Coverage of the Premier League continues on Thursday, February 20 in Cardiff at 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Main Event
Monday 17 February 2020 10:45, UK
As a new week dawns, we reflect on the winners and the losers from the Premier League and Pro Tour action in recent days.
Fallon Sherrock
We can only start in one place.
After her history-making exploits at the Ally Pally, the 25-year-old superstar proved her World Championship run was no fluke as she looked at home on the Premier League stage.
She went toe to toe with Glen Durrant and forced the three-time BDO world champ to dig deep to rescue a draw from a perilous position.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Sherrock's showing was the manner in which she rose to the occasion. She loves the big stage.
"She seems to thrive on the big occasion, on the big stage. Not many people can do that," noted Wayne Mardle on Thursday.
It seems like we haven't seen the end of Fallon Sherrock on the Premier League stage.
Rob Cross
The former world champ appears to have found his mojo. He looks healthier, having lost almost three stone and this has been reflected in his game.
"I feel absolutely amazing," he said after his win over Nathan Aspinall on Thursday. "I'd done things wrong for the last two years. I ate what I wanted. I'd done what I wanted.
"I need to start looking after myself.
"I want the best out of this game, of what I can get. To be honest, the way I was doing things last year, or the year before - was I doing the right thing for me? No."
He is unbeaten in the first two games, and will be looking to kick on in the coming weeks. We all know what Voltage is capable of, and the former electrician is beginning to find his spark.
Competition in the Premier League
The sport's elite are tightly bunched right now. One only need look at the Premier League table to see how close it is.
After two rounds of games, only Michael van Gerwen has a 100 per cent record, while Daryl Gurney is the sole player who is yet to pick up a point.
Indeed, three of Thursday's five matches were drawn, while a fourth went right down to the wire as Cross beat Aspinall 7-5.
This week's stop at Cardiff throws up new challenges, with MVG looking to continue his winning start against the in-form Asp.
Meanwhile, the holders of the sport's two biggest prizes face off, as reigning World Champ Peter Wright faces Matchplay winner Rob Cross.
Results are harder to predict than ever.
Daryl Gurney
'Super Chin' was included in this column seven days ago, and in the interim he endured a week to forget.
The one positive will be that he managed to avoid a whitewash at the hands of Michael van Gerwen in Nottingham.
However, he didn't threaten the world number one, nor apply any pressure. The two-time major winner will know a three-dart average of 93.92 isn't going to cut it at the top level, and the 7-1 scoreline reflected the one-sided nature of the contest.
In Wigan over the weekend, he lost two deciding legs in successive first-round losses to Gavin Carlin and John Michael.
He'll be hoping to pick up his first points of the Premier League campaign when he faces Gerwyn Price in Cardiff on Thursday.
Nathan Aspinall
Given the heights hit by the 28-year-old last week, it was always going to be difficult to keep up. Seven days ago, we detailed his remarkable Players Championship victory and Premier League win.
The past few days haven't been quite as successful. The Asp suffered a 7-5 defeat to Cross in Nottingham, and although he picked up four wins in Wigan at the weekend, he wasn't in the mix for silverware as he fell in the third round to Joe Murnan and Danny Noppert on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
These are the standards he has set for himself, and he'll be looking to bounce back when he faces MVG in Cardiff on Thursday.
Duzza's finishing
Widely hailed as one of the deadliest doublers in darts, Glen Durrant had an off-day in Nottingham. Under intense pressure with the majority of the crowd rooting for him to lose, the 49-year-old struggled to stay composed for much of the contest.
The usually-undeterred Duzza was clearly feeling the heat, and recorded an uncharacteristically low 26.09 per cent on checkout attempts.
This opened the door for Sherrock, and she took full advantage.
Clinical finishing has been a staple of Durrant''s success since his switch to the PDC, and he'll be looking to address those shortcomings this week.
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Coverage of the Premier League continues on Thursday, February 20 in Cardiff at 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Main Event with Jonny 'The Ferret' Clayton up against Michael Smith. Don't forget, the coverage continues every Thursday through until the Play-Offs in London on May 21.
