Premier League Darts results: Michael van Gerwen beaten by Daryl Gurney

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MVG stunned by Gurney

Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock defeat on night seven of Premier League Darts as Daryl Gurney won the final leg for a famous 7-5 success.

Gurney hit double top for a 13-dart leg on his throw to beat the Dutchman, who had just failed to threaten a 170 finish which would've stolen a point.

The Northern Irishman's success was his second victory over van Gerwen in a row, having also out fought him to clinch a memorable Players Championship Finals crown back in November.

It was in fact the world champion who took the opening two legs, but in doing so he offered some encouragement to Gurney, who took the next two to draw level.

Van Gerwen upped the ante in leg five, 13 darts all he needed for it after back-to-back maximums, but Gurney levelled before taking the lead for the first time when a match high 96 checkout completed a 12-dart leg of his own.

That lead soon doubled but with the quality of the match improving, van Gerwen threw a pair of maximums as he got back within one at 4-5.

An 86 checkout guaranteed Gurney a point before van Gerwen produced his best finish of the match, a 93 which sent the match to a 12th leg.

Gurney, who averaged 98.71 compared to MVG's 98.54 but hit two fewer 180s with four, held firm, with four good visits leaving double 20 as van Gerwen floundered.

Although MVG's scoring power was off key for the second week running, his finishing was superior percentage-wise with five doubles hit from nine attempts as Gurney missed nine of his 16.

Gurney said: "I'm delighted with the result, but in all honesty I didn't play as well as I know I can. I was battling with myself to find the treble 20 all the way through, but once I went 2-0 down I hit a few big scores and I know if my first dart is right I can beat anybody.

"Going into the game I knew I needed to get a point to keep myself out of the elimination picture going into next week so to get the win is a great result."

Maximum has Max on the Hopp

Raymond van Barneveld at last took the opportunity to add to his highlights reel with a 170 finish en route to a 7-3 victory over Max Hopp, his first of what's his final Premier League campaign.

After losing the first leg, van Barneveld moved clear in the match until Hopp won back-to-back legs to trail just 4-3, at which point it appeared as though the Dutchman might relinquish control.

However, van Barneveld then produced a moment of genuine magic to take out 170 and that proved to be the killer blow as he went on to win with something to spare.

He remains rooted to the bottom of the table but with a double-header in Rotterdam next week, Thursday's breakthrough could not have been better timed.

Barney, who is a point adrift of the 2018 runner-up Michael Smith, averaged 90 (Hopp 88.41), hit one fewer maximum with two and converted seven of his 19 attempts at doubles, with his opponent spurning nine of his 12.

"I didn't play my 'A game' tonight but of course I'm happy to get the win," said Van Barneveld. "When I saw Michael lost I knew I needed to win to keep my hopes of avoiding elimination alive and thankfully I did.

"I was struggling at points in that match, the 170 came at a good time for me and it felt really good.

"Next week I'm playing at home, I can't wait. I love this game and now I'm feeling more energised and hopefully I will bring my 'A game' next week."

Cross rises to the top

Rob Cross kicked off the night with a regulation 7-4 victory over Gerwyn Price and ended it on top of the table.

Voltage averaged over 100 for the sixth time in this Premier League season, posting an impressive mark of 104 against the Welshman, who is experiencing a dip in form.

The 2018 Grand Slam of Darts champion and winner of two Players Championship events earlier this season has now lost back-to-back matches after defeat to MVG last Thursday.

A 13-dart leg in the opener saw Cross break the throw of his opponent and he soon doubled his lead on double top.

Price threw six perfect darts to begin the third leg before an 86 checkout got him on the board, but another 13-dart finish from Cross, this time finished on double eight, saw him restore his advantage.

The former world champion hit double nine to take full control at 4-1, and while Price broke back, he could not hold his throw as Cross moved into a 5-2 lead.

Price made it four breaks in succession in the next before finally holding to get within one, but that would be as close as things got as Cross took the following two legs.

"I'm really happy with the result tonight, it felt like a bit of a graft in places but I got the job done,” said Cross.

