Leader's Bonus for the player who topped the league table following the 15 league nights, taking the total prize fund for the event up to £725,000 from £700,000 in 2015.[4]

Stage	Prize 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
League Winner Bonus	£25,000
Total	£725,000

Results

League stage

[5]

4 February – Week 1 (Phase 1) First Direct Arena, Leeds Score [6] Peter Wright 99.16 7 – 2 Michael Smith 86.15 Michael van Gerwen 98.30 4 – 7 James Wade 97.43 Phil Taylor 92.34 2 – 7 Raymond van Barneveld 103.60 Robert Thornton 75.68 0 – 7 Dave Chisnall 101.16 Adrian Lewis 100.03 7 – 1 Michael Smith* 80.97 Night's Average: 93.48 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 167 Most 180s: Peter Wright & James Wade 5 Night's 180s: 24 *Gary Anderson was originally scheduled to play against Adrian Lewis, but was sidelined with an illness, so Michael Smith played twice in Round 1. Anderson played Lewis on 17 March (Round 7), giving Smith the night off.

11 February – Week 2 (Phase 1) Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne Score [7] James Wade* 93.00 7 – 4 Michael Smith 91.74 Raymond van Barneveld 93.23 5 – 7 Peter Wright 88.19 Adrian Lewis 98.92 7 – 4 Dave Chisnall 98.80 Gary Anderson 106.23 3 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 111.88[8] James Wade 101.85 1 – 7 Phil Taylor 111.20 Night's Average: 99.5 Highest Checkout: Phil Taylor 127 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 6 Night's 180s: 25 *Robert Thornton was originally scheduled to play against Michael Smith, but was sidelined with an illness, so James Wade played twice in Round 2. Thornton played Smith on 24 March (Round 8), giving Wade the night off.

18 February – Week 3 (Phase 1) 3Arena, Dublin Score Peter Wright 104.48 7 – 4 James Wade 98.96 Dave Chisnall 96.88 6 – 6 Michael Smith 93.73 Phil Taylor 100.83 7 – 4 Gary Anderson 93.38 Michael van Gerwen 106.40 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 98.54 Robert Thornton 89.89 5 – 7 Raymond van Barneveld 102.60 Night's Average: 98.57 Highest Checkout: Peter Wright 161 Most 180s: Dave Chisnall & Michael van Gerwen 5 Night's 180s: 36

25 February – Week 4 (Phase 1) GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen Score Adrian Lewis 99.55 7 – 5 James Wade 97.27 Gary Anderson 103.34 7 – 3 Raymond van Barneveld 98.89 Michael van Gerwen WR 123.40 7 – 1 Michael Smith 91.41 Phil Taylor 115.25 7 – 5 Dave Chisnall 109.63 Peter Wright 98.45 6 – 6 Robert Thornton 91.98 Night's Average: 102.92 Highest Checkout: Adrian Lewis 142 Most 180s: Phil Taylor 7 Night's 180s: 40

3 March – Week 5 (Phase 1) Westpoint Arena, Exeter Score Phil Taylor 104.00 7 – 1 Adrian Lewis 93.11 Dave Chisnall 96.26 4 – 7 James Wade 102.25 Robert Thornton 85.80 4 – 7 Gary Anderson 89.88 Peter Wright 108.98 2 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 116.67 Michael Smith 95.77 7 – 5 Raymond van Barneveld 92.19 Night's Average: 98.49 Highest Checkout: James Wade 161 Most 180s: Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen & Michael Smith 4 Night's 180s: 25

10 March – Week 6 (Phase 1) Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Nottingham Score Michael Smith 95.54 3 – 7 Gary Anderson 102.19 Peter Wright 106.79 3 – 7 Adrian Lewis 107.93 Raymond van Barneveld 101.17 5 – 7 James Wade 100.50 Robert Thornton 88.38 0 – 7 Phil Taylor 102.15 Dave Chisnall 93.03 2 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 113.47 Night's Average: 101.12 Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 161 Most 180s: Adrian Lewis & Phil Taylor 5 Night's 180s: 31

