Charlie Wood
Chris Dobey claimed his first nightly victory of the Premier League season emphatically, easing past Stephen Bunting 6-2 on Night Eleven in Rotterdam.
The unlikely all-English final, which featured the bottom two players in the league standings at the start of the evening, thrust Dobey to just three points off a playoff spot.
‘Hollywood’ stormed into a commanding 5-1 advantage against Bunting, profiting off his favoured D16.
Ineffective Bunting scoring afforded Dobey opportunities that he had seldom taken thus far in the Premier League campaign.
Presented with 72 to win his first nightly final for over two years, the 34-year-old brought an end to proceedings with D20.
“I believe I can still get in the top four. I’ve got a good chance next week if I keep this performance,” he said.
“I’m a fighter, I’ve come through big matches where I’ve been cruising and ended up losing to get back among the elite. I’m here to win, I’ll be here until the end.”
En route to the final, Dobey overcame a nervy start against Luke Humphries in the quarter-final, to prevail as a 6-3 winner.
Following an opening leg in which Humphries broke the Dobey throw, the night’s winner responded with strong checkouts, including a standout 126 finish on the bullseye.
In his 6-2 semi-final win over Nathan Aspinall, Dobey went six darts into the perfect leg and set the tone for the remainder of the tie.
A neat 127 checkout put ‘Hollywood’ within one of victory, before capitalising on poor Aspinall finishing to wrap up the match on D10.
Breezy Rotterdam Conditions
The night was marred by breezy conditions in the Ahoy Arena.
Several players mentioned the circumstances and the effect on play, most notably Gerwyn Price after his 6-3 quarter-final loss to Aspinall.
He said later on an Instagram post: ‘This week was pointless, and we move on to next week. The darts were blowing everywhere.”
“Hopefully we will stop coming here and look for alternative venues. If you think it’s the same for both players you are as daft as you look.”
Price had started well but the trajectory of the encounter switched once Aspinall reeled in the ‘Big Fish’, visibly frustrating ‘The Iceman’.
The environment also affected World Champion Luke Littler.
After coming through a high-quality quarter-final against Rob Cross – despite Cross averaging in excess of 110 – ‘The Nuke’ succumbed 6-5 to Bunting in the semi-final.
Following an uncharacteristic start, the 18-year-old opted for his 26g darts, three games heavier than his usual, in an attempt to acclimatise to the Rotterdam conditions.
A resurgent Littler fought back from 5-2 to push the match into a deciding leg, missing D9 at the end of a 138 combination for the match.
Bunting followed with a calm 70 checkout to book his spot in the final.
Earlier in the evening, Bunting had silenced the Dutch crowd in his 6-5 win over local hero Michael van Gerwen.
In a scoreline that flattered the off-form ‘Green Machine’, Bunting efficiently finished 81 to secure victory.
Van Gerwen, a seven-time winner of the Premier League, finds himself outside the playoff places with only five weeks remaining; he and Cross remain the only players yet to claim a nightly victory in this year’s competition.
The Results from Rotterdam
Final
Chris Dobey 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Semi-Finals
Chris Dobey 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Luke Littler
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey 6-3 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 3-6 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler 6-5 Rob Cross
Charlie Wood
Featured image courtesy of Le Vu via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @officialpdc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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