The 2017 Premier League reached its halfway point in Cardiff last week, as Kim Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen suffered elimination. As a result, Josh’s Dartistry takes this opportunity to assess the statistics from this year’s event, to determine whether or not they reflect the current league standings.
League Table
| P | W | D | L | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Michael van Gerwen | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | +19 | 21 | 14 |
| Peter Wright | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | +16 | 16 | 13 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +8 | 18 | 12 |
| Gary Anderson | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | +10 | 22 | 11 |
| Phil Taylor | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | +5 | 20 | 11 |
| Adrian Lewis | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 9 |
| James Wade | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -3 | 16 | 8 |
| Dave Chisnall | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -16 | 12 | 6 |
| Jelle Klaasen (E) | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -16 | 15 | 3 |
| Kim Huybrechts (E) | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | -23 | 11 | 3 |
Tournament Averages:
- Michael van Gerwen- 104.18
- Gary Anderson- 102.70
- Peter Wright- 99.15
- Raymond van Barneveld- 98.51
- Phil Taylor- 96.91
- Kim Huybrechts- 95.75
- Adrian Lewis- 95.60
- Dave Chisnall- 95.26
- James Wade- 94.12
- Jelle Klaasen- 91.81
Michael van Gerwen leads the tournament averages and is also poised to top the league phase for the fourth consecutive year. ‘The Green Machine’ has lost just one game thus far against his compatriot Raymond van Barneveld, but he has looked irrepressible at times, in spite of a back problem which saw him miss night five in Exeter.
Van Gerwen’s tournament average of 104.18 is down on last year’s total of 108.96 at the same stage, although that figure was arguably inflated when he recorded a world-record televised average of 123.40 against Michael Smith in Aberdeen last year.
The top four in the averages all currently occupy play-off places, although Gary Anderson is second in terms of tournament average, despite sitting fourth in the table. ‘The Flying Scotsman’ has performed with tremendous consistency all season, but has been on the receiving end of inspired performances by Wright & Van Barneveld.
Snakebite and Barney are third and fourth respectively in terms of averages, whilst Phil Taylor trails just behind as he attempts to secure a play-off spot in his farewell campaign. Interestingly, Kim Huybrechts boasts a higher tournament average than Adrian Lewis, despite having won eight less points than the two-time world champion.
That indicates that whilst Huybrechts wasn’t necessarily dominated or outplayed, he was unable to close out matches effectively. However, The Hurricane’ had to contend with serious family problems throughout the season which inevitably will have hampered his focus.
James Wade has the second lowest tournament average of 94.12, whilst the eliminated Jelle Klaasen is bottom of the pile with a modest 91.81. Nevertheless, Klaasen’s campaign was derailed by a tendinitis problem in his wrist.
Checkout %
- Gary Anderson- 43.80%
- Michael van Gerwen- 41.23%
- Phil Taylor- 40.91%
- Adrian Lewis- 37.21%
- Dave Chisnall- 37.04%
- Raymond van Barneveld- 36.30%
- Peter Wright- 35.25%
- Jelle Klaasen- 34.71%
- James Wade- 34.65%
- Kim Huybrechts- 34.58%
The checkout statistics make for very interesting reading and aren’t completely reflective of the current Premier League standings. Gary Anderson has been the most clinical operator thus far; converting 53 of his 121 darts at double. League leader Michael van Gerwen is second, with Phil Taylor trailing MvG by a mere 0.32%.
Raymond van Barneveld is sixth in terms of checkout percentage, although the five-time world-champion has had more darts at double than any of his fellow competitors; hitting 53 of his 146 double attempts. Elsewhere, second-placed Peter Wright is seventh in terms of finishing, which illustrates just how impressively he’s scored throughout the season.
It’s somewhat less surprising to see that the eliminated duo of Klaasen and Huybrechts are in the bottom three in terms of checkout percentage, but the biggest surprise of all sees James Wade sandwiched between the pair.
‘The Machine’ is widely regarded as the most clinical finisher in world darts, but by his extremely high-standards, the left-hander has been uncharacteristically profligate in recent weeks, which has seen him lose four of his last five fixtures.
180’s
- Raymond van Barneveld- 35
- Dave Chisnall- 34
- Michael van Gerwen- 33
- Gary Anderson- 32
- Peter Wright- 28
- Adrian Lewis- 27
- Kim Huybrechts- 24
- Jelle Klaasen and Phil Taylor- 19
- James Wade- 13
Raymond van Barneveld tops the maximum count in this year’s Premier League, having registered 35 180’s in his nine matches. He hit seven in his stalemate with Kim Huybrechts and five against Michael van Gerwen, where he missed D12 for a nine-darter.
