Premier League Darts Week 10

Five weeks of the Premier League remain and its very difficult to see Taylor, King, Wade or Barney being removed from the qualifying spots for Wembley. This week the action heads to the sold out Westpoint Arena in Exeter minus Wayne Mardle; withdrawing from this week’s action with a virus has had some cruel observers questioning at what point did he actually turn up for the League? John Part now plays two matches on the night, facing Mervyn King in the opener and Jelle Klaasen in the final match. This will save Part the long journey from Canada in Week 11.

Mervyn King had a lean time over in Nuland, Holland in the Players Championships at the weekend with third and first round exits albeit to two very good newcomers from the BDO Gary Anderson and Mark Webster. King’s form has dipped in the League after an electric start. His 3 dart average after the first six weeks was running along nicely at a very respectable 101.02. In the last three weeks he has dipped down to 90.67. Canadian Part again chose to fly home before this weeks’ league fixtures, but he will glean hope from the last three weeks where his 3 dart average has outscored King on 96.38. The head to head favours King six victories to one.

Phil Taylor plays Terry Jenkins in the second tie. Taylor has now won an amazing eleven titles already in 2009 after winning both Dutch Players Championships over the weekend. In Saturday’s six legs to five final win over Gary Anderson, he had a blistering three dart average of 115.2. The following day he beat Anderson again, a more convincing six-two in the final. Jenkins made the semi-finals on the Saturday and only the second round on the Sunday, showing both the capability and inconsistency of his play. Jenkins needs a win here to have a chance in the qualification hunt, but it’s easier said than done when you’re playing the phenomenon that is Taylor. The odds reflect that with Taylor as short as 2-13. Jenkins has only once had a 3 dart average of three figures in the nine weeks of the League so far, in contrast only once has Taylor failed to ping a 3 dart average of three figures.

Game three has number two in the world James Wade facing the number three Raymond van Barneveld. None of these two made the trip to Holland over the weekend. In last week’s eight-three league defeat to King, Wade was simply awful, averaging only 84.55 – the worst 3 dart average of the whole tournament thus far and a reflection of his inconsistent qualities.

Barney came good in front of an adoring Scottish crowd thrashing Part and getting himself into the 4th League qualifying spot. Barney took out four maximums and averaged over 103. This game is important in terms of attempting to stay clear of the fourth qualifying position as that qualifier plays overall League winner in the semis – inevitably Taylor. Historically matches have been very close between these two big guns, Barney edging the wins total ten matches to nine.

The final match of the evening sees John Part return to the stage. Will it matter that he has already played one match? A lot depends on how he fared on stage earlier. If he struggled against King it will be hard to envisage the Canadian picking himself up to face Klaasen. The young Dutchman gave Taylor a fright last week going down six legs to eight when he should have got a draw. If Part emerges victorious in the earlier game he will be happy and relishing the prospect of four points with a free week to come. The best policy here is to hold your bets until Part has came through his previous match.

Skybet and tournament sponsors Boylesports have removed Mardle from the most 180s on the night market, but kept Part in, although he plays twice. In an attempt to find out if he is value at a best price of 6-4, I doubled his maximums on each night from previous weeks in the league as if he had played two matches in the same fashion and compared it to the other seven players, which is a little crude but would give some overall perspective. He would have been the victorious top 180s scorer four from nine weeks using this method, making him an approximate 44% chance and that would equate to true odds of around 11-5, therefore 6-4 does not represent a value bet.

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