2020 Premier League Darts Explained

2020 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner

Runner-up

Score
11–8
Dates
6 February–15 October 2020
Edition
16th
Number of players
9 (plus 9 guests)
Venues
8
Nine Dart Finish

Premier League Darts
	2020	2021 >

The 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the sixteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February at the P&J Live in Aberdeen and ended with the Play-offs at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Thursday 15 October, after a delay was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Michael van Gerwen was the four-time defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the 2019 final. However, he was eliminated from the competition in week 16, after an 8–2 defeat to Daryl Gurney, and a poor run of form saw him slip out of the playoffs, for the first time in his career.^[1]

Glen Durrant, who was making his debut in the tournament, finished the regular season in 1st place (becoming only the third player to do so at the time, after van Gerwen and Phil Taylor) to set up a semi-final meeting between Gary Anderson. Durrant claimed a narrow 10–9 victory (including surviving 4 match darts from Anderson), before eventually winning the competition, by beating fellow debutant Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the final to claim his first televised PDC title.^[2]

This was also the first time in Premier League Darts history that the four players that qualified for the finals had not appeared in the finals of the previous year's edition (the four players being van Gerwen, Gurney, Cross and James Wade).

On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the double-header due to be played in Rotterdam had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.^[3] The following day it was announced that the Rotterdam dates would be moved to September, with the culmination of the tournament taking place there instead of London.^[4] On 16 March 2020. it was announced the round to be played in Newcastle would be moved to October, taking over as the tournament's final round.

The May dates were postponed on 9 April 2020, with the PDC announcing a fully rescheduled calendar, the play-offs now taking place in Sheffield.^[5] Further changes were announced in July and August, with the cancellation of the events in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and the double header in Rotterdam; and the reinstatement of The O₂ Arena as the host of the final. Ten nights were added to the calendar to be held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.^[6] ^[7] The play-offs were subsequently moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and also played behind closed doors.^[8]

Format

The tournament format will remain the same as 2019, with the only difference being the re-branding of 'contenders' to 'challengers' for this season.

Phase 1:In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.

Phase 2:In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.

Play-off Night:The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

Venues

The only change of venues from 2019 to 2020 was the introduction of the P&J Live in Aberdeen, which hosted the opening night's action.^[9]

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the rounds in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were cancelled, with rounds being added in Milton Keynes to make up.^[6]

Aberdeen	Nottingham	Cardiff	Dublin
P&J Live Thursday 6 February	Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 13 February	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 20 February	3Arena Thursday 27 February

Exeter	Liverpool	Birmingham	Belfast
Westpoint Arena Thursday 5 March	M&S Bank Arena Thursday 12 March	Arena Birmingham (cancelled)	SSE Arena Belfast (cancelled)

Leeds	Berlin	Rotterdam	Milton Keynes
First Direct Arena (cancelled)	Mercedes Benz Arena (cancelled)	Rotterdam Ahoy (cancelled)	Marshall Arena Tuesday 25 August – Saturday 5 September

Glasgow	Manchester	Newcastle	Sheffield
SSE Hydro (cancelled)	Manchester Arena (cancelled)	Utilita Arena Newcastle (cancelled)	Sheffield Arena (cancelled)

London	Coventry
The O₂ Arena (cancelled)	Ricoh Arena Thursday 15 October

Prize money

The prize money for the 2020 tournament remained at £825,000.

Stage	Prize Money
Winner	£250,000
Runner-up	£120,000
Semi-finalists (x2)	£80,000
5th place	£70,000
6th place	£60,000
7th place	£55,000
8th place	£50,000
9th place	£35,000

League Winner Bonus	£25,000

Total	£825,000

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by five wildcards.

Player	data-sort-type="number"	Appearance in Premier League	Consecutive Streak	Order of Merit Rank on 1/1/20	data-sort-type="number"	Previous best performance	Qualification
	8th	8	1
	7th	7	2	Runner-up (2017)
	3rd	3	3	5th (2019)
	3rd	3	4	Runner-up (2019)	PDC Order of Merit
	4th	3	5	Runner-up (2018)	Wildcard
	9th	1	6	Winner (2011, 2015)	Wildcard
	3rd	3	7	Semi-final (2019)	Wildcard
	1st	1	8	Debut	Wildcard
	1st	1	22	Debut	Wildcard

The format is similar to that of 2019, with 9 main players plus 9 invited players, now referred to as 'challengers' in a re-brand from the tag of 'contenders'. The 9 main players earn league points if they win or draw against the challengers. The challengers do not earn any league points but they earn financial bonuses if they win or draw their match.^[10]

Player	Venue	Order of Merit Rank on 1/1/20
	Aberdeen	31
	Nottingham	91
	Cardiff	16
	Dublin	37
	Exeter	35
	Liverpool	17
	Milton Keynes	19
	Milton Keynes	20
	Milton Keynes	23

League stage

Players in italics are "Challengers", and only play on that night.

