Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor drew at Premier League Darts in Glasgow
Friday 18 March 2016 08:48, UK
Michael van Gerwen and Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor slugged out a back-and-forth Premier League Darts tussle that ended as a deserved 6-6 draw.
The two oche heavyweights continue to sit first and second in the league table, with Van Gerwen marginally ahead by one leg overall, after they could not be separated by their high-stakes clash in Glasgow.
A magnificent 170 checkout against the throw gave Van Gerwen a glorious chance to extend his lead at the top of the Premier League, but Taylor kept his cool to break back in the following leg then hold his throw to earn a point.
After weeks of debate about whether Van Gerwen had overtaken Taylor as the greatest player ever, the opening leg of the match immediately appeared crucial. Taylor, against the throw, missed four darts at a double to break, and Van Gerwen was able to hold twice consecutively and found himself 2-1 ahead after a nervy start.
The mighty Dutchman suddenly clicked into gear, breaking twice in a row and stringing five legs together to open a 5-1 lead that had Taylor reeling. The 16-time world champion showed his famous mettle with two breaks of his own - finishing on a bullseye, then from 120, to close the gap to 5-4.
From there, Van Gerwen thought he'd set up a simple conclusion after his 170 checkout but missed three darts for the match and was forced to share the spotlight with his illustrious foe.
"There's not a day that goes by where I don't practice thinking about this man," Taylor admitted afterwards.
Defending champion Gary Anderson enjoyed a homecoming to remember with two victories over Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright.
'The Flying Scotsman' opened the night with a 7-4 win against Lewis, roared on by a vocal Scottish crowd who were finding their voice.
Anderson stormed into a three-leg lead and Lewis was met with deathly silence when he struck back, although he was never able to make a fight of it. Anderson missed three match darts but returned in the next leg to finalise his first win.
He then defeated Wright 7-5 in a finale between two Scottish players who had a boisterous crowd singing their lungs out.
A back-and-forth contest saw both players refuse to give an inch and even when Wright broke, Anderson hit back immediately for 4-4. The crucial error was eventually made by 'Snakebite'.
Throwing for a draw, he watched Anderson miss a further handful of match darts but then missed a trio of his own to seal a point. Anderson's two wins sent him up to third in the Premier League, a point behind Van Gerwen and Taylor.
Raymond van Barneveld fended off the threat of an early exit from the Premier League with a 7-4 win against fellow struggler Dave Chisnall.
Chizzy's winless run extended to six and Van Barneveld is now three points clear of him after a hat-trick of massive checkouts took him over the finishing line.
Barney took out 121, 161 on the bullseye then 152 to outclass Chisnall and keep himself in the tournament ahead of the first ever date in his home country of the Netherlands.
There was no happy homecoming for Scotland's Robert Thornton, who slipped to a 7-4 defeat to James Wade on home turf.
Thornton undoubtedly put in his best performance of a winless season so far but he remains rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with just a single point.
Gary Anderson 7-4 Adrian Lewis
James Wade 7-4 Robert Thornton
Michael van Gerwen 6-6 Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld 7-4 Dave Chisnall
Gary Anderson 7-5 Peter Wright
