Michael Smith continued his impressive winning streak as he secured his third consecutive nightly win in Premier League Darts with a 6-3 victory over Gerwyn Price in Sheffield. Smith has now won four nightly matches overall and he is second in the leaderboard after beating Michael van Gerwen and Jonny Clayton in two previous matches.
Price had the chance to guarantee his top spot with a victory in the Night 15, but Smith managed to cut his lead to three points. Smith started his campaign in Sheffield with a win over reigning champion Van Gerwen, with a stunning 130 checkout on the bullseye.
In the second match, Smith beat Clayton with an incredible average of almost 108 and sealed the deal with an 11-darter. Smith then ended the night by claiming the £10,000 winner’s bonus and extended his winning streak to nine matches in the Premier League.
Smith said, “Three in a row, it took me 15 weeks to win one night last year and now I’ve won four. I am still in with a chance of finishing top. Me and Gez spoke about it backstage before the match, if it’s me and him in the final next week he finishes top. Hopefully I can be top. I know you get nothing out of finishing top but it is the prestige. I have qualified last week, and I could have just laid down and let anyone beat me. But I still need to go to The O2 playing well and winning.”
Price retained his top spot and stormed through to his eighth nightly finals of 2023 with 6-2 wins against Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobey. Price was victorious in Sheffield last year and was hoping to repeat his success this year. In the quarter-finals, Clayton moved two points clear of Aspinall after he defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4.
Clayton took the lead in the match with an amazing 170 checkout in the middle of the tie and registered his sixth ton-plus average of the campaign to see off the Belgian. The quarter-final between Clayton and Aspinall next week in Aberdeen will decide the final spot with the winner assured of another appearance at The O2 while even if Aspinall wins the quarter-final, he still needs to win the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Dobey cemented sixth spot in the table with an impressive 6-4 win against Peter Wright, crashing in six 180s and reeling off four straight legs from 4-2 down to advance.
The Premier League roadshow is set to move to P&J Live, Aberdeen on Thursday May 18 for Night 16 of the league phase. League leader Price will meet Wright in his quarter-final tie. Clayton and Aspinall will meet in a crucial game to battle for the fourth spot in the line, while Smith will begin his bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive nightly win against Van den Bergh.
Van Gerwen and Dobey will also collide for a place in the semi-finals. The Playoffs are set to return to The O2 in London on Thursday May 25th. We’re back for more Premier League Darts action from the P&J Live, Aberdeen on Thursday May 18 – live on Sky Sports Action from 7 pm.
