2009 Premier League Darts

The 2009 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation.

2009 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts
Winner
England James Wade
Runner-up
England Mervyn King
Score
13–8
Date
5 February–25 May 2009
Edition
5th
Number of players
8
Venues
15
Premier League Darts
< 2008 | 2009 | 2010 >

The tournament kicked off at the Echo Arena Liverpool, which hosted the biggest ever crowd for a PDC event of almost 8,000 in 2008.

New venues in Edinburgh and Exeter joined some of the UK's biggest arenas, including Belfast's Odyssey Arena, Manchester's MEN Arena, Birmingham's National Indoor Arena, the Sheffield Arena and Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena.

The tournament came to a conclusion with the play-offs on Monday 25 May at the Wembley Arena – coinciding with the Football League play-offs at the neighbouring Wembley Stadium over the same weekend. Phil Taylor was defending his Whyte & Mackay Premier League title once again, however he failed to retain it after losing to Mervyn King 10–6 in the semi-finals. James Wade beat King 13–8 in the final, to claim the £125,000 first prize and the first Premier League not to be claimed by Taylor.

Qualification edit

The top six players from the PDC Order of Merit following the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship were confirmed on 5 January. Jelle Klaasen and Wayne Mardle were named as the two Sky Sports wild card selections on 9 January.[1]

Qualifiers are as follows:

  1.   Phil Taylor
  2.   James Wade
  3.   Raymond van Barneveld
  4.   John Part
  5.   Terry Jenkins
  6.   Mervyn King
  7.   Wayne Mardle
  8.   Jelle Klaasen

Venues edit

Fifteen venues were used in the 2009 Premier League, with the only changes from 2008 being Edinburgh and Exeter replacing Plymouth and Bournemouth.

Prize money edit

The prize fund increased again with the top prize now reaching £125,000, and the total prize fund rising to £400,000.

Stage Prize Money
Winner £125,000
Runner-up £65,000
Semi-finalists (x2) £40,000
5th place £32,500
6th place £30,000
7th place £27,500
8th place £25,000
High Checkout (per night) £1,000
Total £400,000

Results edit

  • Players in italics are challengers, and games involving them are best of 12 legs, not best of 14 as the regular matches, and they also don't count towards the standings.

League stage edit

Notes edit

† – Wayne Mardle didn't play in week ten because of a virus. John Part played two matches in week ten, with Mardle due to play two matches in week eleven, giving Part the night off that week.[16] However, Mardle was rushed into hospital with mumps on 15 April, which ruled him out of week eleven.[17] This meant that Mervyn King and James Wade each played twice during week eleven, with Mardle now due to play five matches in the last three weeks. Mardle had been due to play two matches in both weeks thirteen and fourteen, which would give King the night off in Sheffield, and Wade the night off in Cardiff.[18] However, Mardle was re-admitted to hospital, ruling him out of week twelve, and in accordance with tournament regulations after missing three consecutive Premier League match nights, was removed from the tournament. Mardle's match results from the tournament were also annulled, hurting some of the remaining players more than others. Following Mardle's removal from the tournament, in order for each remaining night to have four matches, there was a series of challenge matches featuring Robert Thornton, Adrian Lewis, Dennis Priestley, Mark Webster and Gary Anderson.[19]

* – Phil Taylor's average of 116.01 was, at the time, the highest recorded three-dart average in televised darts history. He broke his own record of 114.53, set against Wes Newton during the 2008 UK Open.

Play-offs – 25 May edit

  Wembley Arena, London

Score
[20]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Phil Taylor  
95.78
6 – 10   Mervyn King
89.86
James Wade  
97.93
10 – 8   Raymond van Barneveld
95.26
Final (best of 25 legs)
Mervyn King  
85.83
8 – 13   James Wade
90.38
High Checkout: Mervyn King 156 (Final)