17 March – Week 7 (Phase 1) SSE Hydro, Glasgow Score Gary Anderson 99.39 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 93.00 James Wade 100.81 7 – 4 Robert Thornton 101.35 Michael van Gerwen 107.35 6 – 6 Phil Taylor 103.12 Raymond van Barneveld 104.90 7 – 4 Dave Chisnall 96.27 Gary Anderson 102.75 7 – 5 Peter Wright 101.31 Night's Average: 100.99 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 170 Most 180s: Dave Chisnall 5 Night's 180s: 34

24 March – Week 8 (Phase 1) Echo Arena Liverpool, Liverpool Score Michael Smith 92.48 5 – 7 Robert Thornton 92.88 Gary Anderson 103.25 7 – 4 Dave Chisnall 100.01 Adrian Lewis 96.57 7 – 5 Raymond van Barneveld 98.35 Phil Taylor 101.51 6 – 6 Peter Wright 103.40 Michael van Gerwen 97.57 6 – 6 Robert Thornton 95.59 Night's Average: 98.16 Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 144 Most 180s: Peter Wright 5 Night's 180s: 31

31 March – Week 9 (Phase 1) Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff Score James Wade 95.18 6 – 6 Gary Anderson 100.68 Michael Smith 94.82 5 – 7 Phil Taylor 99.92 Dave Chisnall 93.92 5 – 7 Peter Wright 97.14 Robert Thornton 92.54 4 – 7 Adrian Lewis 96.82 Raymond van Barneveld 101.69 6 – 6 Michael van Gerwen 105.59 Night's Average: 97.83 Highest Checkout: Phil Taylor 124 Most 180s: Gary Anderson 5 Night's 180s: 34

7 April – Week 10 (Phase 2) Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield Score James Wade 97.25 7 – 4 Raymond van Barneveld 97.23 Gary Anderson 92.83 3 – 7 Phil Taylor 99.31 Robert Thornton 104.23 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 117.95 Adrian Lewis 88.68 6 – 6 Peter Wright 93.43 Phil Taylor 92.91 7 – 4 James Wade 91.50 Night's Average: 97.53 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 138 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 6 Night's 180s: 30

14 April – Week 11 (Phase 2) SSE Arena Belfast, Belfast Score Robert Thornton 105.63 7 – 2 Peter Wright 92.48 Raymond van Barneveld 96.14 5 – 7 Phil Taylor 100.36 James Wade 95.95 5 – 7 Adrian Lewis 103.54 Michael van Gerwen 110.55 6 – 6 Gary Anderson 108.24 Raymond van Barneveld 92.53 7 – 4 Robert Thornton 88.16 Night's Average: 99.36 Highest Checkout: Adrian Lewis 144 Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 6 Night's 180s: 29 Nine Dart Finish: Adrian Lewis

21 April – Week 12 (Phase 2) Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth Score Michael van Gerwen 103.38 7 – 2 Peter Wright 98.30 Raymond van Barneveld 93.09 7 – 4 Adrian Lewis 90.42 Gary Anderson 103.07 6 – 6 James Wade 99.71 Phil Taylor 89.61 7 – 2 Robert Thornton 93.61 Adrian Lewis 92.98 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 96.82 Night's Average: 96.1 Highest Checkout: Adrian Lewis 142 Most 180s: Gary Anderson 5 Night's 180s: 22

28 April – Week 13 (Phase 2) Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham Score Peter Wright 99.67 7 – 4 Phil Taylor 106.48 Raymond van Barneveld 99.64 5 – 7 Gary Anderson 99.19 Adrian Lewis 96.55 7 – 2 Robert Thornton 94.55 James Wade 102.40 1 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 108.33 Peter Wright 103.45 6 – 6 Gary Anderson 101.51 Night's Average: 101.18 Highest Checkout: Raymond van Barneveld 132 Most 180s: Peter Wright 7 Night's 180s: 22