6 February – Night 1 (Phase 1)

P&J Live, Aberdeen

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[11]
95.41	3 – 7
94.71	7 – 5
	7 – 5
89.19	7 – 3
95.86	6 – 6
Night's Average: 94.62
Highest Checkout: Nathan Aspinall 170
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright 4
Night's 180s: 25

13 February – Night 2 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Nottingham

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[12]
94.71	7 – 5
98.11	6 – 6
95.58	6 – 6
92.21	6 – 6
Daryl Gurney 93.92	1 – 7	105.05
Night's Average: 94.81
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 140
Most 180s: Peter Wright 6
Night's 180s: 27

20 February – Night 3 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[13]
101.95	7 – 5
97.44	1 – 7
97.61	5 – 7
97.46	6 – 6
97.24	7 – 4
Night's Average: 97.64
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 167
Most 180s: Four players 3
Night's 180s: 21

27 February – Night 4 (Phase 1)

3Arena, Dublin

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[14]
Glen Durrant 92.81	5 – 7	Nathan Aspinall 93.82
Rob Cross 91.36	5 – 7	Gary Anderson 97.77
Daryl Gurney 85.98	5 – 7	Michael Smith 88.19
	4 – 7
Gerwyn Price 98.75	7 – 1	Peter Wright 83.59
Night's Average: 92.62
Highest Checkout: Glen Durrant 144
Most 180s: Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney 4
Night's 180s: 22
Nine Dart Finish Michael Smith

5 March – Night 5 (Phase 1)

Westpoint Arena, Exeter

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[15]
Rob Cross 98.55	6 – 6	Daryl Gurney 94.88
Gerwyn Price 96.68	3 – 7	Glen Durrant 100.76
	3 – 7	Peter Wright 110.00
Gary Anderson 87.76	5 – 7	*Luke Humphries* 88.67
Michael Smith 95.42	7 – 4
Night's Average: 96.50
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 134
Most 180s: Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson 4
Night's 180s: 26

12 March – Night 6 (Phase 1)

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[16]
Michael Smith 94.00	4 – 7	Peter Wright 100.78
Daryl Gurney 95.43	5 – 7	Glen Durrant 95.39
Gerwyn Price 98.07	5 – 7	106.27
Rob Cross 90.14	6 – 6	Stephen Bunting 91.25
94.27	6 – 6	Nathan Aspinall 107.64
Night's Average: 97.07
Highest Checkout: Gerwyn Price 157
Most 180s: Nathan Aspinall 8
Night's 180s: 37

25 August – Night 7 (Phase 1)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[17]
107.02	3 – 7
103.37	7 – 2
Nathan Aspinall 97.82	7 – 4	Gerwyn Price 96.33
Chris Dobey 79.01	2 – 7	Daryl Gurney 86.88
Peter Wright 99.43	6 – 6	102.43
Night's Average: 97.02
Highest Checkout: 170
Most 180s: 7
Night's 180s: 25

26 August – Night 8 (Phase 1)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[18]
95.53	1 – 7
103.01	5 – 7
96.57	7 – 3	Rob Cross 93.61
	3 – 7	Glen Durrant 104.43
Peter Wright 102.26	7 – 1
Night's Average: 98.38
Highest Checkout: Glen Durrant 167
Most 180s: Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith 5
Night's 180s: 25

27 August – Night 9 (Phase 1) (Judgement Night)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[19]
Nathan Aspinall 102.96	7 – 5	Michael Smith 102.06
95.21	4 – 7
81.24	0 – 7
99.21	7 – 4	Daryl Gurney 91.90
106.02	7 – 4	Rob Cross 103.97
Night's Average: 98.91
Highest Checkout: Glen Durrant 167
Most 180s: Michael Smith 6
Night's 180s: 23
Eliminated: Rob Cross

28 August – Night 10 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[20]
98.56	8 – 4	Gerwyn Price 93.46
101.54	5 – 8	Gary Anderson 101.19
96.09	6 – 8	95.33
Michael Smith 94.02	8 – 3	Daryl Gurney 88.13
Night's Average: 96.11
Highest Checkout: Gerwyn Price 140
Most 180s: Peter Wright, Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith 5
Night's 180s: 29

29 August – Night 11 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[21]
94.93	8 – 6
93.74	6 – 8
95.80	7 – 7
	4 – 8	Gerwyn Price 95.81
Night's Average: 96.92
Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 164
Most 180s: Peter Wright 9
Night's 180s: 29
Nine Dart Finish Peter Wright

30 August – Night 12 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[22]
98.18	6 – 8
107.37	6 – 8	Gerwyn Price 106.83
	8 – 5
	8 – 3	Daryl Gurney 97.72
Night's Average: 101.96
Highest Checkout: Michael Smith 145
Most 180s: Gary Anderson 6
Night's 180s: 36

2 September – Night 13 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[23]
99.31	7 – 7	Michael Smith 99.14
	6 – 8	Gary Anderson 100.78
	8 – 1
	6 – 8	Nathan Aspinall 99.35
Night's Average: 98.37
Highest Checkout: Daryl Gurney 150
Most 180s: Gary Anderson 7
Night's 180s: 35

