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World of Sport

02nd Jan 2019

Gurney gets the nod as line-up for 2019 Premier League darts confirmed

Niall McIntyre

These lads will be hitting up Dublin in February.

As is always the case on the night of the World Darts Championship final, no sooner is the trophy presented to the winner than Barry Hearn is centre stage on Alexander Palace.

The English promoter is given airtime to announce the always debatable, top secret list of participants for the coming year’s Premier League darts competition.

The ten competitors are chosen via a system that has been in place for years where the world’s top four ranked players are automatically selected, four more are chosen by the PDC on merit while Sky Sports are responsible for the final two wildcard picks.

And on the back of Michael van Gerwen’s third World Darts Championship win, Barry Hearn was in the thick of it.

And not to buck any trends, some of the calls for the 2019 rendition have gone down like led balloons.

2019 Premier League darts lineup

Michael van Gerwen

Rob Cross

Peter Wright

Gary Anderson

Michael Smith

Mensur Suljović

Raymond van Barneveld

James Wade

Daryl Gurney

Gerwyn Price

First and foremost, the decision to include Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld was always going to be a divisive one. He never showed any kind of form in 2018 and on merit, the Dutch man shouldn’t be within an ass’s of the ten names.

But, he is one of darts’ most popular players and seeing as it will be his last year on the oche, it is a nice touch to grant the five time champ a dream farewell.

He was quick to thank the selection committee for his inclusion.

Another divisive inclusion is that of Englishman James Wade. He didn’t endear himself to the darts faithful in Ally Pally over the last two weeks and many aren’t happy at his inclusion.

Those who find themselves unlucky to miss out include Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, Joe Cullen etc.

2019 will see the main darting tour stretch across seventeen nights, beginning in February and coming to a conclusion in May.

Dates & Venues 2019 Premier League Darts

07 Feb – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

14 Feb – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow

21 Feb – 3Arena, Dublin

28 Feb – Westpoint Exeter

07 Mar – The BHGE Arena, Aberdeen

14 Mar – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

21 Mar – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin

27 Mar – Rotterdam Ahoy

28 Mar – Rotterdam Ahoy – Judgement Night

04 Apr – The SSE Arena, Belfast

11 Apr – Echo Arena, Liverpool

18 Apr – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

25 Apr – Arena Birmingham

02 May – The Manchester Arena

09 May – The FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield

16 May – First Direct Arena, Leeds

23 May – The O2, London – Play-Offs

Bring it on!