2006 Premier League Darts

2006 Holsten Premier League Darts
	Winner
	Phil Taylor
	Runner-up
	Roland Scholten
	Score
	16–6
	Date
	16 February–29 May 2006
	Edition
	2nd
	Number of players
	7
	Venues
	11
	Nine Dart Finish
	Raymond van Barneveld
	Premier League Darts
	< 2005 \| 2006 \| 2007 >

The 2006 Holsten Premier League the second year of the Professional Darts Corporation's popular darts league. The 2006 league was launched with the top six players in the PDC world rankings and the addition of a wildcard player, Raymond van Barneveld who decided to switch from the British Darts Organisation just weeks after reaching their 2006 World Championship final.

Barneveld, a four-times BDO World Champion went on to achieve the perfect nine-dart finish on 23 March against Peter Manley, on the fifth night of the 2006 Premier League at the Bournemouth International Centre. It was the same night that he faced Phil Taylor for the first time since his switch, the match ended in a 7–7 draw.

Taylor and Barneveld dominated the league stages, with both players winning every match in the league phase against the other 5 players in the league. Taylor came out on top 8–6 in their other meeting in Doncaster.

Given the form of Taylor and Barneveld in the group matches, there was much anticipation of a clash between the two in the final. However, it failed to materialise as Roland Scholten averaged 104.13 in the semi-final to hammer Barneveld (average 91.79) by 11 legs to 3. Phil Taylor averaged 105.03 in his 11–3 semi-final win over Colin Lloyd (average 99.42).

Phil Taylor successfully defended his title by seeing off Scholten in the final by 16 legs to 6. Taylor's average in the final was 101.41 to Scholten's 92.01.

Barneveld and Taylor would ultimately have their next meeting in the finals of the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, with Barneveld ending Taylor's three-year reign as champion.

Format

The format had a slight change from 2005. Previously, all twelve legs of a match had to be completed – regardless of whether a winner had already been determined. From 2006, a match would finish when a player reached the 8 legs victory target, unless the match reached 7–7 when the points would be shared and the match drawn.

Venues

Like the inaugural Premier League Darts event, all 11 venues were used, but this time venues in Scotland (Aberdeen) and Wales (Newport) were also used.

Locations of the 2006 Premier League venues in the United Kingdom.

Results

[1]

16 February – Week 1

King George's Hall, Blackburn

	Score
Wayne Mardle 95.01	6 – 8	Phil Taylor 99.45
Peter Manley 86.38	4 – 8	Roland Scholten 90.15
Raymond van Barneveld 98.66	8 – 1	Ronnie Baxter 92.03
Phil Taylor 106.79	8 – 1	Colin Lloyd 95.59

23 February – Week 2

Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland

	Score
Ronnie Baxter 87.22	4 – 8	Roland Scholten 89.23
Wayne Mardle 92.98	4 – 8	Raymond van Barneveld 100.55
Colin Lloyd 92.16	8 – 6	Peter Manley 88.25
Roland Scholten 94.66	4 – 8	Phil Taylor 97.71

2 March – Week 3

AECC, Aberdeen

	Score
Colin Lloyd 92.33	3 – 8	Ronnie Baxter 85.20
Peter Manley 87.21	8 – 5	Wayne Mardle 85.88
Raymond van Barneveld 91.48	8 – 3	Roland Scholten 80.28
Ronnie Baxter 95.35	4 – 8	Phil Taylor 101.05

16 March – Week 4

Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

	Score
Phil Taylor 97.09	8 – 2	Wayne Mardle 85.20
Colin Lloyd 86.02	6 – 8	Peter Manley 89.89
Ronnie Baxter 98.95	8 – 3	Peter Manley 91.45
Roland Scholten 93.28	8 – 3	Wayne Mardle 88.62

23 March – Week 5

Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth

	Score
Raymond van Barneveld 100.69	8 – 3	Peter Manley 95.18
Roland Scholten 90.17	7 – 7	Ronnie Baxter 88.98
Colin Lloyd 87.82	7 – 7	Wayne Mardle 90.33
Phil Taylor 100.88	7 – 7	Raymond van Barneveld 94.14

Nine dart finish

The Premier League's first nine-dart finish occurred, when Raymond van Barneveld hit one during the ninth leg of his match against Peter Manley, checking out with T20, T19 and D12.