Dave Chisnall trails the Dutchman by a solitary maximum, despite sitting eighth in the table. Nevertheless, the St Helen’s star is renowned for being a prolific scorer; it’s his erratic doubling which often costs him.
Although Taylor and Wade are not considered to be prolific in the maximum department, their 180 counts are significantly down on last year. Taylor had hit 30 maximums at this stage last year, whilst Wade’s total of 24 twelve months ago has almost been halved this time around.
Number of Ton-Plus Checkouts:
- Gary Anderson- 12
- Peter Wright- 9
- Phil Taylor- 7
- Raymond van Barneveld- 6
- Michael van Gerwen and James Wade- 5
- Dave Chisnall and Kim Huybrechts- 4
- Jelle Klaasen and Adrian Lewis- 3
The Scots have been the ton-plus specialists so far this season. Gary Anderson has dispatched twelve ton-plus checkouts- three more than any other player. However, five of those came in his most recent wins over Huybrechts and Lewis respectively.
Anderson can consider himself rather unfortunate to be fourth in the Premier League table when you consider that he boasts the second highest tournament average, the best checkout percentage and more ton-plus finishes than any other player.
Peter Wright is second with nine ton-plus finishes, but ironically four of those came against Anderson, when Snakebite produced a brilliant display to defeat his fellow countryman with a 109.50 average.
The legendary duo of Taylor and Van Barneveld are the closest challengers to the Scottish pair in the ton-plus finishing stakes, whilst league leader Michael van Gerwen has hit a modest five by his exceptionally high standards. However, MvG is one of three players to have hit the maximum 170 outshot – Anderson and Lewis being the others.
However, the 170 finish which ‘Jackpot’ pegged against Michael van Gerwen is just one of three ton-plus finishes he’s hit all season, which is surprising when you consider that he boasts the fourth best checkout conversion rate of this year’s field.
Number of Ton-Plus Averages:
- Michael van Gerwen- 9
- Gary Anderson- 8
- Peter Wright, Raymond van Barneveld and Dave Chisnall- 3
- Kim Huybrechts and Adrian Lewis- 2
- James Wade and Phil Taylor- 1
- Jelle Klaasen- 0
Michael van Gerwen boasts the unprecedented record of having posted a ton-plus average in all nine of his matches so far this season. Gary Anderson has only once to failed to avarage over 100 so far this season in his 6-6 stalemate with James Wade in week four.
The trio of Wright, Van Barneveld and Chisnall have all posted three 100+ averages, with Barney’s coming against the world’s top three – Van Gerwen, Anderson and Wright – matches from which he secured an incredible five points from a possible six.
Kim Huybrechts has posted three-figures averages on two separate occasions, but both came in 7-5 defeats against Wade and Van Gerwen respectively. Yet Adrian Lewis also failed to convert either of his two ton-plus averages into victories.
Jelle Klaasen has failed to average over 100 in this year’s Premier League. His highest average came in week four; where he averaged 98. 90 to defeat Dave Chisnall – his sole triumph in this year’s competition.
Nevertheless, the biggest shock is that Phil Taylor has recorded just one 100+ average this year, when he averaged 103.98 in a 6-6 draw with Gary Anderson. At the same stage last season, Taylor had posted seven ton-plus averages, which is a significant drop in just twelve months.
Number of Successive Wins
- Raymond van Barneveld- 4
- Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright- 3
- Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Dave Chisnall- 2
- Jelle Klaasen and James Wade- 1
- Kim Huybrechts – 0
Raymond van Barneveld is the only man to have secured four consecutive victories in this year’s Premier League. The Dutchman was facing the prospect of an elimination battle four weeks ago, but successive wins against Klaasen, Anderson, Van Gerwen and Wade now sees RvB pushing to qualify for the play-offs.
Adrian Lewis’ three-match winning run was ended by an imperious Anderson in Cardiff last week, whilst Wright also secured three wins on the spin against Lewis, Wade and Chisnall earlier in the campaign. Meanwhile, Van Gerwen’s three consecutive wins came against Huybrechts, Taylor and Wade.
Anderson and Taylor have only enjoyed a sequence of consecutive victories alongside Chisnall, with the St Helen’s star beating both Van Barneveld and Wade in his double-header in Exeter. Elsewhere, Kim Huybrechts becomes the only man in Premier League history to depart the tournament without a win to his name.
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