The 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

– the sixteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February at the

P&J Live P&J Live (also known as The Event Complex Aberdeen) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the suburb of Bucksburn, in Aberdeen in Scotland. Opened in August 2019, it offers a capacity for all types of shows and events from 5,000 to 15,000. Replacin ...

in Aberdeen and ended with the Play-offs at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Thursday 15 October, after a delay was caused by the

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Michael van Gerwen was the four-time defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the 2019 final. However, he was eliminated from the competition in week 16, after an 8–2 defeat to Daryl Gurney, and a poor run of form saw him slip out of the playoffs, for the first time in his career. Glen Durrant, who was on his debut in the tournament, finished the regular season in 1st place (becoming only the third player to do so, after van Gerwen and Phil Taylor, to set up a semi-final meeting between Gary Anderson. Durrant claimed a narrow 10–9 victory (including surviving 4 match darts from Anderson), before eventually winning the competition, by beating fellow debutant Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the final to claim his first televised

PDC PDC may refer to: In science and technology Chemistry, biology and medicine * Phosducin, a human protein and gene in the retina * Pyridinium dichromate (Cornforth reagent), a chromium-based oxidant * Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, an enzyme ...

title. This was also the first time in Premier League Darts history that the four players that qualified for the finals had not appeared in the finals of the previous year's edition (the four players being van Gerwen, Gurney, Cross and

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

). On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the double-header due to be played in Rotterdam had been postponed due to

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

concerns. The following day it was announced that the Rotterdam dates would be moved to September, with the culmination of the tournament taking place there instead of London. On 16 March 2020. it was announced the round to be played in Newcastle would be moved to October, taking over as the tournament's final round. The May dates were postponed on 9 April 2020, with the PDC announcing a fully rescheduled calendar, the play-offs now taking place in Sheffield. Further changes were announced in July and August, with the cancellation of the events in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and the double header in Rotterdam; and the reinstatement of The O₂ Arena as the host of the final. Ten nights were added to the calendar to be held behind closed doors at the

Marshall Arena The Marshall Arena (formerly known as Arena MK, also Milton Keynes Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and anticipates m ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. The play-offs were subsequently moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and also played behind closed doors.

Format

The tournament format will remain the same as 2019, with the only difference being the re-branding of 'contenders' to 'challengers' for this season. Phase 1: In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition. Phase 2: In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition. Play-off Night: The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

Venues

The only change of venues from 2019 to 2020 was the introduction of the

in Aberdeen, which hosted the opening night's action. Following the

, the rounds in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were cancelled, with rounds being added in

to make up.

Prize money

The prize money for the 2020 tournament remained at £825,000.

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the

2020 PDC World Darts Championship The 2020 PDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2020 William Hill World Darts Championship) was the 27th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts ...

final on 1 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by five wildcards. The format is similar to that of 2019, with 9 main players plus 9 invited players, now referred to as 'challengers' in a re-brand from the tag of 'contenders'. The 9 main players earn league points if they win or draw against the challengers. The challengers do not earn any league points but they earn financial bonuses if they win or draw their match.

League stage

Players in ''italics'' are "Challengers", and only play on that night.

6 February – Night 1 (Phase 1)

, Aberdeen

13 February – Night 2 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Nottingham

20 February – Night 3 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff

27 February – Night 4 (Phase 1)

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, Dublin

5 March – Night 5 (Phase 1)

Westpoint Arena Westpoint Exeter (formerly Westpoint Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena and showground, at Clyst St Mary, near Exeter, England. The capacity of the venue is 7,500 people. It hosts local concerts, fairs and exhibitions. Westpoint is the large ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

12 March – Night 6 (Phase 1)

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

25 August – Night 7 (Phase 1)

26 August – Night 8 (Phase 1)

27 August – Night 9 (Phase 1) (Judgement Night)

28 August – Night 10 (Phase 2)

29 August – Night 11 (Phase 2)

30 August – Night 12 (Phase 2)

2 September – Night 13 (Phase 2)

3 September – Night 14 (Phase 2)

4 September – Night 15 (Phase 2)

5 September – Night 16 (Phase 2)

Play-offs – 15 October

Ricoh Arena, Coventry

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night. The nine challengers are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them. Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average. W = Winner RU = Runner Up

Streaks

Positions by Week

References

External links

PDC Professional Darts Corporation
official website
PDC Professional Darts Corporation
official website, Tournaments {{DEFAULTSORT:Premier League Darts

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2020 in darts 2020 in British sport 2020 in Irish sport Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic