Michael van Gerwen held to a draw by Robert Thornton on night eight of Premier League in Liverpool
Friday 25 March 2016 16:53, UK
Michael van Gerwen was forced to settle for a draw as Robert Thornton boosted his own survival hopes on night eight of the Premier League.
The world No 1 could not close out a win over Thornton, who snatched the final leg to earn a point, which was enough to move the Scot out of the bottom two after his earlier win over Michael Smith at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
Phil Taylor remains just behind leader Van Gerwen after he was held to a draw by Peter Wright, while Gary Anderson sits in third following his win over Dave Chisnall, his sixth straight victory of the competition.
Chisnall joined bottom-placed Smith in the two-man drop zone and they will fight against elimination, along with Thornton, in next week's 'Judgement Night' in Cardiff.
Earlier in the night, Thornton held his nerve in a tense clash with fellow struggler Smith, hitting double 20 to secure his first win of the campaign.
But few expected 'The Thorn' to unsettle Van Gerwen, who confidently collected the first leg with a 14-darter.
A fantastic 140 checkout from Thornton gained the attention of 'Mighty Mike' and the pair continued to swap legs, with Van Gerwen taking out 130 to move 4-3 up.
Victory appeared in the Dutchman's grasp when he nailed a 96 checkout to move one away, but Thornton stood firm, hitting tops for a precious point.
Taylor was thwarted in his bid for top spot as he exchanged classy checkouts with the dogged Wright.
A sizzling 130 on the bull from 'Snakebite' was followed by a fantastic 141 from Taylor, who appeared to have the edge when he broke for a 6-4 lead.
Wright refused to lie down, responding with an ice-cool 111 checkout, and pinned double 18 for the draw.
But Anderson would not be denied and the defending champion cruised to a 7-4 win over Chisnall.
The in-form player in the competition fired out a 144 finish and calmly took out double 10 to extend his winning run.
Adrian Lewis was another winner as he held on for an entertaining 7-5 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.
Earlier results meant that 'Barney' was no longer in danger of an early exit, but his top four hopes were dented as Lewis landed his arrow in double eight to take the decider.
Night eight results:
Michael Smith 5-7 Robert Thornton
Gary Anderson 7-4 Dave Chisnall
Adrian Lewis 7-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor 6-6 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 6-6 Robert Thornton
