2015 Premier League Darts
2015 Betway Premier League Darts |
Winner |
Gary Anderson |
Runner-up |
Michael van Gerwen |
Score |
11–7 |
Date |
4 February–21 May 2015 |
Edition |
11th |
Number of players |
10 |
Venues |
16 |
Premier League Darts |
2016 > |
The 2015 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the eleventh edition of the tournament. The event began at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on 4 February, and ended at The O2 Arena, London on 21 May. The tournament was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. This was the second year that the tournament was sponsored by Betway.
Raymond van Barneveld was the defending champion, but he lost to Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in the semi-finals. Gary Anderson won his second Premier League Darts title by beating van Gerwen 11–7 in the final.
For the first time in the Premier League's history, 6 time winner Phil Taylor did not qualify for the play-offs.
Format
The tournament format was identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks each player plays the other nine players once. The bottom two players are eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks, each player plays the other seven players once. Phase 2 consists of four weeks where five matches are played followed by two weeks where four matches are played. At the end of phase 2 the top four players contest the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.Players
The competitors who competed at the tournament were announced following the 2015 PDC World Darts Championship final on 4 January 2015, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.Robert Thornton, Wes Newton, and Simon Whitlock did not return from last year. James Wade returned this year following his absence from the 2014 Premier League, along with two debutants, Kim Huybrechts, the first Belgian to compete in the league, and Stephen Bunting, the 2014 BDO world champion who had a successful first year with the PDC.
Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Order of Merit rank | Previous best performance | Qualification |
Michael van Gerwen | 3rd | 3 | 1 | Winner | Order of Merit |
Phil Taylor | 11th | 11 | 2 | Winner | Order of Merit |
Gary Anderson | 5th | 5 | 3 | Winner | Order of Merit |
Adrian Lewis | 8th | 6 | 4 | Runner-up | Order of Merit |
Peter Wright | 2nd | 2 | 5 | 5th | PDC Wildcard |
James Wade | 7th | 1 | 6 | Winner | PDC Wildcard |
Dave Chisnall | 2nd | 2 | 9 | 7th | PDC Wildcard |
Kim Huybrechts | 1st | 1 | 17 | Debut | PDC Wildcard |
Raymond van Barneveld | 10th | 10 | 10 | Winner | Sky Sports Wildcard |
Stephen Bunting | 1st | 1 | 24 | Debut | Sky Sports Wildcard |
Venues
Leeds | Bournemouth | Liverpool | Belfast |
First Direct Arena Thursday 5 February | Bournemouth International Centre Thursday 12 February | Echo Arena Thursday 19 February | Odyssey Arena Thursday 26 February |
Exeter | Nottingham | Glasgow | Dublin |
Westpoint Arena Thursday 4 March | Capital FM Arena Thursday 11 March | SSE Hydro Thursday 18 March | 3Arena Thursday 25 March |
Manchester | Sheffield | Aberdeen | Cardiff |
Phones 4u Arena Thursday 2 April | Motorpoint Arena Thursday 9 April | GE Oil & Gas Arena Thursday 16 April | Motorpoint Arena Thursday 23 April |
Birmingham | Newcastle upon Tyne | Brighton | London |
Barclaycard Arena Thursday 30 April | Metro Radio Arena Thursday 7 May | Brighton Centre Thursday 14 May | The O2 Arena Thursday 21 May |
Prize money
The prize money was dramatically increased to £700,000 from £550,000 in 2014.Results
League stage
5 February – Week 1 (Phase 1)
First Direct Arena, Leeds12 February – Week 2 (Phase 1)
Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth19 February – Week 3 (Phase 1)
Echo Arena, Liverpool26 February – Week 4 (Phase 1)
Odyssey Arena, Belfast5 March – Week 5 (Phase 1)
Westpoint Arena, Exeter12 March – Week 6 (Phase 1)
Capital FM Arena, Nottingham19 March – Week 7 (Phase 1)
SSE Hydro, Glasgow26 March – Week 8 (Phase 1)
3Arena, Dublin2 April – Week 9 (Phase 1)
Phones 4u Arena, Manchester9 April – Week 10 (Phase 2)
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield16 April – Week 11 (Phase 2)
GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen23 April – Week 12 (Phase 2)
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff30 April – Week 13 (Phase 2)
Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham7 May – Week 14 (Phase 2)
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne14 May – Week 15 (Phase 2)
Brighton Centre, BrightonPlay-offs – 21 May
The O2 Arena, LondonTable and streaks
Table
After the first nine weeks, the bottom two in the table are eliminated. Each remaining player plays a further seven matches. The top four players then participate in the playoffs.When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.
Streaks
Legend: | Win | Draw | Loss | Eliminated |