The new Premier League Darts season gets up and running in Belfast on Thursday evening when the eight players enter the first draw bracket of the campaign, each having their eye on the five points for winning the night and the £10,000 which comes with it.
Gerwyn Price was the winner when the tournament was held in Belfast last year but it was Peter Wright who opened up the 2022 campaign with a win. Those two and the six others will all be looking to come out on top on Thursday.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Jonny Clayton
The opening match of the 2023 season sees two men who needed wildcards to get into the event taking to the stage when Dimitri Van den Bergh takes on the 2021 winner of this tournament in Jonny Clayton, in a repeat of their World Championship quarter final last month.
I think Van den Bergh is extremely fortunate to have been offered a chance in this tournament but now he is here he will be wanting to prove he belongs in this tournament. I guess you could argue similar about Clayton but as the winner two years ago I think his place in the draw is more deserved, especially as he topped the table in his title defence last year before bowing out in the semi-final. Van den Bergh won the quarter final between these two but Clayton has performed better since then. If I had to bet I’d side with over 9.5 legs as matches between these two tend to be tight but that might be one for the multiples rather than a single bet. I’m happy to leave this one alone.
Michael Smith vs Michael van Gerwen
The pick of the matches on the opening night of the new campaign is the second quarter final on the evening when Michael Smith takes on Michael van Gerwen as the top two in the world collide in a repeat of the World Championship final of a month ago.
Smith won that final and has home advantage in this match but he hasn’t looked completely comfortable carrying the world champion tag in the World Series events and The Masters so far this season. Although he won the title in Bahrain, he started slowly in a lot of matches and that trend has continued and is clearly a concern in a best of 11 match. I would imagine van Gerwen will be out to set his stall out here and also put Smith back in his place for that world final defeat but he is going to need to break throw at some point to win this one and that is never guaranteed against a man whose scoring can rescue him at any point. This just feels like a match to watch rather than bet on.
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Peter Wright vs Chris Dobey
The third quarter final of the first week of the new season sees the recently crowned Nordic Darts Masters winner Peter Wright going up against the only debutant in the field in Chris Dobey, who is here courtesy of winning The Masters last weekend.
Wright followed up his run in Copenhagen with a semi-final appearance in The Masters when he was only downed in a deciding leg to Rob Cross. He was averaging over a ton for the weekend, as he was for a lot of his time in Denmark so there is certainly enough to think that Wright is in good touch. I’m not going to detract from the success of Dobey at the weekend but a highest average of 95.05 from the second round onwards suggests that nobody turned up against him and you would imagine he will need much more than that to compete here. This isn’t alien territory for Dobey because he was previously a ‘challenger’ in this tournament when those were a thing but it isn’t surroundings he is familiar with. Wright is a seasoned campaigner in these arenas and is in good form, he has the throw and should come through here with a bit in hand.
Nathan Aspinall vs Gerwyn Price
The last of the quarter finals on the first night of the season sees another man who needed a wildcard into the event in Nathan Aspinall, going up against the world number four Gerwyn Price who will be hoping for a repeat of the last time he was in Belfast.
That night he ran away with the weekly title and slammed in a couple of nine dart finishes in the process. The first thing that tells us is that this is a venue where the crowd don’t get on his back and he is often very tough to beat when given an even crack at things. Aspinall has gone on record as saying that he enjoys playing Price though and he’ll be up for this. He has a pretty decent record in the Premier League and while I wouldn’t want to be certain that he’ll win this match, if he can be sharp on his doubles then he can certainly run Price close. This is another match I’m happy to watch rather than invest in though.
Week 1 Betting
There is a market for the opening week winner and a couple of firms are even going each way in it which makes for a good chance of a return. The man who has home advantage for as long as he is in the evening action is Dimitri Van den Bergh. Heading into last season I thought that might be a significant thing but only two men who had the throw all night prevailed at the end of the evening so clearly it isn’t the advantage you might think it is. I would still want someone who doesn’t have to break throw all night though as in this elite company breaks of throw shouldn’t come along easily.
That makes me think Peter Wright might be the one to back at 9/2. In winning in Copenhagen and competing again in Milton Keynes we know he is in good form and there is no Rob Cross in this competition. Cross is the only man who has beaten him in 2023. I’ve already said I expect Wright to win his quarter final and then he would have the throw in the semi-final against either Aspinall or Price and if he wins that he has an each way payout and probably wouldn’t be much more than evens whoever he faces in the final. Wright is clearly in good nick at the minute and I’ll strike while the iron is hot.
Tips
Back P.Wright (-1.5 legs) to beat C.Dobey for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back him here:
Back P.Wright to win Night 1 (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 5.50 with William Hill (1/3 1-2)
Back him here:
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