# 2010 Premier League Darts

The 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the sixth such running of the tournament.
The tournament began at The O2 Arena in London on 11 February, and finished at the Wembley Arena on 24 May.
Phil Taylor won in the final 10–8 against defending champion James Wade, where he also became the first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in a single match.

## Qualification

The top six players from the PDC Order of Merit following the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship were confirmed on 5 January. Simon Whitlock and Adrian Lewis were named as the two Sky Sports wild card selections; Whitlock being announced on 4 January and Lewis on 13 January.
| Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Previous best performance | Order of Merit Ranking |
| Phil Taylor | 6th | 6 | Winner (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) | 1 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 5th | 5 | Semi-Finals (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) | 2 |
| James Wade | 3rd | 3 | Winner (2009) | 3 |
| Terry Jenkins | 4th | 4 | Runner-up (2007) | 4 |
| Mervyn King | 2nd | 2 | Runner-up (2009) | 5 |
| Ronnie Baxter | 2nd | 1 (Last: 2006) | 5th place (2006) | 6 |
| Simon Whitlock WC | 1st | 1 | Debut | 17 |
| Adrian Lewis WC | 3rd | 1 (Last: 2008) | Semi-finals (2008) | 7 |
WC = Wild Card

## Venues

Fifteen venues were used for the 2010 Premier League, with the only change from 2009 being Bournemouth replacing Edinburgh after a one-year absence.
| London | Bournemouth | Belfast | Exeter | Manchester |
| The O$_2$ Arena 11 February | Bournemouth International Centre 18 February | Odyssey Arena 25 February | Westpoint Arena 4 March | MEN Arena 11 March |
| Brighton | Birmingham | Cardiff | Glasgow | Sheffield |
| Brighton Centre 18 March | National Indoor Arena 25 March | Cardiff International Arena 1 April | SECC 8 April | Sheffield Arena 15 April |
| Liverpool | Aberdeen | Newcastle upon Tyne | Nottingham | London |
| Echo Arena 22 April | AECC 29 April | Metro Radio Arena 6 May | Trent FM Arena 13 May | Wembley Arena 24 May |

## Prize money

The prize money increased again with the total prize fund rising to £410,000, as a third place play-off was introduced, earning the winner of that an extra £10,000 to their £40,000 for reaching the play-offs.
| Stage | Prize Money |
| Winner | £125,000 |
| Runner-up | £65,000 |
| 3rd place | £50,000 |
| 4th place | £40,000 |
| 5th place | £32,500 |
| 6th place | £30,000 |
| 7th place | £27,500 |
| 8th place | £25,000 |
| High Checkout (per night) | £1,000 |
| Total | £410,000 |

## Results
### Play-offs – 24 May

Wembley Arena, London
| | Score | |
| Semi-finals (best of 15 legs) |||
| Simon Whitlock 92.69 | 6 – 8 | James Wade 95.48 |
| Phil Taylor 107.98 | 8 – 1 | Mervyn King 90.20 |
| Third place play-off (best of 15 legs) |||
| Simon Whitlock 96.13 | 7 – 8 | Mervyn King 94.51 |
| Final (best of 19 legs) |||
| James Wade 100.08 | 8 – 10 | Phil Taylor 111.67 |
| High Checkout: Phil Taylor 164 (Semi-Final) |||
* The play-offs were originally scheduled for 23 May, but due to a power cut in the area surrounding the Wembley Arena, they were postponed until 24 May.

#### Nine-dart finishes

The finals night saw the second and third nine-dart finishes of the 2010 Premier League Darts, and the third and fourth in Premier League Darts overall, in the final between Phil Taylor and James Wade.
Trailing 1–0 after losing the throw in the first leg, Taylor responded with a 174 (T20, 2 T19s), 180 (3 T20s), and 147 (T20, T17, D18) to take the second leg against throw. This was Taylor's first nine-dart finish in the Premier League, having only been achieved previously by Raymond van Barneveld. This was also the first nine-dart finish in a televised final.
In the 15th leg he hit the second nine-dart finish of the night with two 180s and checked out on 141 (T20, T19, D12). This was the first time that the same player achieved two nine-dart finishes in one match. After the second nine-darter, Taylor made it 17 consecutive perfect darts, needing only T17 D18 for a third nine-darter and second on the trot, he missed the T17 by an inch, but still went on to win that leg in 10 darts, after then hitting T18, then returning to hit the D8 with his first dart.

