Friday 24 April 2015 00:10, UK
World No 1 Michael van Gerwen and world champion Gary Anderson both suffered mixed fortunes in Week 12 of the Betway Premier League in Cardiff.
League leader Van Gerwen produced a sensational performance as he whitewashed James Wade 7-0 in the second match of the night to secure a place in next month’s play-offs at the O2.
The Dutchman averaged a massive 116.90 as he blew Wade away in just over 11 minutes at the Motorpoint Arena, the Englishman not even getting the chance to throw at a double.
However, Van Gerwen failed to hit those heights when he returned to the oche for the finale against Anderson, who had averaged only 82.98 as he lost 7-1 to Stephen Bunting in the evening's opener.
Anderson was in much better form the second time around and prevailed 7-5 in a high-quality contest, averaging 105.94 to his opponent's 104.40.
Van Gerwen started like a train against Wade as he went in search of his seventh straight victory over the Englishman and hit treble 20s with his first five darts before taking the opening leg in 12 darts.
He followed that up with a 14-dart leg and was then on track for another nine-dart finish in the third leg after landing seven straight 60s before failing to hit treble 19 with his penultimate dart.
The masterclass continued with another 14-dart leg and then a 12-dart leg before the world No 1 landed a superb 154 finish in the sixth leg.
Another big finish of 130 rounded off Van Gerwen’s victory in style and took his checkout success to 78 per cent.
Wade, meanwhile, looks set to miss out on the play-offs after dropping to the bottom of the table following the defeat -he is now below Bunting following his 7-1 demolition of Anderson.
Bunting also looked on course for a whitewash when he took the first five legs before Anderson stopped the rot by winning the sixth leg.
However, the Scot was unable to claw his way back into the match as Bunting claimed the next two legs to halt his six-match winless run in the Premier League.
Anderson was fully focused, though, when he returned to tackle Van Gerwen and immediately improved on Wade's performance as he captured the opening leg before missing a dart to break the Dutchman's throw in the second leg.
The fourth leg saw some superb darts with Anderson going close to a nine-darter with seven perfect darts, but he was still denied the spoils as Van Gerwen stepped in with a finish of 98.
Anderson hit a purple patch midway through the match with a 13-darter to take the seventh leg before securing the first break with a finish of 86 on the bull.
He briefly switched off as Van Gerwen roared back to level at 5-5, but another finish on the bull - 130 - wrapped up a point and a late wobble by the world No 1, when he missed two darts at double eight after just failing to take out 170, allowed Anderson to claim the win by hitting double five for a 40 finish.
Van Gerwen is now three points clear at the top of the table with 20 points with Anderson also well on course for the play-offs in third place on 16 points.
"I played well tonight and they were both fantastic games," said van Gerwen. "The game against James was an amazing performance and I'm proud of myself.
"I'm so happy with how it went. I knew that I was playing quite well but the average was better than I thought so I'm over the moon with that.
"In the last game I felt that we both deserved a draw but I gave it away at the end with the three darts to get a point. I did well tonight and didn't play badly but I want to win all my games and it was one of those weeks."
Anderson said: "The game against Stephen was one to forget - I might as well have been throwing left-handed - and it was good to get the win against Michael.
"Coming into the night you'd have thought that I'd beat Stephen and then struggle against Michael, especially after his first game, but in the first game I couldn't get going.
"I'm always up for games against Michael and I'm nipping at his heels and I'll take that. To get two points is a big lift in the table, but I want to keep pushing from here."
Defending champion Raymond van Barneveld boosted his hopes of reaching the play-offs as he battled back from 4-2 down to defeat Dave Chisnall.
Second-placed Chisnall was looking to cement his place in the final top four and he made a good start with a break in the opening leg to take command of the match.
Van Barneveld finally managed to break back and level the match up at 4-4 when he hit a double at the sixth time of asking in the eighth leg, but Chisnall edged back in front when he took the following leg against the darts.
The Dutchman was not to be denied, though, and he produced a superb 132 finish on the bull to draw level again before going in front for the first time with an 85 finish.
It was a similar story in the 12th leg as well with Van Barneveld snatching a vital two points with a 90 finish, once again on the bull.
"It was an unreal win," said Van Barneveld. "The 132 was amazing and the three bull finishes were extremely important.
"For the last three or four weeks I'm playing amazing, hitting good averages and getting the results."
Van Barneveld is now up to fifth place in the table, level with Adrian Lewis on 12 points and one behind fourth-placed Phil Taylor after the two former world champions drew their match 6-6.
The first eight legs of the match went with the darts, the highlight a finish of 147 by Lewis in the sixth leg.
Lewis looked set to claim a precious win when he claimed the first break with a 72 finish in the ninth leg and he followed up by holding his own throw to secure at least a point.
However, Taylor refused to give in and held his own throw before breaking back with a 13-darter to snatch the draw.
"I'm very happy with a draw," said Taylor. "I missed a few doubles and you can't afford to do that against him, so it feels like a win and a loss at the same time.
"My scoring's fine but my doubles aren't quite there and I've got to improve that, but my form's coming. It's climbing steadily but I'm still making mistakes and I can put that right."
Lewis said: "I missed too many doubles early on and hit a few silly shots and Phil took advantage. Fair play to Phil because he dug deep at the end and his last two legs were superb.
"He played well but some of my finishes under pressure were good, especially the 147. It's a massive night for me next week and I'm looking forward to it."
