# 2022 Premier League Darts

The 2022 Cazoo Premier League Darts was a darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the eighteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 3 February 2022, at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, and finished with the play-offs, at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin on Monday 13 June 2022.
Jonny Clayton was the reigning champion after defeating José de Sousa 11–5 in the 2021 final, but he lost 10–4 to debutant Joe Cullen in the semi-finals.
Michael van Gerwen won a record-equalling sixth Premier League title by defeating Cullen 11–10 in the final, after Cullen missed a dart at double to win the title, which would have made him the third debutant in a row (after Glen Durrant and Clayton) to win the title at his first attempt.
On Night 3, Gerwyn Price hit nine-dart finishes in consecutive matches (in his semi-final against Michael van Gerwen and the final against James Wade), making him the second person in Premier League history to hit two nine-darters on the same night, after Phil Taylor, who did both of his in the 2010 Premier League Darts final against Wade.
This tournament also saw the beginning of the PDC's new partnership with Winmau as their dartboard supplier.

## Format

On 14 January 2022, the PDC announced a new format for the Premier League. Instead of the previously used round robin format, the event consisted of an eight-person knockout bracket every night. Each of the seven matches was played over the best-of-11 legs. The players were guaranteed to meet each other once in the quarter-finals throughout the first seven weeks and once in the quarterfinals in weeks 9–15, with weeks 8 and 16 being drawn based on the league standings at that point. Players received two points per semi-final finish, three points per runner-up finish, and five points per final win.
Though it was assured that players meet each other only twice in the quarter-finals on regular nights (i.e. weeks 1–7 and 9–15), no other guarantees are made. So certain players were drawn onto the same semi-final branch more often than others. For example, while Price–Wright, van Gerwen–Anderson and Wade–Smith pairs were on the same branch only when they play each other in the quarter-finals, a Wright–Anderson and van Gerwen–Smith final was possible only twice on the regular 14 nights.
Following the regular phase, the top four players in the league table contested the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd.

## Venues

2022 saw the return of the Brighton Centre, which was last used as a Premier League venue in 2017.
| Cardiff | Liverpool | Belfast | Exeter |
| Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 3 February | M&S Bank Arena Thursday 10 February | SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 17 February | Westpoint Arena Thursday 3 March |
| Brighton | Nottingham | Rotterdam | Birmingham |
| Brighton Centre Thursday 10 March | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 17 March | Rotterdam Ahoy Thursday 24 March | Utilita Arena Birmingham Thursday 31 March |
| Leeds | Manchester | Aberdeen | Dublin |
| First Direct Arena Thursday 7 April | AO Arena Thursday 14 April | P&J Live Thursday 21 April | 3Arena Thursday 28 April |
| Glasgow | Sheffield | London | Newcastle |
| OVO Hydro Thursday 5 May | Utilita Arena Sheffield Thursday 12 May | The O$_2$ Thursday 19 May | Utilita Arena Newcastle Thursday 26 May |
| Berlin ||||
| Mercedes-Benz Arena Monday 13 June ||||

## Prize money

The prize money for the 2022 tournament increased to £1 million, including a £10,000 bonus to each night's winner.
| Stage | Prize Money |
| Winner | £275,000 |
| Runner-up | £125,000 |
| Semi-finalists (x2) | £85,000 |
| 5th place | £75,000 |
| 6th place | £70,000 |
| 7th place | £65,000 |
| 8th place | £60,000 |
| Weekly Winner Bonus (x16) | £10,000 |
| Total | £1,000,000 |

## Players

Usually, the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit following the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship would be joined by six invited players, of which they would have been announced following the World Championship final. However, this year, following the announcement of the new format, it was announced that only 8 players will participate in 2022.
It was revealed that the new format would encompass eight players, each playing against each other in a knockout tournament each night. The winner of each night would receive an additional £10,000 towards their prize money. Those who make it out of the last 8 each receive 2 points, the runner-up will receive 3 points and the winner receives 5.
The full list of players was announced on 31 January 2022, with the Top 6 players on the PDC Order of Merit joined by the reigning Premier League champion Jonny Clayton, and debutant Joe Cullen, fresh from winning his first televised title at the Masters the previous evening.
This new format saw “Judgement Night” and relegation disappear from the league.
| Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Order of Merit Rank on 31/1/22 | Previous best performance |
| Gerwyn Price | 4th | 1 | 1 | 5th Place (2019, 2020) |
| Peter Wright | 9th | 9 | 2 | Runner-up (2017) |
| Michael van Gerwen | 10th | 10 | 3 | Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) |
| James Wade | 12th | 2 | 4 | Winner (2009) |
| Michael Smith | 5th | 1 | 5 | Runner-up (2018) |
| Gary Anderson | 11th | 3 | 6 | Winner (2011, 2015) |
| Jonny Clayton | 2nd | 2 | 8 | Winner (2021) |
| Joe Cullen | 1st | 1 | 11 | Debut |
* ↑ Price qualified for the 2021 Premier League Darts, but withdrew following a positive COVID-19 test.
* ↑ Anderson qualified for the 2019 Premier League Darts, but withdrew following an injury.