Table and Streaks edit

Table edit

Pos Name Pld W D L Pts LF LA +/- LWAT 100+ 140+ 180s A HC
1   Phil Taylor 12 7 4 1 18 88 58 +30 29 194 128 56 104.43 170
2   James Wade W 12 7 3 2 17 81 66 +15 28 181 114 43 97.44 170
3   Raymond van Barneveld 12 5 3 4 13 76 71 +5 25 188 122 43 99.13 167
4   Mervyn King RU 12 4 4 4 12 76 70 +6 28 203 114 37 96.67 130
5   Terry Jenkins 12 2 5 5 9 74 83 −9 26 207 129 46 95.89 141
6   John Part 12 2 5 5 9 63 86 −23 18 180 72 25 92.38 150
7   Jelle Klaasen 12 1 4 7 6 66 90 −24 26 173 93 33 91.24 170

Top four qualify for Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

Streaks edit

Player Week Play-offs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 SF F
  Phil Taylor W W D L D W W W W D D W W W L
  James Wade D L W W W W W D L W W D W W W W
  Raymond van Barneveld L D L W D W W L W L D W W D L
  Mervyn King W W W W D L L W W L D D D L W L
  Terry Jenkins D D D L L L W L W D L D W D
  John Part D D L W W D L D L W D L L L
  Jelle Klaasen D L L L L D L W L D D L L W
  Wayne Mardle L D W L D L L L L Withdrawn
Challengers
  Robert Thornton L
  Adrian Lewis L
  Dennis Priestley L
  Mark Webster L
  Gary Anderson W

NB: W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; N/A = Did Not Play; indicates match did not count towards final standings

Player statistics edit

The following statistics are only for league stage games that contributed to the final standings. Annulled fixtures, challenge matches and play-offs are not included.

Phil Taylor edit

James Wade edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 5
  • Most consecutive wins: 4
  • Most consecutive draws: 1
  • Most consecutive losses: 1
  • Longest without a win: 2
  • Biggest victory: 8–1 (v. Terry Jenkins)
  • Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. Mervyn King)

Raymond van Barneveld edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 3
  • Most consecutive wins: 3
  • Most consecutive draws: 1
  • Most consecutive losses: 1
  • Longest without a win: 3
  • Biggest victory: 8–1 (v. John Part)
  • Biggest defeat: 2–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Mervyn King edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 4
  • Most consecutive wins: 3
  • Most consecutive draws: 3
  • Most consecutive losses: 2
  • Longest without a win: 5
  • Biggest victory: 8–1 (v. James Wade)
  • Biggest defeat: 2–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Terry Jenkins edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 3
  • Most consecutive wins: 1
  • Most consecutive draws: 2
  • Most consecutive losses: 3
  • Longest without a win: 5
  • Biggest victory: 8–3 (v. John Part)
  • Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. James Wade)

John Part edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 2
  • Most consecutive wins: 1
  • Most consecutive draws: 2
  • Most consecutive losses: 2
  • Longest without a win: 4
  • Biggest victory: 8–5 (v. Terry Jenkins)
  • Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)

Jelle Klaasen edit

  • Longest unbeaten run: 2
  • Most consecutive wins: 1
  • Most consecutive draws: 2
  • Most consecutive losses: 3
  • Longest without a win: 6
  • Biggest victory: 8–6 (v. Terry Jenkins)
  • Biggest defeat: 2–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

References edit

  1. ^ "Klaasen And Mardle Confirmed". pdc.tv. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night One". pdc.tv. 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  3. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Two". pdc.tv. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  4. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Three". pdc.tv. 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Four". pdc.tv. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  6. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Five". pdc.tv. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  7. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Six". pdc.tv. 12 March 2009. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  8. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Seven". pdc.tv. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  9. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Eight". pdc.tv. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  10. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Nine". pdc.tv. 2 April 2009. Archived from the original on 5 April 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Ten". pdc.tv. 9 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  12. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Eleven". pdc.tv. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  13. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Twelve". pdc.tv. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  14. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Thirteen". pdc.tv. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  15. ^ "Premier League Darts – Night Fourteen". pdc.tv. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  16. ^ "Mardle Forced To Miss Exeter". pdc.tv. 7 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  17. ^ "Mardle Taken To Hospital". pdc.tv. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  18. ^ "Mardle To Make Comeback". pdc.tv. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  19. ^ "PDC Statement: Wayne Mardle". pdc.tv. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  20. ^ "Premier League Darts – Play-offs". pdc.tv. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009.

External links edit