Gerwyn Price beats Chris Dobey to win Week Seven of Premier League Darts in Nottingham - after his opponent thrashes Michael Van Gerwen 6-0 in remarkable semi-final; watch Night Eight, in Newcastle, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm on Thursday March 23
Friday 17 March 2023 12:10, UK
Gerwyn Price beat Chris Dobey 6-4 to win Night Seven of the Cazoo Premier League - after his opponent had ended Michael van Gerwen's hopes of a fourth straight victory with a stunning 6-0 whitewash.
Price rallied from falling 2-0 down to Dobey in the final in Nottingham to move 3-2 ahead with successive ton-plus finishes and eventually closed out his win having missed five match darts in the ninth leg.
The Welshman's nightly win, in which he also beat Jonny Clayton and Dimitri Van den Bergh, was his second of the season, after Cardiff in Week Two, and lifted him to second in the table behind Van Gerwen.
But Dobey produced the performance of the evening, inflicting the first Premier League sweep of Van Gerwen's career as the Dutchman's bid to follow his successes in Dublin, Exeter and Liverpool were dashed during a remarkable semi-final.
Dobey had led Michael Smith 5-0 in his quarter-final only for the reigning world champion to fight back to 5-4 before 'Hollywood' triumphed with a break of throw on the bull.
There would be no comeback from Van Gerwen in a match in which Dobey started and ended with three-figure finishes as he snapped his opponent's 10-game winning streak.
Dobey was unable to land his second nightly victory of the campaign, after Belfast in Week One, but will head to his native North East for next week's round in Newcastle full of confidence having ended a run of five consecutive quarter-final defeats.
The quarter-finals for next week's leg are determined by the current standings - and, as it turns out, will be an exact repeat of the fixtures in Nottingham, with runaway league leader van Gerwen facing rock-bottom Peter Wright and sixth-placed Dobey taking on third-placed Smith
The other first-round fixtures see Week Seven kingpin Price versus fellow Welshman Clayton once more and fifth-placed Van den Bergh up against fourth-placed Nathan Aspinall.
Price's night in Nottingham featured a trio of 6-4 wins, firstly over compatriot Clayton in his quarter-final, then Van den Bergh in the last four and finally Dobey.
Van Gerwen has begun his evening in ruthless fashion, dismantling an out-of-sorts Wright 6-1 as his opponent suffered a quarter-final exit for the sixth week in seven - Wright's only success so far this season was a 6-5 win over Price in Liverpool.
The night had started with Van den Bergh winning his 10th consecutive game against Aspinall - but 'The Asp' will get the chance to snap that unwanted run in Newcastle next Thursday as the league stage reaches the halfway point.
Van Gerwen holds a nine-point advantage over Price at the summit and looks nailed-on to qualify for the last four, although it will be interesting to see how he rebounds from his demolition at the hands of Dobey.
Speaking to Sky Sports Darts after his win in Nottingham, Price said: "I missed a couple of doubles and kept players in the game so I had to dig in.
"I knew I was playing well, I have been playing well for the last couple of weeks, and thankfully I won [here]. If I hit my doubles, nine times out of 10 I think I'll win games.
"The last couple of years the crowd have been on my back but they have been fantastic with me [this year]. If the crowd are behind me it shows I can play good darts and win nights.
"Hopefully this is momentum for me for the rest of the season. Losing will knock Michael [Van Gerwen] back a bit, especially 6-0. It will hurt Michael - and I hope it hurts!"
Watch Premier League Darts - Night Eight, from Newcastle, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm on Thursday March 23.
