Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright in fiery Premier League draw
Friday 6 March 2015 10:03, UK
Michael van Gerwen shared the points with Peter Wright in a bad-tempered affair in Exeter on Thursday night.
Reminiscent of a Premier League night they shared at the oche in Dublin, Wright's trademark theatrics riled Van Gerwen leading to a war of words afterwards.
'Snakebite', in the relegation mix after the night's earlier results, responded positively by admirably holding his own and went on to lead 4-3 against the world No 1.
He then opted to saunter around the stage, pandering to the crowd, before throwing a third dart at tops - and promptly missed his shot when returning to action. Van Gerwen pounced, but would make a critical error himself moments later.
Locked at five apiece, Van Gerwen uncharacteristically erred with two shots at tops allowing Wright a straightforward checkout and the guarantee of a minimum one point.
Although he stormed through the next leg to avoid a shock defeat, it was the second consecutive draw for Van Gerwen after Adrian Lewis denied him last week.
"What that guy does has nothing to do with darts," Van Gerwen said. "He does it on purpose. He's not a professional."
Wright responded: "Grow up you big baby! It's about entertaining a crowd."
Bounced back
Phil Taylor bounced back from a 4-1 deficit against the steady-throwing James Wade to claim a 7-5 win.
After a slow start, Taylor broke Wade's throw then checked out efficiently from 65 to burst into life. Taylor's experience showed when locked at five each when he threw twice before taking his time, crouching to view his target, then delivering a 65 checkout to go within a leg of victory.
The relegation battle ahead of Judgement Day took a twist as Kim Huybrechts and Stephen Bunting got off the mark with maiden victories in their first campaigns.
A 52 finish in the second leg in his match with Adrian Lewis demonstrated Bunting's confidence had not been knocked by four winless weeks.
Three swift leg wins finally showed the potential Bunting had largely failed to show so far, putting him 4-1 up and although Lewis broke throw to stage a brief fight-back, the Liverpool man easily beat him to the finishing line.
Huybrechts delivered a thrilling performance to kick off the night’s action in a 7-5 win over Raymond van Barneveld.
His spectacular finish was an ideal way to put his first Premier League win on the board at the fifth attempt - he checked out from 170, leaping for joy as his third dart landed in the bullseye.
Barney missed his final shot at a nine-darter to illuminate the Exeter crowd but it was short moment of glory in a match that otherwise belonged to the Belgian.
Huybrechts broke to go 3-2 up, slammed home a maximum and fell short of his own nine-darter - a pace that Van Barneveld could not match.