30 March – Week 6

Sands Centre, Carlisle

	Score
Phil Taylor 107.75	8 – 1	Peter Manley 100.35
Ronnie Baxter 97.02	4 – 8	Colin Lloyd 99.44
Wayne Mardle 88.47	7 – 7	Roland Scholten 89.38
Peter Manley 86.41	3 – 8	Raymond van Barneveld 96.83

6 April – Week 7

Newport Centre, Newport

	Score
Roland Scholten 86.97	8 – 5	Colin Lloyd 91.67
Ronnie Baxter 92.66	7 – 7	Wayne Mardle 86.87
Peter Manley 84.56	3 – 8	Phil Taylor 102.19
Raymond van Barneveld 101.72	8 – 4	Colin Lloyd 90.35

20 April – Week 8

The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster

	Score
Phil Taylor 93.24	8 – 5	Ronnie Baxter 97.64
Colin Lloyd 99.67	8 – 6	Roland Scholten 97.44
Wayne Mardle 86.44	3 – 8	Peter Manley 91.00
Raymond van Barneveld 101.04	6 – 8	Phil Taylor 104.75

27 April – Week 9

Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre, Stevenage

	Score
Roland Scholten 84.35	6 – 8	Peter Manley 86.36
Colin Lloyd 87.59	3 – 8	Phil Taylor 99.35
Wayne Mardle 94.60	8 – 5	Ronnie Baxter 89.41
Roland Scholten 83.89	3 – 8	Raymond van Barneveld 92.98

4 May – Week 10

Rivermead Centre, Reading

	Score
Peter Manley 86.71	3 – 8	Ronnie Baxter 86.39
Raymond van Barneveld 103.44	8 – 5	Wayne Mardle 97.78
Raymond van Barneveld 96.14	8 – 6	Colin Lloyd 92.11
Phil Taylor 93.48	8 – 3	Roland Scholten 86.26
Ronnie Baxter 101.33	2 – 8	Raymond van Barneveld 104.35
Wayne Mardle 83.58	4 – 8	Colin Lloyd 91.07

Play-offs – 29 May

Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth

	Score
Semi-finals (best of 21 legs)
Roland Scholten 104.13	11 – 3	Raymond van Barneveld 91.79
Phil Taylor 105.03	11 – 3	Colin Lloyd 99.42
Final (best of 31 legs)
Phil Taylor 101.41	16 – 6	Roland Scholten 92.01

Table and streaks

Table

Pos	Name	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	LF	LA	+/-	LWAT	100+	140+	180s	A	HC
1	Phil Taylor W	12	11	1	0	23	95	45	+50	35	173	113	44	100.31	148
2	Raymond van Barneveld	12	10	1	1	21	93	49	+44	37	190	114	45	98.50	164
3	Roland Scholten RU	12	4	2	6	10	71	78	−7	25	178	98	40	88.84	137
4	Colin Lloyd	12	4	1	7	9	67	83	−16	20	174	96	29	92.15	161
5	Ronnie Baxter	12	3	2	7	8	63	79	−16	21	174	85	26	92.68	158
6	Peter Manley	12	4	0	8	8	58	84	−26	19	214	112	13	89.48	160
7	Wayne Mardle	12	1	3	8	5	61	90	−29	16	201	98	24	89.65	140

NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

Streaks

Player	Week																						Play-offs
Player	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10				SF	F
Phil Taylor	W	W	W		W		W		D		W		W		W	W	W		W				W	W
Raymond van Barneveld	W		W		W		—		W	D	W		W		L		W		W	W		W	L	—
Roland Scholten	W		W	L	L		W		D		D		W		L		L	L	L				W	L
Colin Lloyd	L		W		L		L		D		W		L	L	W		L		L		W		L	—
Ronnie Baxter	L		L		W	L	W		D		L		D		L		L		W		L		—
Peter Manley	L		L		W		W	L	L		L	L	L		W		W		L
Wayne Mardle	L		L		L		L	L	D		D		D		L		W		L		L

NB: W = Won D = Drawn L = Lost N/A = Did not play

Player statistics

The following statistics are for the league stage only. Playoffs are not included.

