Thursday 5 February 2015 20:45, UK
The 2015 Premier League season gets underway in Leeds on Thursday night live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
A sell-out crowd of over 10,000 fans will pack into the First Direct Arena to witness five enthralling fixtures, including a repeat of this year’s World Championship final as Gary Anderson meets Phil Taylor.
Kim Huybrechts and Stephen Bunting also make their Premier League debuts against previous winners, while Raymond van Barneveld begins his title defence against Adrian Lewis.
Both players made their Premier League bow last season, with Wright sitting in the top four for 13 consecutive weeks. Back-to-back defeats in his final two fixtures cost ‘Snakebite’ a play-off spot, while Chisnall managed just three victories in a disappointing campaign.
‘Chizzy’ endured some nervous moments as he travelled by helicopter to Wednesday’s Premier League launch, but he has looked much more assured on the oche. He recorded impressive averages of 106 and 108 at last weekend’s Unibet Masters and narrowly lost a thrilling quarter-final with Michael van Gerwen.
Wright also looked in decent form in Milton Keynes, dishing out a 10-1 drubbing to Brendan Dolan before a 10-8 loss to Adrian Lewis. The Scot has changed his darts once again but that hasn’t deterred him in the past.
The defending champion is in confident mood after reaching the last four of the World Championship, defeating Lewis along the way, and was runner-up to Van Gerwen at the Masters.
The Dutchman spent just one week outside the Premier League top four last season, and clinched the title in superb fashion with wins over Phil Taylor and MVG.
The 2014 season for Lewis was summed up by that game with Van Barneveld at Ally Pally, where he hit a nine-darter and averaged almost 98 yet somehow managed to lose the third-round tie.
Four successive defeats put paid to Lewis’ play-off hopes in last year’s Premier League, with Barney again inflicting one of those, but ‘Jackpot’ looked in decent form at the Masters, despite suffering from jetlag.
Huybrechts will cast his mind back to last year’s Grand Slam of Darts as he prepares to make his Premier League bow against the world No 1.
The fiery Belgian hit a nine-darter as he recorded a stunning 16-10 victory over ‘Mighty Mike’ in Wolverhampton, a performance which many regard as the finest of his career to date.
That performance played a big part in Huybrechts being awarded a Premier League wildcard, but he is still striving to produce similar performances on a consistent basis.
Van Gerwen bounced back from the disappointment of losing his world title with an impressive victory at the Masters, registering an incredible 112.49 average in his final win over fellow-countryman Van Barneveld.
The Dutchman has finished top of the league stage and reached the final in both of his Premier League appearances, winning the tournament in 2013, and he could prey on his opponent’s inexperience in this format.
The game of the night sees Anderson and Taylor square off for the first time since their epic World Championship final, where ‘The Flying Scotsman’ denied his opponent a 17th title a 7-6 victory.
Anderson admits he has had little time to practice since that Ally Pally classic but he looked in fine fettle as he reached the last-four of the Masters, where Van Barneveld ended his progress.
Taylor suffered a shock first-round exit against Terry Jenkins as he struggled with his doubles, but he has an outstanding record when it comes to the Premier League, winning a record six titles.
‘The Power’ made a shocking start last year as he lost four of his opening five games, but he recovered to embark on an unbeaten run through the rest of the league stage to qualify for the play-offs.
Bunting has made a meteoric rise up the rankings since crossing over to the PDC in January 2014 and two of his biggest wins in the last 12 months have come against Wade.
The St Helens thrower defeated Wade at the Grand Slam of Darts and repeated the trick at the World Championship as he progressed to the quarter-finals. That form earned him a Premier League wildcard.
Wade missed out on last year’s tournament but reacted by winning a European Tour and Players Championship event before lifting the Masters in November.
A three-time Premier League finalist and winner in 2009, Wade will be able to lean on experience as he attempts to exact a degree of revenge on his opponent.
Watch the opening round of the Premier League live on Sky Sports 1 on Thursday from 7pm
