The Race for 2007 Premier League Places

Kingp35

Planetdarts wrote:

13 Stars Chasing Premier League Spots

THE race for places in the 2007 Holsten Premier League Darts is set to go down to the wire at the SkyBet World Grand Prix next month.

The top six players in the PDC world rankings after the World Grand Prix will qualify automatically for the third staging of the Premier League.

Two further places will go to wildcards, with one to be announced at the end of October and the second after the 2007 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.

Colin Lloyd and Phil Taylor's standings in the rankings guarantee them a place in the Premier League, with the other four spots still undecided.

Dennis Priestley's brilliant run of form on the circuit over the past two years has put him in pole position to earn a place.

He currently sits third in the standings for the Premier League places, six ranking points ahead of Peter Manley, ten ahead of Wayne Mardle and 11 clear of Ronnie Baxter.

Baxter is currently occuplying the sixth and final qualifying spot, but with four tournaments remaining there is still a race for points.

Roland Scholten, Adrian Lewis and Andy Jenkins are well placed, with four other players still in contention.

Kevin Painter, Terry Jenkins, Denis Ovens and Mark Dudbridge - who played in the inaugural Premier League Darts in 2005 - will hope that glory in the World Grand Prix or one of the other remaining events sees them jump up the standings.

"The Holsten Premier League has become the most talked-about tournament in the history of darts over the past two years," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

"Professional darts has been taken to places the sport has never visited, and Sky Sports' superb production has also been rewarded.

"The decision to expand the Premier League to eight players in 2007, with even greater prize money, has given all the top professionals an added aim this summer.

"To have 13 players in with a chance of taking the six places is incredible and I look forward to the coming weeks."

The table below shows the current standings in the race for Holsten Premier League Darts places, which is each player's ranking points minus the points they are defending up to and including the SkyBet World Grand Prix.

1 Colin Lloyd 513

2 Phil Taylor 485

3 Dennis Priestley 410

4 Peter Manley 404

5 Wayne Mardle 400

6 Ronnie Baxter 399

7 Roland Scholten 392 (-7)

8 Adrian Lewis 390 (-9)

9 Andy Jenkins 389 (-10)

10 Kevin Painter 376 (-23)

11 Terry Jenkins 374 (-25)

12 Denis Ovens 372 (-27)

13 Mark Dudbridge 371 (-28)

I would love to see Priestly qualify for the Premier League. I think he would do very well and is well capable of winning the tournament.

The Rooster

Probably just the top 9 in contention. Of which I'd prefer to see Taylor, Lloyd, Priestley, Mardle, Baxter and Lewis being the 6 qualifiers.

Bareny is certain to be a wildcard, and one more wildcard to be decided after the World Championships. John Part is probably favourite, being a major winner this year, but that could all change if there's a surprise finalist in the Worlds.

The Rooster

Update after the Zwartewater event in Holland (where Terry Jenkins beat Barney in the final).

1 Colin Lloyd 517
2 Phil Taylor 485
3 Dennis Priestley 410
4 Peter Manley 409
5 Wayne Mardle 403
6 Ronnie Baxter 402

7 Roland Scholten 395
8 Adrian Lewis 395
9 Andy Jenkins 392
10 Terry Jenkins 386
11 Kevin Painter 380
12 Mark Dudbridge 376
13 Denis Ovens 375

Kingp35

Still the same gap between 6th place Baxter and 7th Scholten. Roland has alot of work to do if he wants to get in.

Tbh I would rather Baxter gets in than Scholten. I think he brings more to the tournament.

Kingp35

So Terry Jenkins has qualified for the Premier League since he has reached the final of the Grand Prix. Dennis Priestley has also qualified after reaching the semi-finals. Peter Manley has also qualified after reacing the semi-finals.

Im not sure yet who got the 6th spot.

Bateman

Disappointing to see Mardle out, but he has no-one to blame but himself.