Phil Taylor

Longest unbeaten run: 12
Most consecutive wins: 6
Most consecutive draws: 1
Most consecutive losses: 0
Longest without a win: 1
Biggest victory: 8–1 (v. Colin Lloyd and v. Peter Manley)
Biggest defeat: Player Undefeated

Raymond van Barneveld

Longest unbeaten run: 7
Most consecutive wins: 4
Most consecutive draws: 1
Most consecutive losses: 1
Longest without a win: 1
Biggest victory: 8–1 (v. Ronnie Baxter)
Biggest defeat: 6–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Roland Scholten

Longest unbeaten run: 4
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most consecutive draws: 2
Most consecutive losses: 4
Longest without a win: 4
Biggest victory: 8–3 (v. Wayne Mardle)
Biggest defeat: 3–8 (v. Raymond van Barneveld (twice) and v. Phil Taylor)

Colin Lloyd

Longest unbeaten run: 2
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most consecutive draws: 1
Most consecutive losses: 2
Longest without a win: 3
Biggest victory: 8–4 (v. Ronnie Baxter and v. Wayne Mardle)
Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Ronnie Baxter

Longest unbeaten run: 2
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most consecutive draws: 1
Most consecutive losses: 2
Longest without a win: 5
Biggest victory: 8–3 (v. Colin Lloyd and v. Peter Manley)
Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)

Peter Manley

Longest unbeaten run: 2
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most consecutive draws: 0
Most consecutive losses: 5
Longest without a win: 5
Biggest victory: 8–3 (v. Wayne Mardle)
Biggest defeat: 1–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Wayne Mardle

Longest unbeaten run: 3
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most consecutive draws: 3
Most consecutive losses: 5
Longest without a win: 9
Biggest victory: 8–5 (v. Ronnie Baxter)
Biggest defeat: 2–8 (v. Phil Taylor)

Top match Averages

Darts averages are based on the total number of points scored divided number of darts thrown (multiplied by 3 in this case to give a "3 dart average"). There were 16 matches where a player managed an average in excess of 100 per visit to the board. Phil Taylor achieved this during seven matches, Raymond van Barneveld six times. Roland Scholten, Ronnie Baxter and Peter Manley each averaged over 100 during one match in the competition. [2] Archived 24 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine

107.75 – Phil Taylor v Peter Manley (week 6)
106.79 – Phil Taylor v Colin Lloyd (week 1)
105.03 – Phil Taylor v Roland Scholten (final)
104.75 – Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld (week 8)
104.35 – Raymond van Barneveld v Ronnie Baxter (week 10)
104.13 – Roland Scholten v Raymond van Barneveld (semi-final)
103.44 – Raymond van Barneveld v Wayne Mardle (week 10)
102.19 – Phil Taylor v Peter Manley (week 7)
101.33 – Ronnie Baxter v Raymond van Barneveld (week 10, Baxter lost match 2–8)
101.72 – Raymond van Barneveld v Colin Lloyd (week 7)
101.05 – Phil Taylor v Ronnie Baxter (week 3)
101.04 – Raymond van Barneveld v Phil Taylor (week 8, Barneveld lost match 6–8)
100.88 – Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld (week 5)
100.69 – Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Manley (week 5)
100.55 – Raymond van Barneveld v Wayne Mardle (week 2)
100.35 – Peter Manley v Phil Taylor (week 6, Manley lost match 1–8)

External links