Darts

World number eight Aspinall has confounded critics who opposed his inclusion in the eight-man competition, having been ranked 11 when the picks were made.

His inclusion was questioned by fellow players Mike de Decker and Dave Chisnall amid suggestions his popular walk-on song Mr Brightside helped his case.

The Stockport-born player has battled online abuse over his participation, as well as recovering from injuries and dartitis to reach the final four.

“I came off social media because of the abuse I was getting,” said ‘The Asp’ after his second nightly win, in Aberdeen a week ago.

“I’m not being exaggerated here, but it ruined my life for a month, not just my life, my family’s. It was horrific. “

Aspinall has also come back from elbow, wrist and back injuries, along with tackling dartitis – a condition where players have a mental block when it comes to throwing on the stage.

Missing out on qualification seals a miserable campaign for Van Gerwen, whose last nightly win came back in April 2024.

The three-time world champion had seven victories and two runner-up spots from his previous 12 campaigns, with his last Premier League title in 2023.

“This is probably one of the hardest Premier Leagues I have ever played in – not in terms of players, but in terms of myself,” Van Gerwen admitted.

His cause was not helped when missing the ninth event of the season in Berlin with a shoulder injury sustained while trying to put a shirt on.

Nathan Aspinall took the Premier League nightly win in Aberdeen to close on a play-off place while Luke Littler sealed top spot.

Aspinall is on the brink of qualifying after beating Chris Dobey 6-1 in the final on a dramatic evening which saw Gerwyn Price hit a nine-darter.

Dobey claimed a decider to win his semi-final 6-5 against world champion Littler, who earlier won a classic against world number one Luke Humphries that featured 14 180s.

Despite averaging 110.01, Humphries could not halt Littler, who averaged 115.96 to guarantee he would finish top of the league phase.

Defending champion Littler had already qualified for the four-man play-offs in London on 29 May alongside Humphries and Price.

Price hit his second nine-darter of the campaign but ended a 6-4 quarter-final loser to Stephen Bunting.

Aspinall moved above seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen into fourth spot with a 6-3 victory over the Dutchman before dispatching Bunting 6-1 and going four points clear after his final triumph.

If Van Gerwen does not claim the night win in Sheffield next week, Aspinall – who finished fifth in 2023 and 2024 – will claim the last play-off spot.

“All I have said to my family, I don’t want to come fifth again. I’ve put one foot in the finals. I play Michael [van Gerwen] again next week and the pressure is on him,” said the English player.

“It’s a do or die game. I save myself three hours of misery if I can beat him at 8pm, I’m going to the O2 which is a dream of mine. It’s in my hands.”

ROSS SMITH reeled off the craziest stats in Players Championship history – clinching PC16 with TWO nine-darters and three straight whitewash wins.

But the English oche ace‘s verdict on his performance was even more astonishing than his figures.

3

3

No player has ever been more dominant in this tournament than Smith was in triumphing in Hildesheim, Germany.

But the 36-year-old claimed: “I don’t actually think I played that well!” 

The Kent star Smith, 36, reached World No. 9 last year and has now won six PDC rankings events.

And although that’s a useful pedigree, no-one could have predicted his record-breaking feats on Tuesday.

Smith sealed the crown by winning 24 legs in a row.

In fact four of his five opponents failed to win a single leg.

And only legends Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have ever bagged more than one nine-darter at the same Players Championship event.

Smith said: “I know I can be one of the best in the world. Consistency is a big thing, but I know I can win tournaments on a regular basis.”

3

BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK

The 2022 European champion opened with a 6-0 defeat of Dylan Slevin, then dispatched Chris Landman 6-3 in the last 16.

Landman briefly fought back to level at 3-3 – but from that moment Smith never lost another leg all day.

He next sunk Danny Noppert 6-0 and Luke Woodhouse 7-0 in the semis.

And he demolished Brendan Dolan 8-0 in the final – with an average of 104.5.

Smith polished off the Northern Irishman with legs of 14, 12, 13, 14, 12 and 14 darts.

His joy in Germany means he has jumped up to World No. 14.

Smith said: “I’m so happy with the win.

“I’ve got the little plaques at home with the scoresheets from my Players Championship wins. They’re my little trophies, and they mean a lot to me.

“I’m going to add another one to the wall today, and it’s another incentive when I’m at home practising, because I want to win all the time; who doesn’t?

“If you’ve won a major title you can win anything. I honestly believe I’m going to win more, but I need to keep working hard.”

Leicester’s Mattioli Arena will host the PDC’s Players Championships 17 and 18 on June 17-18.