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 Cardiff International 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 Cardiff International ArenaThursday 3 February Liverpool ArenaThursday 10 February SSE Arena BelfastThursday 17 February Westpoint ExeterThursday 3 March Brighton Nottingham Rotterdam Birmingham Brighton CentreThursday 10 March Nottingham ArenaThursday 17 March Rotterdam AhoyThursday 24 March Arena BirminghamThursday 31 March Leeds Manchester Aberdeen Dublin Leeds ArenaThursday 7 April Manchester ArenaThursday 14 April P&J LiveThursday 21 April 3ArenaThursday 28 April Glasgow Sheffield London Newcastle OVO HydroThursday 5 May Sheffield ArenaThursday 12 May The O2Thursday 19 May Newcastle ArenaThursday 26 May Berlin Mercedes-Benz ArenaMonday 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. PlayerAppearance inPremier LeagueConsecutiveStreakOrder of MeritRank on 31/1/22Previous best performance 4th 1 1 5th Place (2019, 2020) 9th 9 2 Runner-up (2017) 10th 10 3 12th 2 4 5th 1 5 11th 3 6 2nd 2 8 1st 1 11
League stage
3 February – Night 1 Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
Night 1 Statistics Night's Total Average: 95.80 Highest Checkout: 155 Most 180s (in one match): and 5 Night's 180s: 33
10 February – Night 2 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool
Night 2 Statistics Night's Total Average: 95.95 Highest Checkout: 156 Most 180s (in one match): 4 (x2) Night's 180s: 34
17 February – Night 3 SSE Arena, Belfast
Night 3 Statistics Night's Total Average: 100.57 Highest Checkout: 170 Most 180s (in one match): (x2) and 5 Night's 180s: 43 Nine-Dart Finish: (x2)
3 March – Night 4 Westpoint Exeter, Exeter
Night 4 Statistics Night's Total Average: 97.22 Highest Checkout: 145 Most 180s (in one match): 5 Night's 180s: 39
10 March – Night 5 Brighton Centre, Brighton
Night 5 Statistics Night's Total Average: 94.62 Highest Checkout: 170 Most 180s (in one match): 5 Night's 180s: 31
17 March – Night 6 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham
Night 6 Statistics Night's Total Average: 95.35 Highest Checkout: 144 Most 180s (in one match): 6 Night's 180s: 40
24 March – Night 7 Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam
Night 7 Statistics Night's Total Average: 93.82 Highest Checkout: 164 Most 180s (in one match): 7 Night's 180s: 40
31 March – Night 8 Arena Birmingham, Birmingham
Night 8 Statistics Night's Total Average: 96.38 Highest Checkout: 156 Most 180s (in one match): 6 Night's 180s: 29
Leeds Arena, Leeds
Night 9 Statistics Night's Total Average: 95.66 Highest Checkout: 108 Most 180s (in one match): 5 Night's 180s: 23
14 April – Night 10 Manchester Arena, Manchester
Night 10 Statistics Night's Total Average: 97.58 Highest Checkout: 161 Most 180s (in one match): 5 Night's 180s: 33
21 April – Night 11 P&J Live, Aberdeen
Night 11 Statistics Night's Total Average: 96.44 Highest Checkout: 110 Most 180s (in one match): (x2) and (x2) 4 Night's 180s: 34
28 April – Night 12 3Arena, Dublin
Night 12 Statistics Night's Total Average: 99.69 Highest Checkout: 150 Most 180s (in one match): 6 Night's 180s: 43
5 May – Night 13 OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Night 13 Statistics Night's Total Average: 95.61 Highest Checkout: 150 Most 180s (in one match): 6 Night's 180s: 32
12 May – Night 14 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield
Night 14 Statistics Night's Total Average: 96.29 Highest Checkout: 128 Most 180s (in one match): (x2) and 4 Night's 180s: 27
19 May – Night 15 The O2, London
Night 15 Statistics Night's Total Average: 91.34 Highest Checkout: 145 Most 180s (in one match): 4 Night's 180s: 22
26 May – Night 16 Newcastle Arena, Newcastle
Night 16 Statistics Night's Total Average: 94.73 Highest Checkout: 155 Most 180s (in one match): and 4 Night's 180s: 29
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) 4 – 10 10 – 4 Final (best of 21 legs) 10 – 11 Night's Total Average: 97.68 Highest Checkout: 141 Most 180s In One Match: 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
Name Nights Matches Legs Scoring100+140+1801 404444362412183155 +28634582559397.98144183/42843%2 (C)313427321913170129 +41613301988299.29170164/42439%3 252338281513128130 –2373691984594.36161128/29444%4 (RU)242248281414131124 +7462561247592.14145119/31338%5 221177271215116131 –15343222076896.69156116/29240%6 211258271215124128 402741787596.41150124/28943%7 202059241113108120 –12372661504695.86170108/27340%8 9102131951477102 23225984394.3116477/18641%
(C) Champion after the playoffs, (RU) Runner-up after the playoffs
Streaks Player Nights 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Play-offs Colspan=2 Colspan=2 colspan=2 Colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 Colspan=2 Colspan=3 colspan=2 Colspan=2 Colspan=2 Colspan=3 Colspan=4 Colspan=3 rowspan=4 Colspan=3 colspan=2 Colspan=5 Colspan=4 Colspan=3 Colspan=4 Colspan=2 Colspan=3 Colspan=3
Legend: Did not qualify Withdrew Lost in quarterfinals Semi-finalist Runner-up Night winner
Positions by Week Player Nights 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 2 1 1 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 4 5 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 7 4 5 5 7 8 5 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 8 3 6 6 6 8 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 4 4 1 2 3 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 8 8 8 7 5 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 5 2 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 7 3 6 7 7 8 6 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
References
External links
Professional Darts Corporation, official website PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website, Tournaments