2023 Premier League Darts

The 2023 Cazoo Premier League Darts was a darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the nineteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 2 February 2023, at the SSE Arena in Belfast, and finished with the play-offs, at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 25 May 2023.[1][2]

2023 Cazoo Premier League Darts
Winner
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Wales Gerwyn Price
Score
11–5
Dates
2 February – 25 May 2023
Edition
19th
Number of players
8
Venues
17
Premier League Darts
< 2022 | 2023 | 2024 >

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after beating Joe Cullen 11–10 in the 2022 final.[3] He successfully defended the title, beating Gerwyn Price 11–5 in the final.

Format

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As introduced in 2022's tournament, the 2023 Premier League Darts used an eight-person knockout bracket every night. Each of the seven matches was played over the best-of-11 legs. The players were guaranteed to meet each other once in the quarter-finals throughout the first seven weeks and once in the quarterfinals in weeks 9–15, with weeks 8 and 16 being drawn based on the league standings at that point. Players received two points per semi-final finish, three points per runner-up finish, and five points per final win.[4]

Following the regular phase, the top four players in the league table contested the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd.[2]

Venues

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The 2023 tournament kept the same 17 venues used in the 2022 Premier League. On 8 October 2022, it was announced that Liverpool and Brighton were switching dates, after Liverpool had been awarded the hosting duties for the Eurovision Song Contest.[5]

Locations of the 2023 Premier League venues in the UK and Ireland.
Other locations of the 2023 Premier League venues in Europe.
  Belfast   Cardiff   Glasgow   Dublin
SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 2 February
Cardiff International Arena
Thursday 9 February
OVO Hydro
Thursday 16 February
3Arena
Thursday 23 February
       
  Exeter   Liverpool   Nottingham   Newcastle
Westpoint Arena
Thursday 2 March
M&S Bank Arena
Thursday 9 March
Nottingham Arena
Thursday 16 March
Newcastle Arena
Thursday 23 March
       
  Berlin   Birmingham   Brighton   Rotterdam
Mercedes-Benz Arena
Thursday 30 March
Arena Birmingham
Thursday 6 April
Brighton Centre
Thursday 13 April
Rotterdam Ahoy
Thursday 20 April
       
  Leeds   Manchester   Sheffield   Aberdeen
First Direct Arena
Thursday 27 April
AO Arena
Thursday 4 May
Utilita Arena Sheffield
Thursday 11 May
P&J Live
Thursday 18 May
       
  London
The O2
Thursday 25 May
 

Prize money

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The prize money for the 2023 tournament remained at £1 million, including a £10,000 bonus to each night's winner.[6][7]

Stage Prize Money
Winner £275,000
Runner-up £125,000
Semi-finalists (x2) £85,000
5th place £75,000
6th place £70,000
7th place £65,000
8th place £60,000
Weekly Winner Bonus (x16) £10,000
Total £1,000,000

Players

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The format introduced in 2022 continued, which would encompass eight players, each playing against each other in a knockout tournament each night. The winner of each night received an additional £10,000 towards their prize money. Those who make it out of the last 8 each receive 2 points, the runner-up received 3 points and the winner received 5.

The top 4 players on the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualified, with the remaining four announced following the conclusion of the Masters on 29 January 2023.[8]

Player Appearance in
Premier League
Consecutive
Streak
Order of Merit
Rank on 30/1/23
Previous best performance
  Michael Smith 6th 2 1 Runner-up (2018)
  Peter Wright 10th 10 2 Runner-up (2017)
  Michael van Gerwen 11th 11 3 Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022)
  Gerwyn Price 5th 2[a] 4 5th place (2019, 2020)
  Jonny Clayton 3rd 3 7 Winner (2021)
  Nathan Aspinall 3rd 1 9 Runner-up (2020)
  Dimitri Van den Bergh 2nd 1 11 5th place (2021)
  Chris Dobey 3rd 1 21 Debut
  1. ^ Price qualified for the 2021 Premier League Darts, but withdrew following a positive COVID-19 test.

League stage

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The fixtures were announced on 30 January 2023.[8]

  1. ^ withdrew due to injury

25 May – Play-offs

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The top four players of the league stage contest in the play-offs to decide the champion of the Premier League.

  The O2, London

Score
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
107.54 Gerwyn Price   10–2   Jonny Clayton 90.19
97.90 Michael Smith   8–10   Michael van Gerwen 101.45
Final (best of 21 legs)
99.50 Gerwyn Price   5–11   Michael van Gerwen 105.43
Night's Total Average: 100.33
Highest Checkout:   Michael van Gerwen 170
Most 180s:   Michael van Gerwen 12
Night's 180s: 25

Standings

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Five points are awarded for a night win, three points for the runner-up and two points for the semi-finalists. When players are tied on points, nights won is used first as a tie-breaker and after that overall matches won.[citation needed]

The top 4 players after 16 nights advance to the play-offs on 25 May.