3 September – Night 14 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[24]
Gerwyn Price 99.21	7 – 7	Daryl Gurney 97.21
102.25	8 – 2	Michael Smith 89.67
103.11	8 – 5
96.19	7 – 7
Night's Average: 98.19
Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson 154
Most 180s: Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall 5
Night's 180s: 28

4 September – Night 15 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[25]
91.15	5 – 8
89.11	6 – 8	Peter Wright 94.80
100.33	6 – 8
102.50	7 – 7	Gerwyn Price 103.76
Night's Average: 97.87
Highest Checkout: Gerwyn Price 164
Most 180s: Michael Smith 9
Night's 180s: 39

5 September – Night 16 (Phase 2)

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[26]
	8 – 3
	2 – 8	Daryl Gurney 91.04
	8 – 5
	8 – 2	Glen Durrant 100.15
Night's Average: 95.69
Highest Checkout: Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall 170
Most 180s: Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Michael Smith 3
Night's 180s: 16

Play-offs – 15 October

Ricoh Arena, Coventry

width=225		width=50	Score	width=225
^[27]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
	10 – 9
	7 – 10
Final (best of 21 legs)
Glen Durrant 91.84	11 – 8	Nathan Aspinall 92.15
Night's Total Average: 91.01
Highest Checkout: Nathan Aspinall 141
Most 180s: Nathan Aspinall 13
Night's 180s: 26

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.

The nine challengers are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

	Name	Matches					Legs				Scoring
Pld	W	D	L	Pts	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A	HC	C%
1	W	16	8	5	3	21	104	85	+19	36	222	136	35	98.05	167	40.63
2		16	9	2	5	20	102	84	+18	29	219	135	62	99.66	170	47.00
3	RU	16	9	1	6	19	103	92	+11	36	223	142	61	98.62	170	39.02
4		16	8	3	5	19	98	92	+6	36	209	135	52	97.07	170	39.74
5		16	6	5	5	17	99	84	+15	33	220	122	45	98.56	164	41.60
6		16	8	1	7	17	89	93	–4	28	206	105	43	99.05	144	41.06
7		16	5	3	8	13	89	96	−7	33	193	110	73	97.20	167	36.33
8		16	4	3	9	11	86	101	−15	31	212	123	41	93.50	164	38.91
9		9	1	3	5	5	44	58	−14	17	119	69	19	94.61	143	37.61

W = WinnerRU = Runner Up

Streaks

Player	Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9									Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16							Play-offs
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	SF	F




																	colspan=2
																	colspan=2
																	colspan=2
																	colspan=2
										colspan=10
Challengers

Legend:		Win		Draw		Loss		Eliminated

Positions by Week

Player	Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9									Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16
Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	2	1	4	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	8	7	7	8	7	5	5	3	2	3	4	6	4	3	3	2
	2	5	3	2	4	4	3	4	3	6	2	5	3	4	4	3
	3	4	8	6	6	6	4	5	5	4	3	2	2	2	2	4
	6	6	6	3	5	7	7	7	6	7	6	4	6	6	6	5
	4	1	2	1	3	2	1	2	4	2	5	3	5	5	5	6
	9	8	4	5	2	3	6	6	7	5	7	7	7	7	7	7
	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
	5	3	5	7	8	8	8	9	9	align=center bgcolor="#ffcccc" colspan=7	Eliminated

External links

PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website
PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website, Tournaments

Notes and References

Web site: Premier League Darts 2020: Michael van Gerwen loses to Daryl Gurney as four-year reign ends. Sky Sports.
Web site: Premier League Darts 2020: Glen Durrant crowned unibet Premier League Champion. PDC.
Web site: Rotterdam Double-Header Postponed. PDC.
Web site: Rotterdam double-header moved to September. PDC.
Web site: Unibet Premier League's May dates moved. PDC.
Web site: Phillips . Josh . Revised 2020 Unibet Premier League schedule confirmed . . 15 July 2020.
Web site: Four further Unibet Premier League nights rescheduled. PDC.
Web site: Phillips . Josh . Ricoh Arena to host three further TV events & Winter Series . . 30 September 2020.
Web site: 2020 Unibet Premier League dates confirmed. PDC.
Web site: Phillips . Josh . 2020 Premier League to feature 'Challengers' . . 30 December 2019.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night One. PDC. 6 February 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Two. PDC. 13 February 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Three. PDC. 20 February 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Four. PDC. 27 February 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Five. PDC. 5 March 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Six. PDC. 12 March 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Seven. PDC. 25 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Eight. PDC. 26 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Judgement Night. PDC. 27 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night Ten. PDC. 28 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 11. PDC. 29 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 12. PDC. 30 August 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 13. PDC. 2 September 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 14. PDC. 3 September 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 15. PDC. 4 September 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Night 16. PDC. 5 September 2020.
Web site: 2020 Premier League Darts; Play-offs. PDC. 15 October 2020.