Premier League Darts

Premier League Darts

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Wikipedia - Premier League Darts

Premier League Darts, known for sponsorship purposes in 2024 as BetMGM Premier League Darts, is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament originally featured seven players, gradually expanded to ten by 2013, before reduced again from 2022 to eight players from the Professional Darts Corporation circuit competing in a knockout style format, with nights also hosted in Europe at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by four wildcard selections to make up the eight-person field. Alongside the World Championship and the World Matchplay, it is considered part of the sport's Triple Crown.

While active, Phil Taylor dominated the event, winning six of the thirteen tournaments he appeared in. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals, where Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Taylor defeated Wade the following season to claim his fifth title in the competition in 2010, achieving two nine-dart finishes in the final, the only player to achieve this accomplishment.

Although there have been seven overall winners of the Premier League, the league stage has been dominated by Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, with Taylor topping the table for each of the first eight editions and van Gerwen winning the next seven. In 2020, Glen Durrant became the third player to finish top after all league fixtures had been completed. He went on to win the title, meaning all three players both topped the table and won the play-offs at their first attempt.

The prize fund has risen from £265,000 in the early years of the tournament, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £1,000,000 in 2022. The winner currently receives £275,000.

Premier League Darts este o competiție anuală de darts organizată de Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Turneul a fost fondat în 2005 și se desfășoară în Marea Britanie, Irlanda și Olanda.

Premier League Darts reunește cei mai buni 10 jucători de darts din lume, care se confruntă în 16 săptămâni de competiție în format de ligă. Jucătorii acumulează puncte în fiecare săptămână, iar cei patru jucători cu cele mai multe puncte la sfârșitul sezonului regulat se califică în semifinale.

Semifinalele și finala se dispută într-un singur weekend la O2 Arena din Londra. Câștigătorul Premier League Darts primește un premiu important în bani și Trofeul Premier League Darts.

Premier League Darts este unul dintre cele mai prestigioase turnee de darts din lume și este foarte popular printre fanii acestui sport. Turneul este transmis în direct la televizor în peste 100 de țări.