## 13 June – Play-offs

The top four players of the league stage contest in the play-offs to decide the champion of the Premier League.
Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin
| | Score | |
| Semi-finals (best of 19 legs) |||
| 93.59 Jonny Clayton | 4 – 10 | Joe Cullen 100.76 |
| 99.76 Michael van Gerwen | 10 – 4 | James Wade 93.48 |
| Final (best of 21 legs) |||
| 99.36 Joe Cullen | 10 – 11 | Michael van Gerwen 99.10 |
| Night's Total Average: 97.68 |||
| Highest Checkout: Joe Cullen 141 |||
| Most 180s In One Match: Joe Cullen 11 |||
| Night's 180s: 27 |||

## Table and streaks
### Table

Five points are awarded for a night win, three points for the runner-up and two points for the semi-finalists. 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.
The top 4 players after 16 nights advance to the play-offs on 13 June.
Final Standings
| Pos | Name | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Matches | Matches | Matches | Legs | Legs | Legs | Legs | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring |
| Pos | Name | Pts | W | RU | SF | QF | Pld | W | L | LF | LA | LD | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180 | A | HC | CR | C% |
| 1 | Jonny Clayton | 40 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 24 | 12 | 183 | 155 | +28 | 63 | 458 | 255 | 93 | 97.98 | 144 | 183/428 | 43% |
| 2 | Michael van Gerwen (C) | 31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 170 | 129 | +41 | 61 | 330 | 198 | 82 | 99.29 | 170 | 164/424 | 39% |
| 3 | James Wade | 25 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 128 | 130 | –2 | 37 | 369 | 198 | 45 | 94.36 | 161 | 128/294 | 44% |
| 4 | Joe Cullen (RU) | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 131 | 124 | +7 | 46 | 256 | 124 | 75 | 92.14 | 145 | 119/313 | 38% |
| 5 | Peter Wright | 22 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 12 | 15 | 116 | 131 | –15 | 34 | 322 | 207 | 68 | 96.69 | 156 | 116/292 | 40% |
| 6 | Michael Smith | 21 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 12 | 15 | 124 | 128 | –4 | 40 | 274 | 178 | 75 | 96.41 | 150 | 124/289 | 43% |
| 7 | Gerwyn Price | 20 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 108 | 120 | –12 | 37 | 266 | 150 | 46 | 95.86 | 170 | 108/273 | 40% |
| 8 | Gary Anderson | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 77 | 102 | –25 | 23 | 225 | 98 | 43 | 94.31 | 164 | 77/186 | 41% |
* ↑ wins after withdrawals; (Cullen's 6-0 over Price on Night 5, and Wade on night 14, and van Gerwen's 6–0 over Anderson on Night 9), do count towards Cullen's, and van Gerwen's standings, but not towards Price's, Anderson's and Wade's standings, resulting in an uneven ratio of games won and lost, plus in an overall league leg difference of +18.
(C) Champion after the playoffs, (RU) Runner-up after the playoffs

### Streaks

| Player | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Play-offs |
| Jonny Clayton | RU | W | QF | QF | SF | QF | SF | W | SF | SF | W | RU | W | QF | RU | RU | SF |
| Michael van Gerwen | QF | SF | SF | W | W | QF | RU | QF | W | QF | RU | QF | RU | RU | QF | QF | W |
| James Wade | SF | QF | RU | SF | QF | QF | QF | RU | RU | W | SF | W | QF | WD | QF | QF | SF |
| Joe Cullen | QF | RU | QF | QF | SF | QF | W | SF | QF | RU | QF | QF | QF | SF | W | SF | RU |
| Peter Wright | W | QF | SF | RU | QF | SF | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | DNQ |
| Michael Smith | QF | QF | QF | SF | RU | RU | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | SF | SF | SF | W | DNQ |
| Gerwyn Price | QF | SF | W | QF | WD | SF | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | SF | QF | W | QF | SF | DNQ |
| Gary Anderson | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | W | QF | QF | WD | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | | DNQ |
| Legend: | DNQ | Did not qualify | WD | Withdrew | QF | Lost in quarterfinals | SF | Semi-finalist | RU | Runner-up | W | Night winner |

### Positions by Week

| Player | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights | Nights |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| Jonny Clayton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| James Wade | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Joe Cullen | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Peter Wright | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Michael Smith | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Gerwyn Price | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Gary Anderson | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |