 | ||
The 2011 888.com Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the seventh edition of the tournament.
Contents
The tournament began at The O2 Arena in London on 10 February and finished at the Wembley Arena on 19 May.
The format was a double round robin tournament with the top 4 finishers moving on to the play-offs. Each league match was played over 14 legs. If a player won his eighth leg before the 14th leg, no further legs were played after this point. Two points were awarded for a win and one point awarded for a draw.
Gary Anderson won in the final 10–4 against world champion Adrian Lewis. He is the first player to win the title on his debut appearance (except from the inaugural tournament) and this was the first final to feature neither of the top 2 players from the group stage.
This edition of the Premier League contained the most non-English players ever to compete in the same edition of the tournament at 4 (Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and Mark Webster).
Mark Webster recorded the worst ever run of matches from weeks 7-11, winning just 6 legs in 5 matches, in a run that culminated in him failing to win any of his last 10 matches and finish with just 5 points and -49 leg difference, the worst ever record from a premier league season.
Qualification
The PDC's top four players following the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship on 4 January qualified by right to compete in Premier League Darts, and were joined by four wild card selections. Two were chosen by the PDC and two wild card qualifiers by broadcasters Sky Sports. The line-up was confirmed on 4 January 2011.
WC = Wild Card
Prize Money
The prize fund is £410,000. The money won does not count towards the PDC order of merit.
League Stage
On 4 January 2011 the PDC announced via their official website that Phil Taylor would play against Adrian Lewis on the opening event of the League on 10 February. On 12 January the PDC's website released the fixtures.