Michael Smith threw away a fantastic opportunity as he was he beaten for the first time in this year’s Premier League.
He lost 7-5 to Rob Cross, while fellow Unicorn star Gary Anderson was glad to draw his match with Daryl Gurney.
Smith led 4-2 and 5-3 against the World Champion but went off the boil and Cross hit back superbly. At five legs apiece, Cross hit a maximum and an 11 darter. Then in the final leg, Smith was sat on 76 for a draw only to see Cross take out 121 on the bull.
Anderson looked tired after his UK Open exploits at the weekend. It was a strange old game against Gurney. The Unicorn man looked on course to win, then looked like losing, before finally winning what could yet turn out to be a priceless point.
“I struggled to be honest, but grateful to get a point,” Anderson admitted. “I know I need to turn things round now. I need to be climbing that table quickly.”
The Scot led 3-1 but missed the bull in the next two legs to extend his lead. Gurney found some confidence and won four on the spin. From 3-5 down, Anderson kept in the hunt. He missed two darts at D12 and D6 though, to make it five apiece as Gurney guaranteed a point.
But Gary found a way as he got a leg back to force a decider. The Irishman missed two darts for the win and a grateful Anderson nailed D17 to earn the draw.
Elsewhere Michael van Gerwen made it four wins out of five as he got past Simon Whitlock 7-4. The defending PL champ is now top of the table after Smith’s defeat.
And Raymond van Barneveld came from 3-5 down to beat Gerwyn Price. Barney won four straight legs with finishes of 121, 80, 101 and 89 on the bull.
Mensur Suljovic produced his best performance of the Premier League so far as he thrashed Peter Wright 7-1 with a 103 average.
Leeds PL results:
Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Simon Whitlock
Gerwyn Price 5-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright 1-7 Mensur Suljovic
Gary Anderson 6-6 Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross 7-5 Michael Smith
League Table:
1 - Michael van Gerwen 8pts
2 - Michael Smith 8pts
3 - Simon Whitlock 6pts
4 - Rob Cross 6pts
5 - Mensur Suljovic 4pts
6 - Raymond van Barneveld 4pts
7 - Gary Anderson 4pts
8 - Peter Wright 4pts
9 - Daryl Gurney 3pts
10 - Gerwyn Price 2pts
Nottingham schedule week 7:
Michael Smith v Peter Wright
Simon Whitlock v Daryl Gurney
Mensur Suljovic v Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen
Raymond van Barneveld v Gary Anderson
Report from STUART PYKE in Leeds
Images courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PD
