Premier League Darts
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The Holsten Premier League is a darts tournament which launched on January 20, 2005, on Sky Sports. The league is now played weekly from February to May, having originally started as a fortnightly fixture.
The tournament has expanded from seven players and now features eight of the biggest names from the PDC circuit compete in a round-robin format, with matches held across the country at different venues. In July 2006, the PDC announced the increase in the field to eight players and that the 2007 Premier League would boast a total of £265,000 prize money and a guarantee minimum of £15,000 for each player that qualifies.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was non-playing related and featured the announcement in February 2006 that Raymond van Barneveld was switching from the British Darts Organisation to the PDC, having been a previous four-time BDO World Champion. Barnveld had been runner-up in the BDO World final just weeks before the announcement.
Phil Taylor has dominated this event winning both the 2005 and 2006 competition. He has remained unbeaten throughout with a record of Played 28, Won 27, Drawn 1, Lost 0, Legs Won 254, Legs Lost 100 - he has won 72% of all legs he has played.
Contents |
[edit] Television Coverage
The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts the next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn - giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring.
American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006.
The PDC announced in January 2007 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2010. [1]
[edit] Previous Finals
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-Up | Sponsor | Final Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Phil Taylor |
16-4 (legs) | Colin Lloyd |
888.com | G-Mex, Manchester |
| 2006 | Phil Taylor |
16-6 (legs) |  Roland Scholten |
Holsten | Plymouth Pavilions |
[edit] Appearances
Terry Jenkins, Dennis Priestley and Adrian Lewis will make their Premier League debuts in the 2007 Premier League. This brings the total to 12 different players in the league since its inaugural year, 2005.
- 3 Colin Lloyd 2005, 2006, 2007
- 3 Peter Manley 2005, 2006, 2007
- 3 Roland Scholten 2005, 2006, 2007
- 3 Phil Taylor 2005, 2006, 2007
- 2 Wayne Mardle 2005, 2006
- 2 Raymond van Barneveld 2006, 2007
- 1 Mark Dudbridge 2005
- 1 John Part 2005
- 1 Ronnie Baxter 2006
- 1 Terry Jenkins 2007
- 1 Dennis Priestley 2007
- 1 Adrian Lewis 2007
[edit] 2007 Event
see article: 2007 Premier League Darts
| Major PDC Darts Tournaments |
|---|
| PDC World Championship |
| see main article PDC World Darts Championship |
| World Matchplay Championship |
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| World Grand Prix |
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Las Vegas Desert Classic |
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| UK Open |
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Premier League |
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
