This Week In Darts – 6th Of April 2024

The Swedish dart player successively defeated Paavo Myller, Dmitriy Zhukov, Dennis Nilsson and Darius Labanauskas before a 6-2 win over Jani Laurila in the final – throwing an average of 97.75.

This officially marks Engstrom’s eighth contribution to the European Tour. In his previous seven participations, the 47-year-old dart player managed to qualify for the second round only once.

The European Darts Grand Prix takes place in Sindelfingen from April 19th to 21st.

For the first time since its opening week, Gerwyn Price was back in the weekly final of Premier League Darts on Thursday in the tenth week of play in Manchester.

Price defeated Peter Wright 6-4 with an average of 107.88. He would then go on to top Michael Smith 6-3 with an average of 102.88 per turn.

However, these victories were not enough to propel ‘The Iceman’ to the final. In that match, Price lost 6-3 to Luke Littler. In the final, the former world champion did not exceed an average of 93.07.

“Gutted with tonight’s ending,” Price later wrote on Instagram. “Final was spoilt before a dart was even thrown but that’s what happens. My game is in a great place, we move on. #changeisneeded.”

He then took a moment to praise both the crowd and venue before signing off. “Great crowd and amazing atmosphere,” he wrote in closing. “Thanks Manchester.”

While Nathan Aspinall may have lost out in the semifinals on Night 10 of the Premier League Darts, it was not without its highpoints, particularly when it came to those in the stands.

“I can’t thank the crowd enough,” he says afterwards. “My kids were there, my family were there, and they got to witness that amazing atmosphere, which was electric. Something I’ve never heard before, it was special. It was emotional I’m not going to lie, it was amazing.”

“For the kids to hear 12,000 people chanting their daddy’s name…” Aspinall continues emotionally. “And I felt that on stage you know, I’m looking out to the crowd and I can see my kids there and yeah, it was a special occasion tonight. I’m very happy with how I handled myself in the first game, I think I had so much emotion and it’s a big two points. It keeps me in the top four and puts the pressure on the rest of the boys.”

Aspinall is one of the most popular players on the Pro Tour. Next week, he takes on Michael van Gerwen in the quarterfinals on the 11th day of play.  “He’s under pressure,” Aspinall assesses. “The magic number is 24. I’m on 18, so I’m six points away with six weeks left. It’s a pretty good position to be in.” 

Luke Littler has won Night 10 of the Premier League Darts, defeating Gerwyn Price 6-3 in the final.

For Littler, it is his second weekly title in a row. “The atmosphere was amazing, and I’m just really glad I won,” reflected Littler afterwards. “I think I’ve definitely settled into the Premier League now. In the first five to six weeks I won my first game but I kept losing in the semi-finals, although winning last week gave me so much confidence coming into tonight.”

The win also officially makes Littler the tournament’s new leader.  “I was watching Gezzy in the semifinals and he was 4-0 up averaging 123, but I just made sure I focused and I saved my best performance until last,” he continues. “There’s still six weeks to go, so I’ve got to still keep plugging away, and hopefully I will make the Play-Offs.”

Despite the win, it wasn’t all fun and games as his beloved Manchester United fell 4-3 to Chelsea after conceding two late goals. “I’m glad I’ve won but I’ve just witnessed United concede two in two minutes…” Littler laughs.

Guess you can’t have everything.

Despite his best efforts, Michael Van Gerwen failed to bring his opening match to a successful conclusion on Night 10 of Premier League Darts 2024, with the Dutchman falling 6-3 to Luke Littler in the quarterfinals.

“It was a very bad match from both of us,” Van Gerwen admitted to Viaplay. “The feeling was definitely not right with me. But actually I haven’t played a single really good game against him. With Luke it is often all or nothing against me as well, either he throws insanely well or he reaches such a level as he did today.”

“I’m not in the best phase of my career at the moment and when you can still win matches like that it gives you the confidence you need,” Van Gerwen continued. “So it’s quite unfortunate that it didn’t work out tonight. I just have to take this defeat on the chin.”

Following the loss, Van Gerwen is now ranked fourth in the standings – still two points ahead of Michael Smith. The top four after 16 days of play qualify for the playoffs.