Schedule Night 11 Premier League Darts: Van Gerwen against Bunting on Thursday at sold-out Ahoy

The annual stop of the Premier League Darts in Ahoy Rotterdam arrived again Thursday night. This season, the Dutch port city hosts the league's 11th round of play.

It is already the eighth year that the Premier League visits. For many (Dutch) darts fans, the first time is still in the memory. The appearance of Raymond van Barneveld that year gave goosebumps to just about everyone present, and even the PDC staff stood and watched the scene with tears in their eyes.
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There were even two rounds of play in Rotterdam in 2018 and 2019. During the 2018 edition, idea arose out of necessity after the round of play in Exeter could not take place due to heavy snowfall. This round of play was cancelled and it was later decided that it was going to be made up in Rotterdam, which meant that it was played not only on Thursday but also on Wednesday. This proved such a success that the following year two nights were again played in Ahoy.

Due to the corona pandemic, darts were not played in Ahoy in 2020 and 2021, but the venue returned to the Premier League calendar in 2022 with one round of play. Since that year, the current format of Premier League Darts with weekly mini-tournaments has been used. At the time, Joe Cullen crowned himself the weekly winner in Rotterdam by defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final. For the time being, it was the only final appearance of 'Mighty Mike' at home. In 2023, the weekly title went to Nathan Aspinall, who defeated Gerwyn Price in the final match. A year later, Aspinall defended his weekly title in the Netherlands by defeating Michael Smith.

Chris Dobey's chances of still making the playoffs are starting to run out. With seven points after ten rounds of play, Dobey is in seventh place, trailing the top four by a whopping eight points. 'Hollywood' will have to win some nights soon to still have a chance at a trip to the O2 Arena.

That stress Luke Humphries in any case not have, because with 23 points the Englishman is already almost certain of a place in the last four. Thanks to his final spot last week, 'Cool Hand Luke' also reduced the gap to leader Luke Littler to five points. Humphries will initially want to secure a spot in the last four, but will certainly not have put the first spot out of his mind just yet.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two Englishmen in this Premier League. Humphries won all of the previous three duels, and leads 11-7 in the head-to-head between them.

Gerwyn Price has failed to make great strides toward the playoffs in recent weeks. After winning his second weekly title during the sixth round of play, he lost his first match on three of the last four nights. Only the night in Berlin produced a final place.

Price is currently the number three with fifteen points, but his closest pursuers Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen are currently on the same number of points. Aspinall reached fifteen points last week by taking the weekly title in Manchester. This 'The Asp' did after handsome wins over Rob Cross, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries. The winner of the match between Price and Aspinall thus deals a sensitive blow to a direct rival in the battle for the playoffs.

The previous two Premier League encounters were both won by Price. The Welshman holds a 20-13 lead in the mutual against his English opponent.

Of all the players, Michael van Gerwen lost his quarterfinals the least, but 'Mighty Mike' also grosses in defeats in the semifinals. Only once did Van Gerwen reach the final, but in Cardiff Luke Littler kept him from the weekly title. Because the Dutchman does rack up points almost every week he is now on fifteen points, but on leg balance he is now virtually outside the top four.

With Stephen Bunting he meets an opponent who has been in excellent form in recent weeks. The Bullet' won the evening in Berlin, and also took his first Euro Tour title at the International Darts Open in Riesa. Last week Bunting was beaten 6-1 by Humphries, but the former Lakeside champion could not do much about it. Bunting himself averaged 105, but saw Humphries play a near-perfect match with a monthly average of 118 per turn.

This year, Van Gerwen and Bunting only met once. That resulted in a convincing victory for "MVG," who won 6-1 thanks to an average of 109.

In the final quarterfinal it is the turn of reigning world champion Luke Littler, who will make another attempt to throw himself into the history books in Rotterdam. 'The Nuke' already stands at four weekly titles, and never before has a player managed to grab five weekly titles in one Premier League season. Each of the past two weeks Littler has failed to reach the weekly final, and it has not happened a single time this Premier League that Littler has failed to grab a weekly title in three weeks in a row. A harbinger for success in Rotterdam?

Rob Cross, on the contrary, is the only player in this Premier League Darts who has not yet made the final a single time this season. However, 'Voltage' had plenty of chances to do so, as the 2018 world champion has already been in the semifinals six times. With 12 points from 10 rounds of play, Cross is certainly not yet hopeless for the playoffs, but he will have to get some quick results if he is not to lose sight of the top four.

However, the head-to-head does not offer much hope for Cross. The two Englishmen have already met 14 times, and no fewer than 12 times the victory went to Littler. The 18-year-old teenage sensation is now unbeaten against Cross for five duels in a row, and has already defeated his compatriot four times in this Premier League.

A unique aspect of the Premier League is that a separate tournament is played each week of play, with the winner receiving an additional £10,000. This means that a player who manages to win multiple weeks of play can boost his prize money considerably. Since the league lasts for 16 weeks, an additional total of £160,000 can be distributed to the winners of these nights of play.

With performances, players also earn points toward the Premier League standings. The winner of a weekly tournament receives five points, while the losing finalist takes home three points. Semi-finalists keep two points and players who lose their opening match go home scoreless.

Quarterfinals/Halffinals/Finals: Best of 11 legs

Semifinals: Best of 19 legs

Final: Best of 21 legs

Thanks to Sky, you don't have to miss a single darts moment. Every Thursday night starting at 7 p.m., the channel will bring you the matches live, including extensive analysis and interviews with the main players.

The broadcasts usually last until 11, allowing you to enjoy a full evening of pure entertainment and top-level darts at the highest level.

With a total prize pool of £1,000,000, the eight contestants are competing not only for the title, but also for a substantial amount of money. All participants are guaranteed £60,000 in prize money. This eventually rises to the top prize of £275,000 for the winner.

However, players can also win a bonus each week. For every winner of a mini-tournament during the league phase, a sum of £10,000 is up for grabs.

Night 11 - Thursday, April 17.

Chris Dobey v Luke Humphries

Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall

Stephen Bunting v Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler v Rob Cross