Watch all 17 nights of the Premier League on Sky Sports - starting at Aberdeen's P&J Live on Thursday February 6
Thursday 23 January 2020 08:06, UK
Fallon Sherrock's Premier League Darts 'Challenger' spot will see her face Glen Durrant, while Peter Wright takes on Michael van Gerwen on Night One in Aberdeen.
As has become tradition, the opening night of the tournament will feature a repeat of the World Championship final and after the New Year's Day cracker that saw Scotland's Snakebite crowned world champion for the first time with a 7-3 win, they will meet again on Thursday February 6 in Aberdeen.
Van Gerwen is a force of nature in the Premier League, topping the regular-season standings for the last seven years, reaching the final every year he has played and claiming five titles, including each of the last four.
The pair met in the 2017 Premier League final, where Wright - who narrowly avoided relegation last year - contrived to miss six match darts and allow Van Gerwen to win, despite the Dutchman being 7-2 down at one stage.
All eyes will again be on Sherrock after her history-making performance at the World Championship.
Wins over Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic saw her make headlines across the globe and her showing has been rewarded with spots on the World Series and a Challenger position on Night Two in Nottingham.
She will face Duzza at the Motorpoint Arena on February 13, while Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall also meet to start the evening, with Scotland's World Cup-winning duo of Gary Anderson and Wright going head-to-head and MVG going up against Daryl Gurney in the final match of the night.
We get our first look at the sport's newest rivalry between Van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price in Liverpool on March 12 - the pair played out a number of memorable showdowns last year and in his third successive year, the Iceman will be hoping to make the Play-Offs for the first time.
The opening night boasts a stacked card, with two-time Premier League winner and Scotland's own Anderson making his return after injury ruled him out of last year's Premier League - he faces Gurney.
The first of the 'challengers' is John Henderson, who is back and after last year's memorable walk-on that featured a bagpiper and a rousing rendition of 'Flower of Scotland', his opponent Aspinall can expect more of the same.
Michael Smith and three-time BDO world champion Durrant kick off Night One with the opening fixture, Duzza stepping up from being a 'contender' last year while the evening concludes with Price and Cross going head-to-head.
Nine nights of action kick off the opening stage of the competition, culminating in back-to-back nights at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena on March 25 and 26.
The second of which, Judgement Night, will see the player bottom of the league relegated and the remaining eight move on to the second phase and seven more nights of action in Belfast, Sheffield, Manchester, Berlin, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds.
The top four players will progress to London to face off for the title, and a £250,000 top prize on Thursday May 21. The player who tops the regular season will face the fourth-placed finisher, while second and third will collide in the other semi-final before the dramatic conclusion at London's O2.
As well as Sherrock, eight other Challengers now all know their fate. The names were revealed a couple of weeks ago, after Barry Hearn had confirmed Sherrock and Henderson on New Year's Day alongside the nine permanent names.
Henderson kicks things off in Aberdeen, with Sherrock's Nottingham showdown with Duzza eagerly anticipated. Jonny Clayton is sure of a rapturous reception for his debut in Cardiff on Night Three.
He faces former Premier League and World Championship runner-up Smith, with the crowd sure to give the Englishman a warm welcome at the Motorpoint Arena.
The action moves to Dublin for Night Four and William O'Connor's reward is a meeting with Van Gerwen. O'Connor memorably teamed up with last year's Contender Steve Lennon to help the Republic of Ireland to a memorable World Cup of Darts semi-final win over Van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena.
Wattimena is the final Challenger to take to the oche. On Judgement Night in Rotterdam, he will face two-time Grand Slam champion Price, while the night before Jeffrey de Zwaan is back for a second year and will face world champion Wright.
World Youth Champion Luke Humphries, a quarter-finalist at the World Championship for a second successive year, is back in Exeter to take on Anderson, while Chris Dobey also returns and will meet Gurney.
The other Challenger is Stephen Bunting. Five years on from featuring in the tournament proper, he returns and will meet the 2018 world champion Cross in Liverpool on Night Seven.
Follow every week of the Premier League on Sky Sports, kicking off in Aberdeen on Thursday February 6 and 17 weeks of action continues every Thursday through until the Play-Offs on London on May 21.