5 May – Week 14 (Phase 2) Manchester Arena, Manchester Score James Wade 97.29 1 – 7 Peter Wright 99.15 Gary Anderson 99.33 7 – 1 Robert Thornton 90.40 Michael van Gerwen 107.93 7 – 2 Raymond van Barneveld 100.78 Adrian Lewis 94.11 2 – 7 Phil Taylor 103.72 Night's Average: 99.09 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 167 Most 180s: Peter Wright 6 Night's 180s: 20

12 May – Week 15 (Phase 2) Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam Score Robert Thornton 85.57 3 – 7 James Wade 89.16 Peter Wright 90.33 6 – 6 Raymond van Barneveld 90.02 Adrian Lewis 93.22 7 – 2 Gary Anderson 97.21 Phil Taylor 95.55 5 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 101.24 Night's Average: 92.79 Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 164 Most 180s : Michael van Gerwen 4 Night's 180s: 14

Play-offs – 19 May

The O₂ Arena, London

	Score
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 103.19	10 – 4	Adrian Lewis 95.47
Phil Taylor 98.21	10 – 7	Gary Anderson 96.86
Final (best of 21 legs)
Michael van Gerwen 104.68	11 – 3	Phil Taylor 98.84
Night's Average: 99.54
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 121

League summary

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 compete 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.

#	Name	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A[9]	HC	C%
1	Michael van Gerwen W	26	16	11	4	1	105	63	+42	39	187	144	62	107.93	170	49.30%
2	Phil Taylor RU	24	16	11	2	3	100	65	+35	36	228	138	52	101.15	141	46.51%
3	Gary Anderson	20	16	8	4	4	92	81	+11	30	222	134	48	100.15	144	40.35%
4	Adrian Lewis	19	16	9	1	6	89	79	+10	32	223	109	38	96.50	144	40.09%
5	Peter Wright	17	16	6	5	5	86	86	0	27	239	142	52	99.04	161	40.00%
6	James Wade	16	16	7	2	7	82	89	−7	27	256	143	35	97.53	161	42.71%
7	Raymond van Barneveld	12	16	5	2	9	86	94	−8	25	244	169	44	97.88	161	38.05%
8	Robert Thornton	6	16	2	2	12	60	103	−43	10	220	100	33	92.26	145	35.93%
9	Dave Chisnall	3	9	1	1	7	41	55	−14	17	101	67	37	98.44	116	35.96%
10	Michael Smith	3	9	1	1	7	34	60	−26	14	103	42	24	91.40	122	37.36%

Last updated: 12 May 2016
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.

Positions by round

Player	Round
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Michael van Gerwen	6	6	4	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
Phil Taylor	7	7	5	4	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2
Gary Anderson	7	8	9	8	6	6	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	3
Adrian Lewis	2	1	2	3	4	3	5	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4
Peter Wright	3	2	1	1	3	5	6	6	6	6	6	7	6	5	5
James Wade	5	3	6	6	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6
Raymond van Barneveld	3	5	3	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	7	7	7
Robert Thornton	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Dave Chisnall	1	4	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	Eliminated
Michael Smith	9	9	8	10	9	9	9	10	10

References

1. "2016 Betway Premier League Field". PDC. 3 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
2. "2016 Betway Premier League Dates". PDC. 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
3. "How Van Gerwen won the Premier League". BBC Sport. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
4. "League Leader's Bonus Introduced". PDC. 3 February 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016.
5. http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/1khviz5m0rw812mm94p5cu2ie/title/2016%%5B%5D
6. "Betway Premier League Fixtures". PDC. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
7. "Betway Premier League Night Two". PDC. 26 January 2016.
8. "News | PDC". Pdc.tv. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
9. "2016 Premier League Stats: Tournament Average". Darts Database. Retrieved 15 March 2016.