"A couple of times I broke throw and gave him a freebie to break straight back so I need to work on keeping my focus in every leg.

"I'm really happy in the Premier League this year, everything is good at home with my family, my sponsors are supporting me and life couldn't be any better right now."

Spoils shared in opener

Earlier, James Wade and Peter Wright played out a similarly tense encounter which ended in a 6-6 draw.

An 81 finish on bullseye gave Wright the first break of throw and he extended away into a 3-1 lead, and it became 5-2 as Wade missed chances.

The match turned in the eighth leg, though, as Wright this time missed three darts at double. Wade, who had made a mess of his set-up, missed two chances of his own but crucially took the third to keep his hopes alive.

From there, a 65 finish got him within one after two more misses from Wright, and again he missed a dart at double as Wade levelled the match on double 10.

The left-hander then made it four legs on the bounce to move into the lead for the first time, until Wright finally discovered his scoring touch, firing in back-to-back 140s to leave 74, which he took in two darts for a draw.

Wright averaged 98.93 compared to Wade's 98.42 and hit one more 180s with four and made the highest checkout with 81 - although he missed 10 darts at a double, with the Machine spurning six.

Suljovic thrashes Smith

The most dominant display of the evening came from Mensur Suljovic, who entered the arena to huge cheers and left it a winner, having beaten Michael Smith 7-2.

Smith in fact took the opening leg with a 75 finish, but the Austrian replied by ratting off five in succession, with checkouts of a match high 94 and 70 playing their part before a classy 13-dart leg extended his advantage.

Smith hit double 16 for an 86 checkout in leg seven, but a 77 finish from Suljovic put him on the brink of victory - one he sealed in a scrappy final leg.

"It's a brilliant feeling," said the Austrian, who averaged 96.44 compared to Smith's disappointing 85.34. "Michael is such a good player so to win 7-2 is very big for me. I love playing in Berlin, I won here last year too and it was a fantastic night.”

Suljovic hit one fewer 180 with two but his finishing prowess proved crucial as he made seven of his 13 attempts, with Bully Boy missing five of his seven.

2019 Premier League Darts Table

1. Cross P 7 W 5 D 1 L 1 LegD +15 Pts 11
2. Van Gerwen P 7 W 4 D 1 L 2 LegD +10 Pts 9
3. Wade P 7 W 3 D 2 L 2 LegD +7 Pts 8
4. Suljovic P 7 W 3 D 2 L 2 LegD +4 Pts 8
5. Wright P 7 W 2 D 4 L 1 LegD +3 Pts 8
6. Price P 7 W 2 D 3 L 2 LegD +5 Pts 7
7. Gurney P 7 W 3 D 1 L 3 LegD -8 Pts 7
8. Smith P 7 W 2 D 1 L 4 LegD -5 Pts 5
9. Van Barneveld P 7 W 1 D 2 L 4 LegD -10 Pts 4

Night seven results & next week's fixtures

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• WEEKLY GUEST PLAYERS IN BOLD

Night 7

• Gerwyn Price 4-7 Rob Cross
• James Wade 6-6 Peter Wright
• Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Daryl Gurney
• Michael Smith 2-7 Mensur Suljovic
• Max Hopp 3-7 Raymond van Barneveld

Night Eight - Wednesday March 27
Rotterdam Ahoy
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
• James Wade v Dimitri van den Bergh
• Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic
• Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen
• Raymond van Barneveld v Daryl Gurney

Tickets: 0900 300 1250 (Ned) 0031 88 123 24 25 (Outside Ned) or click here

Judgement Night - Thursday March 28
Rotterdam Ahoy
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Daryl Gurney v Mensur Suljovic
• Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price
• Rob Cross v Jeffrey de Zwaan
• Raymond van Barneveld v Michael van Gerwen
• James Wade v Michael Smith

Tickets: 0900 300 1250 (Ned) 0031 88 123 24 25 (Outside Ned) or click here

Fixtures for Nights Ten-16 will be confirmed following Judgement Night.

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