Phil Taylor trumped by Michael van Gerwen; Raymond van Barneveld in box seat
Friday 1 May 2015 13:31, UK
Michael van Gerwen produced a blizzard of blistering darts to leave Phil Taylor's Premier League play-off hopes hanging in the balance after a 7-4 victory in Birmingham.
Raymond van Barneveld secured two victories on Thursday night. His first came against Gary Anderson in a feisty encounter before a resounding win over Adrian Lewis in the final match of the night.
Those victories helped the reigning Premier League champion leapfrog the 16-time world champion into third spot and leave Taylor three points adrift of the top four with just two weeks remaining before the grand finale at the O2 later next month.
World No 1 van Gerwen came from 3-2 down with two superb 11-dart legs to leave the six-time Premier League champion reeling and he completed the job thanks to a highly impressive 112.91 three-dart average to qualify for London in style.
'The Power' dropped down to fifth spot with 13 points from 14 matches, while MVG moved onto 22 points - three points clear of second-placed Dave Chisnall.
A delighted van Gerwen told Sky Sports 1: "I played really amazing and I didn't make any mistakes. I think it was a fanastic game to watch because we both had a great average. I was really pleased with this game.
"I never worry about anything and you can't be afraid of anything."
If van Gerwen beats Adrian Lewis in Newcastle next week he will finish top of the table and the Dutchman added: "Three years ago I won the league by 22 points and last year by 24 points. At the moment I'm on 22 points so you have to play 100 plus averages all the time otherwise you won't win the game.
"Darts is getting bigger and bigger all the time. You can't win without practice and everyone needs to be reminded of that."
The Premier League surprise package Chisnall also made it through to the play-offs after battling back from 3-1 down to close out a 7-4 victory against two-time world champion Adrian Lewis in the opening match of the night, averaging an impressive 100.33.
Hot-tempered
Then in a hot-tempered clash Van Barneveld fought back from 5-0 down to beat 'The Flying Scotman' Anderson 7-5 but the Dutchman was accused of stepping in the box by his opponent when throwing to level up the match at 6-5.
It was Barney who took the spoils, but the current world champion refused to shake hands with Van Barneveld after he secured the win.
After the match, van Barneveld said: "I always play fair and square so I don't know. I've known Gary for many years and if it was a draw it would have been a draw tonight but I don't know what was wrong.
"He missed a couple of darts and he was blaming me. How can you blame somebody else if you're missing doubles you know.
"I always play fair and if somebody blames me for unfair play, then we will have a chat out there - trust me."
He then moved into the box seat in the final match of the night after breaking Lewis in the opening leg and he never looked back to seal a comfortable 7-2 success in the battle of the former world champions.
Victory for Van Barneveld eliminated the bottom two players James Wade and Stephen Bunting who drew 6-6 earlier in the night.
Live Premier League Darts
Watch the penultimate week of the Premier League darts in Newcastle next Thursday on Sky Sports 1 at 7pm before the play-offs at the O2 on Thursday 21 May.
