The McCoys Premier League Darts
The McCoys Premier League Darts is now under way with matches held country wide at different venues giving fans a good chance of seeing their favourite players without having to travel to far. The competition which was launched in 2005, is now to the surprise of many, the world’s largest indoor sporting event. The event attracts huge audiences with fans dressing up, carrying banners and placards in support of their favourite players and generally having a great night out. The competition consists of 14 league nights which take place between February and May in some of Britain’s and Ireland’s top venues. The opening match was held at the Manchester Arena with over 8000 tickets being snapped up , already pre sales overall stand at over 70,000, the tournament will visit the O2 arena in Dublin for the first time this year as well as the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
Eight of the top players from the PDC form the league, the top four PDC players are joined by four ‘wild cards’ who then compete in a round robin format in which two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. The ‘wild card‘ entries are chosen by the PDC and broadcasters Sky Sports. Each league match is played over 14 legs, the top four players from the league table then compete for a first prize of £150,000 in the Play Offs held at the O2 Arena in London, on Thursday May 17th. The total prize kitty is now a whopping £450,000. This year Kevin Painter and Andy Hamilton made their debut’s in the tournament, Andy had a dream start by defeating former champion James Wade, while Kevin meanwhile hit 180 with his first three darts in the tournament and won the opening five legs without reply, the new boys done good!.
The 8 competitors this year are:
Phil Taylor, won 5 previous Premier League titles and Betfair have him as favourite at 1/10.
Adrian Lewis
James Wade, won Premier League in 2009.
Gary Anderson, last years Premier League winner.
Simon Whitlock
Andy Hamilton, making debut appearance in 2012.
Raymond van Barneveld, 5 times World Champion.
Kevin Painter, making debut appearance in 2012.
PDC chairman Barry Hearn said, “The McCoy’s Premier League Darts has grown in stature every year since being introduced in 2005 and I believe we have assembled the strongest field ever this season. It promises to be 15 weeks packed full of drama, excitement and high quality darts. Bring it on !”. Tickets are still available but if you can’t get to a venue Sky Sports are showing the entire competition, William Hill are the official betting partner if you fancy a pound or two on these top class player’s.
