Nathan Aspinall and Jose de Sousa secured qualification for the Unibet Premier League Play-Offs on Night 15 on Wednesday in Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n
Last year’s runner-up Aspinall confirmed a top four finish for the second successive year thanks to a 7-7 draw with Gary Anderson.<\/p>\n
An even contest saw both players land two ton-plus checkouts each, before Aspinall rescued a point with a 14-dart final leg to book his place in Friday’s Play-Offs.<\/p>\n
“I’m really disappointed,” Aspinall admitted. “I’ve got a lot of time for Gary, he was my idol growing up but tonight showed me that I’ve got to put that to one side when I play him.<\/p>\n
“Normally i play really well against him but what I take away from this game is that I’ve got to put that to one side when I’m on stage and play my game; I felt very flat throughout the game.<\/p>\n
“I’m not going to be too hard on myself tonight because it’s a point and I’ve qualified for the Play-Offs, but tonight it’s a lesson learned.”<\/p>\n
Despite going down 8-6 to Michael van Gerwen, De Sousa joins Aspinall in guaranteeing a Play-Off place in his debut season thanks to other results on the night.<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen’s clinical 62% checkout accuracy proved to be the difference between the players, with the five-time champion now on the verge of finishing top for the eighth time in nine seasons.<\/p>\n
However, De Sousa will also return for Friday’s Play-Offs despite seeing his six-match unbeaten run come to an end.<\/p>\n
“I could have done a little bit better in this game but overall I can’t really complain,” said Van Gerwen. “When it mattered, I did the job and that’s the only thing that matters in a game that’s this important.<\/p>\n
“There’s still more progression but overall I can’t really complain. You want to be in this position – I didn’t play my best but my will to win is there.<\/p>\n
“I’m here to win the title, and I won’t be satisfied with anything else.”<\/p>\n
Dimitri Van den Bergh found a vital bullseye to land a 130 checkout, earning him a point against James Wade to set up a showdown with Jonny Clayton for the final Play-Off spot in Thursday’s Night 16.<\/p>\n
Coming into the game on the back of a three-match losing run, Van den Bergh had to battle back from 6-3 down to take a share of the spoils against Wade.<\/p>\n
After Wade took out 121 to go 7-6 up, Van den Bergh rallied and checked out 130 for a 15-darter under pressure to maintain his hopes of a Play-Off berth in his maiden Premier League campaign.<\/p>\n
“This result means a lot to me, it gives me a fighting chance heading into tomorrow,” said Van den Bergh.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been playing really well and losing recently, but you have to expect that when you are playing against the best of the best, night after night.<\/p>\n
“I always take the positives, I keep fighting and believing in myself. I have to thank the crowd for this result because they definitely helped me secure that point.<\/p>\n
“It’s all to play for tomorrow night, I will need the support of the crowd to make my dream come true.”<\/p>\n
Like Van den Bergh, Clayton is seeking a Play-Off spot in his debut year but his hopes were dealt a blow as he went down 8-5 to a resurgent Peter Wright.<\/p>\n
Clayton was made to pay for his 14 missed double attempts, and the Welshman must now take at least a draw from Thursday’s showdown with Van den Bergh to book a top four place, with the Belgian needing to win the tie.<\/p>\n
Despite racking up his third straight win, Wright is out of the running for a Play-Off place due to his inferior leg difference going into the final night.<\/p>\n
Thursday will see Clayton and Van den Bergh face-off in the crucial final game of the night, while former Premier League champions Anderson and Wade meet in the opening game.<\/p>\n
Semi-finalists Aspinall and De Sousa face-off, with the English ace looking to apply the pressure on Van Gerwen in the battle to finish as league leader, before the Dutchman and Wright meet in a repeat of the 2017 final.<\/p>\n
2021 Unibet Premier League Nathan Aspinall and Jose de Sousa secured qualification for the Unibet Premier League Play-Offs on Night 15 on Wednesday in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":3243,"de":3246},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3245,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions\/3245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdc2.fw-web.space\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarshall Arena, Milton Keynes
\nNight 15, Wednesday May 26<\/strong>
\nJonny Clayton 5-8 Peter Wright
\nJames Wade 7-7 Dimitri Van den Bergh
\nGary Anderson 7-7 Nathan Aspinall
\nJose de Sousa 6-8 Michael van Gerwen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"