2006 Premier League Darts

2006 Premier League Darts
Winner
England Phil Taylor
Runner-up
Netherlands Roland Scholten
Score
16–6
Date
February 16 – May 29, 2006
Edition
2nd
Number of players
7
Venues
11
Premier League Darts
< 2005 | 2006 | 2007 >

The 2006 Holsten Premier League the second year of the Professional Darts Corporation's popular darts league. The 2006 league was launched with the top six players in the PDC world rankings and the addition of a wildcard player, Raymond van Barneveld who decided to switch from the British Darts Organisation just weeks after reaching their 2006 World Championship final.

Barneveld, a four-times BDO World Champion went on to achieve the perfect nine-dart finish on 23 March against Peter Manley, on the fifth night of the 2006 Premier League at the Bournemouth International Centre. It was the same night that he faced Phil Taylor for the first time since his switch, the match ended in a 7–7 draw.

Taylor and Barneveld dominated the league stages, with both players unbeaten against the rest of the league. Taylor came out on top 8–6 in their other meeting in Doncaster.

Given the form of Taylor and Barneveld in the group matches, there was much anticipation of a clash between the two in the final. However, it failed to materialise as Roland Scholten averaged 104.13 in the semi final to hammer Barneveld (average 91.79) by 11 legs to 3. Phil Taylor averaged 105.03 in his 11–3 semi-final win over Colin Lloyd (average 99.42).

Phil Taylor successfully defended his title by seeing off Scholten in the final by 16 legs to 6. Taylor's average in the final was 101.41 to Scholten's 92.01.

Results

League Stage

The format had a slight change from 2005. Previously, all twelve legs of a match had to be completed – regardless of whether a winner had already been determined. From 2006, a match would finish when a player reached the 8 legs victory target, unless the match reached 7–7 when the points would be shared and the match drawn.

February 16

King George's Hall, Blackburn

Player Legs Player
Wayne Mardle England 6–8 England Phil Taylor
Peter Manley England 4–8 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–1 England Ronnie Baxter
Phil Taylor England 8–1 England Colin Lloyd

February 23

Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland

Player Legs Player
Ronnie Baxter England 4–8 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Wayne Mardle England 4–8 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Lloyd England 8–6 England Peter Manley
Roland Scholten Netherlands 4–8 England Phil Taylor

March 2

AECC, Aberdeen

Player Legs Player
Colin Lloyd England 3–8 England Ronnie Baxter
Peter Manley England 8–5 England Wayne Mardle
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–3 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Ronnie Baxter England 4–8 England Phil Taylor

March 16

Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

Player Legs Player
Phil Taylor England 8–2 England Wayne Mardle
Colin Lloyd England 6–8 England Peter Manley
Ronnie Baxter England 8–3 England Peter Manley
Roland Scholten Netherlands 8–3 England Wayne Mardle

March 23

International Centre, Bournemouth

Player Legs Player
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–3 England Peter Manley
Roland Scholten Netherlands 7–7 England Ronnie Baxter
Colin Lloyd England 7–7 England Wayne Mardle
Phil Taylor England 7–7 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Nine dart finish

The Premier League's first nine dart finish occurred, when Raymond van Barneveld hit one during the ninth leg of his match against Peter Manley, checking out with T20, T19 and D12.

March 30

Sands Centre, Carlisle

Player Legs Player
Phil Taylor England 8–1 England Peter Manley
Ronnie Baxter England 4–8 England Colin Lloyd
Wayne Mardle England 7–7 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Peter Manley England 3–8 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld

April 6

Centre, Newport

Player Legs Player
Roland Scholten Netherlands 8–5 England Colin Lloyd
Ronnie Baxter England 7–7 England Wayne Mardle
Peter Manley England 3–8 England Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–4 England Colin Lloyd

April 20

The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster

Player Legs Player
Phil Taylor England 8–5 England Ronnie Baxter
Colin Lloyd England 8–6 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Wayne Mardle England 3–8 England Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 6–8 England Phil Taylor

April 27

Arts & Leisure Centre, Stevenage

Player Legs Player
Roland Scholten Netherlands 6–8 England Peter Manley
Colin Lloyd England 3–8 England Phil Taylor
Wayne Mardle England 8–5 England Ronnie Baxter
Roland Scholten Netherlands 3–8 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld

May 4

Rivermead Centre, Reading

Player Legs Player
Peter Manley England 3–8 England Ronnie Baxter
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–5 England Wayne Mardle
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 8–6 England Colin Lloyd
Phil Taylor England 8–3 Netherlands Roland Scholten
Ronnie Baxter England 2–8 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
Wayne Mardle England 4–8 England Colin Lloyd

Playoffs

Pavilions, Plymouth

Score
May 29 – Semi-Finals
Phil Taylor England 11–3 England Colin Lloyd
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands 3–11 Netherlands Roland Scholten
May 29 – Final
Phil Taylor England 16–6 Netherlands Roland Scholten

Table and streaks

Table

Pos Name Pld W D L LF LA +/- LWAT Pts
1 England Phil Taylor 12 11 1 0 95 45 +50 35 23
2 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 12 10 1 1 93 49 +44 37 21
3 Netherlands Roland Scholten 12 4 2 6 71 78 −7 25 10
4 England Colin Lloyd 12 4 1 7 67 83 −16 20 9
5 England Ronnie Baxter 12 3 2 7 63 79 −16 21 8
6 England Peter Manley 12 4 0 8 58 84 −26 19 8
7 England Wayne Mardle 12 1 3 8 61 90 −29 16 5

NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

Streaks

Player Week Play-Offs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 SF F
England Taylor, PhilPhil Taylor W W W W W D W W W W W W W W
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld W W W DNP W D W W L W W W W L
Netherlands Roland Scholten W W L L W D D W L L L L W L
England Colin Lloyd L W L L D W L L W L L W L
England Ronnie Baxter L L W L W D L D L L W L
England Peter Manley L L W W L L L L L W W L
England Wayne Mardle L L L L L D D D L W L L

NB: W = Won D = Drawn L = Lost DNP = Did not play

Player Statistics

The following statistics are for the league stage only. Playoffs are not included.

Phil Taylor

Raymond Van Barneveld

Roland Scholten

Colin Lloyd

Ronnie Baxter

Peter Manley

Wayne Mardle

Top Match Averages

Darts averages are based on the total number of points scored divided number of darts thrown (multiplied by 3 in this case to give a "3 dart average"). There were 16 matches where a player managed an average in excess of 100 per visit to the board. Phil Taylor achieved this during seven matches, Raymond van Barneveld six times. Roland Scholten, Ronnie Baxter and Peter Manley each averaged over 100 during one match in the competition.

External links