Michael Smith and Dave Chisnall crash out of Premier League Darts
Thornton avoids the chop on Judgement Night
Friday 1 April 2016 11:32, UK
Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith crashed out of this year's Premier League Darts as Robert Thornton avoided the chop on Judgement Night in Cardiff.
Thornton confirmed his survival without throwing a dart as Smith and Chisnall condemned themselves to elimination with defeats to Phil Taylor and Peter Wright, respectively.
Netherlands heavyweights Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen then provided a fitting dust-up to round-off the action, ultimately sharing the points after 'Barney' missed a dart for the win.
He faltered on double 16 when leading 6-5, allowing Van Gerwen to break his throw, then seal a draw in the following leg. A third consecutive Premier League week without a victory for Van Gerwen means he now sits second in the table.
Earlier, Smith was eliminated in his debut Premier League campaign despite a battling effort against Taylor, who is now top of the standings after a 7-5 win.
Smith was condemned to 10th place in the league but put up a gutsy fight, matching Taylor shot-for-shot until the crucial conclusion when his will seemed broken by the 16-time world champion.
Smith, who ended with just three points from nine matches, responded to going a break down by immediately hitting back but missed a dart at double tops to go 6-5 up. Instead, Taylor went ahead and Smith had no response in the following leg.
Chisnall then followed Smith out of the tournament after going down 7-5 to Wright.
Chizzy fell two breaks behind to Wright, who is sixth in the table, but immediately closed the gap to 4-6, then pulled one more leg back as 'Snakebite' faltered on a 170 finish.
At 5-6 behind, Chisnall could have only hoped for a draw which would have temporarily put him above Thornton in the league table. But Wright took the final leg, handing Thornton a reprieve.
The Scotsman, able to play a more relaxed match with Adrian Lewis than he might have anticipated, went on to lose 7-4 but remain in eighth.
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Lewis secured the crucial break to go 2-1 ahead and never looked likely to surrender that lead - registering a result that takes him to fourth in the league.
Earlier, Gary Anderson recovered from 3-0 down to salvage a draw against James Wade despite an error-strewn display.
The reigning champion missed 13 of his first 14 doubles, and bizarrely went bust when aiming for just eight, but still battled back to earn a point that takes him level on points with Van Gerwen.
Anderson had a dart to win the match after breaking Wade's throw to go 6-5 ahead. Wade eventually matched the break to go one point shy of the top four.
After six more weeks of competition, the top four in the table will progress to the play-offs at the O2 Arena in London.
Premier League Darts Judgement Night results:
James Wade 6-6 Gary Anderson
Phil Taylor 7-5 Michael Smith
Peter Wright 7-5 Dave Chisnall
Adrian Lewis 7-4 Robert Thornton
Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Michael van Gerwen
