Premier League Darts: Chris Dobey makes line-up alongside Dimitri Van den Bergh, Nathan Aspinall and Jonny Clayton
Chris Dobey, Jonny Clayton, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh join Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price as part of the eight-man Premier League line-up watch the opening night in Belfast on Thursday, February 2 - live on Sky Sports
Monday 30 January 2023 17:51, UK
Masters champion Chris Dobey has continued his rise into the darting big-time by making this year's Premier League line-up alongside Dimitri Van den Bergh, Nathan Aspinall and Jonny Clayton for the eight-player field.
'Hollywood' Dobey produced a brilliant display to defeat former world champion Rob Cross 11-7 to clinch his first televised title in Sunday's Masters final.
The 32-year-old - who dumped out last year's Premier League runner-up Joe Cullen and fifth seed Luke Humphries to reach the last eight - continued his fine form to create history in Milton Keynes and he will now take his place in this year's star-studded field for the Premier League, which begins on Thursday in Belfast.
Dobey is joined by Belgian ace Van den Bergh, last year's World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts finalist Aspinall and 2021 champion Clayton.
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New world No 1 Michael Smith will headline this year's roadshow following his history-making success at Alexandra Palace.
Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen will be chasing a record-breaking seventh Premier League crown in 2023.
Peter Wright - the 2017 runner-up - is set to make his tenth consecutive Premier League appearance, while 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price completes the four automatic qualifiers based on their positions in the PDC Order of Merit.
How does the Premier League work?
The Premier League will retain the same format it introduced successfully in 2022, where the eight players compete each night in a knock-out format before the top four players from the final league table progress to the Play-Offs.
The new season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday February 2, the first of 17 individual venues to host the 2023 Premier League, which will be staged on Thursday nights from February to May.
The iconic Belfast venue famously saw Price hit two nine-dart finishes on the same night in the 2022 Premier League and will now stage the opening night for the first time, with February will also featuring league nights in Cardiff, Glasgow and Dublin.
Live Premier League Darts
March starts in Exeter before Liverpool's event at the M&S Bank Arena takes place on March 9 to avoid clashing with the Eurovision Song Contest at the same arena, with events in Nottingham, Newcastle and Berlin completing a busy month.
Birmingham, Brighton, Rotterdam, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Aberdeen all host events, with the top four players in the season-long standings then qualifying for the Play-Offs at The O2 on May 25.
Watch every week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on February 2 and runs every Thursday until the play-offs at The O2 in London on May 25.