Pos Name Nights Matches Legs Scoring
Pts W RU SF QF Pld W L LF LA LD LWAT 100+ 140+ 180 A[11] HC CR C%
1   Gerwyn Price (RU) 39 4 5 2 5 36 24 12 191 144 +47 76 343 221 112 98.31 158 191/486 39.30%
2   Michael Smith 33 4 3 2 7 32 20 12 158 141 +17 55 340 214 102 97.70 164 158/401 39.40%
3   Michael van Gerwen (C) 33 3 2 6 5 32 19 13 159 132 +27 61 295 191 87 98.19 170 159/420 37.85%
4   Jonny Clayton 24 2 2 4 8 28 14 14 122 137 –15 42 319 159 50 94.70 170 122/277 44.04%
5   Nathan Aspinall 24 1 1 8 6 28 13 15 124 140 –16 48 297 198 82 95.72 143 124/342 36.25%
6   Dimitri Van den Bergh 16 1 1 4 10 24 9 15 102 115 –13 44 232 149 59 95.59 151 102/260 39.23%
7   Chris Dobey 14 1 1 3 11 23 8 15 93 116 –23 35 220 130 62 97.32 170 93/250 37.20%
8   Peter Wright 9 0 1 3 12 21 5 16 86 115 –29 29 225 125 44 93.45 156 86/224 38.39%
As of 25 May 2023 (Week 16)

(C) Champion after the playoffs, (RU) Runner-up after the playoffs

Streaks

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Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Play-offs
  Gerwyn Price QF W QF RU QF W SF W RU QF RU RU
  Michael Smith QF SF W SF QF RU QF RU QF RU QF W QF SF
  Michael van Gerwen RU SF QF W SF RU QF SF QF SF QF SF W
  Jonny Clayton QF SF RU QF W QF SF QF RU SF QF SF
  Nathan Aspinall SF RU SF QF SF QF SF QF W SF QF SF DNQ
  Dimitri Van den Bergh SF QF RU QF SF QF SF QF SF QF W
  Chris Dobey W QF RU SF QF SF QF
  Peter Wright QF SF QF RU SF QF SF QF
Legend: DNQ Did not qualify QF Lost in Quarterfinals SF Semi-finalist RU Runner-up W Night winner

Positions by Week

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Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
  Gerwyn Price 5 3 6 3 4 2 1
  Michael Smith 7 6 1 2 3 4 3 4 3 5 3 2
  Michael van Gerwen 2 4 1 2 3
  Jonny Clayton 8 7 6 7 5 3 4 5 4
  Nathan Aspinall 4 2 4 3 4 3 4 5 3 4 5
  Dimitri Van den Bergh 3 5 3 5 6 7 6 7 6
  Chris Dobey 1 5 6 7 6 5 6 7 6 7
  Peter Wright 6 7 8

References

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  1. ^ "2023 Premier League schedule & ticket information confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Premier League: Masters winner Chris Dobey earns tournament place". BBC Sport. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  3. ^ Gorton, Josh. "Van Gerwen wins Cullen classic to lift sixth Premier League title". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  4. ^ Allen, Dave. "Every Match Matters". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Premier League Darts to keep same format in 2023; Belfast to host start of 17-event season". skysports.com SkySports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  6. ^ "PDC chairman Hearn announces record prize money for 2022". PDC.
  7. ^ "2022 Cazoo Premier League Night One preview". PDC.
  8. ^ a b "2023 Cazoo Premier League fixtures confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Chris Dobey marks Premier League debut by winning Week One". sportsmole.co.uk Sports Mole. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Debutant Chris Dobey stuns Michael van Gerwen to win opening night in Belfast". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "2023 Premier League Event Stats". Darts Orakel. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Home favourite Gerwyn Price wins Premier League Week Two in Cardiff". sportsmole.co.uk Sports Mole. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price defeats Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall to win in Cardiff". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Michael Smith wins Premier League Week Three in Glasgow". sportsmole.co.uk. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  15. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Michael Smith shows class against Dimitri Van den Bergh and Gerwyn Price to win in Glasgow". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Michael van Gerwen storms back to win Premier League Week Four". sportsmole.co.uk Sports Mole. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen defeats Gerwyn Price in final-leg thriller in Dublin". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  18. ^ "Michael van Gerwen cruises to victory in Premier League Week Five". sportsmole.co.uk. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  19. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Van Gerwen sails past Clayton in Exeter to secure back-to-back victories". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Michael van Gerwen wins third successive week in Premier League". sportsmole.co.uk. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Van Gerwen beats Smith in Liverpool to secure three wins in a row". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Gerwyn Price triumphs on Premier League Week Seven". sportsmole.co.uk. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  23. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price wins Week Seven in Nottingham after Michael Van Gerwen whitewashed by Chris Dobey". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  24. ^ "Gerwyn Price blitzes Michael van Gerwen to win Premier League Week Eight". sportsmole.co.uk. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price demolishes Michael van Gerwen in Newcastle to secure back-to-back wins". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Jonny Clayton ends Premier League drought to win in Berlin". sportsmole.co.uk. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  27. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts: Jonny Clayton beats Michael Smith 6-4 in final of thrilling night nine in Berlin". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  28. ^ "Jonny Clayton wins second Premier League week in succession". sportsmole.co.uk. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  29. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts 2023: Jonny Clayton defeats Peter Wright in Birmingham to secure back-to-back victories". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  30. ^ "Gerwyn Price closes gap at top of Premier League with Brighton win". sportsmole.co.uk. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  31. ^ a b c d "Premier League Darts 2023: Gerwyn Price defeats Michael Smith to close gap on Michael van Gerwen". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
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