The 2017 Premier League saw an incredible standard of darts produced across fifteen weeks of top tungsten action. As Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson prepare to battle it out for the Premier League crown at the O2 Arena on Thursday night, here’s a look at some of the key statistics from this year’s competition.
Tournament Averages:
1. Michael van Gerwen- 104.68
2. Gary Anderson- 102.16
3. Peter Wright- 98.86
4. Dave Chisnall- 98.71
5. Raymond van Barneveld- 98.69
6. Phil Taylor- 98.15
7. Adrian Lewis- 96.84
8. Kim Huybrechts- 95.75
9. James Wade- 94.64
10. Jelle Klaasen- 91.81
The world’s top two players finished top of the tournament averages, as they prepare to face off in the semi-finals on Thursday. Michael van Gerwen finished with an impressive tournament average of 104.68 as he topped the league phase for a fifth successive year, whilst Anderson trailed closely behind on 102.16.
Peter Wright had the third highest tournament average of 98.86 as he qualified for the play-offs for the first time in his career. Elsewhere, Phil Taylor, who finished the league phase in 3rd place, had a lower average than Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld; both of whom narrowly missed out on a top-four spot.
180’s Hit:
1. Dave Chisnall- 71
2. Raymond van Barneveld & Michael van Gerwen- 58
4. Gary Anderson- 53
5. Adrian Lewis & Peter Wright- 46
7. Phil Taylor- 37
8. James Wade- 25
9. Kim Huybrechts- 24 (E)
10. Jelle Klaasen- 19 (E)
Dave Chisnall finished top of the maximum count for the third successive Premier League campaign, as he enjoyed a blistering run of form during the second half of the season. Chisnall narrowly avoided elimination after Judgement Night, before going unbeaten for seven consecutive games to finish 5th; just two points outside the play-offs.
The two Dutch darting juggernauts Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld both registered 58 maximums apiece throughout the season, just ahead of Gary Anderson- who crashed in 53 180’s. Nevertheless, James Wade hit just one more maximum than Kim Huybrechts; despite playing eight matches more than the Belgian.
Checkout Percentage:
1. Michael van Gerwen- 40.54%
2. Phil Taylor- 40.17%
3. Gary Anderson- 39.91%
4. Dave Chisnall- 39.47%
5. Peter Wright- 38.89%
6. James Wade- 37.36%
7. Raymond van Barneveld- 37.09%
8. Adrian Lewis- 36.89%
9. Jelle Klaasen- 34.71%
10. Kim Huybrechts- 34.58%
Michael van Gerwen was the most clinical finisher in this year’s Premier League; boasting an impressive checkout success rate of 40.54%. ‘The Green Machine’ was also one of three men to fire in the maximum 170 outshot; along with Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson.
Phil Taylor’s finishing was integral to him sealing a play-off spot. ‘The Power’ converted 40.17% of his double attempts throughout the season, just ahead of Anderson, Chisnall and Wright. Unsurprisingly, Jelle Klaasen and Kim Huybrechts- the players with the worst checkout percentage, were both eliminated after nine weeks of action.
Ton-Plus Averages:
1. Michael van Gerwen- 16
2. Gary Anderson- 13
3. Raymond van Barneveld & Dave Chisnall- 7
5. Peter Wright- 6
6. Phil Taylor- 4
7. Adrian Lewis- 3
8. James Wade & Kim Huybrechts- 2
10. Jelle Klaasen- 0
Incredibly, Michael van Gerwen averaged over 100 in all 16 of his group phase matches, which is a Premier League record. Two-time Premier League winner Gary Anderson registered a brilliant 13 ton-plus averages, whilst Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld both exceeded the ton-plus mark on seven separate occasions.
Peter Wright and Phil Taylor, who will clash in the first of Thursday’s semi-finals, posted just ten ton-plus averages between them, as opposed to the cumulative total of 29 boasted by Van Gerwen and Anderson. Meanwhile, Jelle Klaasen failed to register a single ton-plus average, although ‘The Cobra’ was eliminated after nine weeks.
Top Ten Match Averages
119.50 – Peter Wright v Adrian Lewis (Week Five, Exeter)
113.62 – Michael van Gerwen v James Wade (Week Ten, Dublin)
113.44 – Gary Anderson v Peter Wright (Week 11, Liverpool)
111.52 – Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld (Week 11, Liverpool)
110.62 – James Wade v Michael van Gerwen (Week Ten, Dublin)
110.75 – Michael van Gerwen v Adrian Lewis (Week 13, Birmingham)
109.48 – Peter Wright v Gary Anderson (Week Three, Leeds)
109.36 – Dave Chisnall v Raymond van Barneveld (Week 14, Sheffield)
109.15 – Adrian Lewis v Peter Wright (Week Five, Exeter)
107.94 – Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson (Week One, Newcastle)
Peter Wright posted the highest average of this year’s Premier League in Week Five against Adrian Lewis. Snakebite’s 119.50 was also the second highest average in the history of televised darts, just behind Michael van Gerwen’s 123.40 average recorded in last year’s Premier League.
Elsewhere, ‘Mighty Mike’ features three times on the top ten list of averages, whilst Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright all came up against huge averages on two separate occasions. In total, there were 60 ton-plus averages posted throughout the fifteen weeks of action.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
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