## Table and streaks
### Table

| Pos | Name | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | LF | LA | +/- | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | A | HC |
| 1 | Phil Taylor W | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 110 | 52 | +58 | 46 | 192 | 145 | 46 | 100.21 | 164 |
| 2 | Simon Whitlock | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 93 | 84 | +9 | 38 | 202 | 124 | 47 | 95.27 | 170 |
| 3 | James Wade RU | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 88 | 89 | −1 | 29 | 230 | 123 | 52 | 96.68 | 148 |
| 4 | Mervyn King | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 85 | 88 | −3 | 34 | 197 | 134 | 44 | 94.20 | 161 |
| 5 | Ronnie Baxter | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 89 | 96 | −7 | 36 | 249 | 138 | 33 | 95.15 | 164 |
| 6 | Raymond van Barneveld | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 78 | 93 | −15 | 30 | 219 | 107 | 44 | 95.91 | 141 |
| 7 | Adrian Lewis | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 81 | 97 | −16 | 28 | 212 | 127 | 56 | 96.06 | 140 |
| 8 | Terry Jenkins | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 76 | 101 | −25 | 26 | 255 | 138 | 39 | 93.86 | 146 |
Top four qualified for Play-offs after Week 14. NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

### Streaks

| Player | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | SF | F |
| Phil Taylor | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| Simon Whitlock | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | L |
| James Wade | L | L | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | W | W | L |
| Mervyn King | W | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | L |
| Ronnie Baxter | D | L | W | W | D | L | W | W | L | D | L | D | D | L |
| Raymond van Barneveld | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | W |
| Adrian Lewis | L | W | L | D | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | D | D | L |
| Terry Jenkins | D | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | L | L |
NB: W = Won D = Drawn L = Lost

## Player statistics

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

### Phil Taylor

* Longest unbeaten run: 14
* Most consecutive wins: 4
* Most consecutive draws: 1
* Most consecutive losses: 0
* Longest without a win: 1
* Biggest victory: 8-1 (v. Adrian Lewis)
* Biggest defeat: Player Undefeated

### Simon Whitlock

* Longest unbeaten run: 3
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 1
* Most consecutive losses: 1
* Longest without a win: 2
* Biggest victory: 8-2 (v. Mervyn King)
* Biggest defeat: 3-8 (v. Phil Taylor)

### James Wade

* Longest unbeaten run: 4
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 2
* Most consecutive losses: 3
* Longest without a win: 5
* Biggest victory: 8-3 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)
* Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Phil Taylor)

### Mervyn King

* Longest unbeaten run: 3
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 2
* Most consecutive losses: 3
* Longest without a win: 3
* Biggest victory: 8-2 (v. Terry Jenkins)
* Biggest defeat: 1-8 (v. Phil Taylor)

### Ronnie Baxter

* Longest unbeaten run: 3
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 2
* Most consecutive losses: 1
* Longest without a win: 6
* Biggest victory: 8-4 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)
* Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)

### Raymond van Barneveld

* Longest unbeaten run: 2
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 1
* Most consecutive losses: 5
* Longest without a win: 6
* Biggest victory: 8-2 (v. Ronnie Baxter)
* Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Phil Taylor (twice))

### Adrian Lewis

* Longest unbeaten run: 2
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 2
* Most consecutive losses:2
* Longest without a win: 5
* Biggest victory: 8-3 (v. Raymond van Barneveld)
* Biggest defeat: 1-8 (v. Phil Taylor)

### Terry Jenkins

* Longest unbeaten run: 3
* Most consecutive wins: 2
* Most consecutive draws: 2
* Most consecutive losses: 6
* Longest without a win: 6
* Biggest victory: 8-4 (v. Ronnie Baxter)
* Biggest defeat: 2-8 (v. Mervyn King)