
Aspinall wins night 15 while Littler secures top seeding for Premier League playoffs
Nathan Aspinall beat Chris Dobey 6-1 to take victory on night 15 of the Premier League in Aberdeen and close in on the playoffs, while Gerwyn Price earlier hit a nine-dart finish and Luke Littler made sure of top spot at the O2.
Aspinall – who coasted past Stephen Bunting 6-1 in the semi-finals – built on a couple of early breaks over Dobey to establish a solid lead. After Dobey, who knocked Littler out to reach the final, lost his throw again in the sixth leg, he then missed two more darts at a double in the next as Aspinall came back to land double 10.
Aspinall's victory leaves him four points clear in fourth spot, eliminating Dobey, while Michael van Gerwen would need to win the final night in Sheffield to overhaul him.
'I felt very confident coming into tonight, I bottled it last week but tonight is a new night,' Aspinall said. 'I've not played amazing tonight, but I have been composed. I've not celebrated, I've stayed in the moment and my finishing has been bang on.'
Littler had earlier fought back to beat the world No 1, Luke Humphries, in their quarter-final to make sure of top seeding in London. Dobey, though, then produced another impressive display to lead the world champion 3-1 and 4-2 in their semi-final. While Littler again produced a late rally to force a last-leg decider, he missed double six for the match, leaving Dobey to take out 32.
Littler's 6-3 quarter-final comeback win over Humphries was a high quality affair. Humphries had ended his 10-week wait for a Premier League nightly victory by edging out Littler in a last-leg decider in Leeds, and opened up in fine style with an early break to lead 2-0 then 3-1. Littler, though, came roaring back to win five legs on the bounce, finishing with a match average of almost 116 while Humphries hit nine maximums in defeat, averaging 110.
Price had produced a nine-dart finish in his quarter-final defeat to Bunting. Welshman Price, already secure of a playoff spot, landed the perfect leg to reduce the deficit to 5-4. It was a second nine-dart finish for Price in this year's tournament, which has one more nightly event in Sheffield before the playoffs at London's O2 on 29 May. Having lost his opening eight games, former Masters champion Bunting was already out of contention to progress, but closed out a 6-4 victory over Price to make it through to the semi-finals.
Sign up to The Recap
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action
after newsletter promotion
In the opening match at the P&J Live, Aspinall built on a fast start to see off Van Gerwen 6-3 and boost his own playoff hopes. Dobey landed five 180s and averaged 107 in a 6-2 victory over former world champion Rob Cross, who can now no longer reach the top four.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
18 minutes ago
- BBC News
Surrey suffer first defeat as Bears beat Durham
A 92-run opening stand followed by taking early wickets in the reply helped The Blaze end Surrey's 100% start to the women's T20 Blast at The Kelly and Georgia Elwiss got the visitors off to a lively start after being put in to bat by the leaders and they never looked back despite their innings falling Wyatt-Hodge threatened to lead an unlikely Surrey victory charge after the loss of three wickets in the opening 10 balls but her dismissal for 60 ended any hopes of a fifth successive the day's other game Mady Villiers made an unbeaten 85 for struggling Durham but was powerless to prevent the impressive Bears from cantering to a seven-wicket win in the North scorecardsWith four wins under their belt, Surrey were expected to be tested by the second-placed Blaze in the capital and so it proved as the visitors raced out of the blocks with Kelly smashing 46 from 29 balls in a 92-run opening stand with five fours and two sixes should have precipitated a run-fest for The Blaze but after Elwiss' well-constructed 61 only Josie Groves (19 not out) reached double figures as they finished on may have fancied their chances of chasing down that target but were rocked back on their heels as Bryony Smith, Kira Chathli and Paige Scholfield were all dismissed without Wyatt-Hodge's fourth half-century in five innings gave them hope of a recovery but when she was dismissed for 60 to reduce the home side to 85-5, The Blaze, led by captain Kirstie Gordon's 3-35, were able to get over the line and reduce the gap at the top to just one point. Villiers' career-best knock in vain as Bears ease home Durham suffered a fourth defeat in five outings despite a T20 career-best 85 not out from England all-rounder Mady winning the toss and choosing to bat the home side were soon in trouble when they lost former New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates to the third ball of the innings - clean bowled by England's Issy Wong without Dobson (8) quickly became Wong's second scalp but Villiers, who was dropped early in her innings, crashed 11 fours and one six while finding useful support from skipper Hollie Armitage (15) and Bess Heath (27) to keep the scoreboard ticking over and set a challenging return of 2-19 was well backed up by Hannah Baker's 2-22 from her four overs with the Bears bowling attack standing-up well to Villiers' visitors made light work of their victory target with openers Meg Austin and Davina Perrin sharing a stand of 62 from the opening six overs to set a platform for them to ease home with 10 balls to eventually perished for 49 from 31 deliveries only for wicketkeeper Nat Wraith to take the Bears to the brink of victory with her 56 containing seven fours before she became Villiers' sole victim with the ball."I don't think we should go away from how well Mady (Villiers) played first half - it was a great innings and if you're doing things like that, you shouldn't be losing games of cricket," said Durham head coach Dani Bears remain in third place while Durham are second from bottom. Thursday fixture Chelmsford: Essex v HampshirePlay starts 14:30 BST


Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Annie Kilner puts on a brave face as she joins her sister Sian for dinner in Mayfair - after it was revealed her relationship with Kyle Walker is 'as bad as it's ever been'
Annie Kilner put on a brave face as she joined her sister Sian for dinner in Mayfair on Wednesday - after it was revealed her relationship with Kyle Walker is 'as bad as it's ever been'. The 33-year-old wife of the footballer headed to Sexy Fish in the fancy area of London and beamed while posing for some snaps. She cut a chic figure in an oversized black blazer which she teamed with wide leg jeans and a strapless top. The brunette beauty accessorised her look with large silver hoop earrings and dark shades. Sian meanwhile wore high-waisted jeans, a navy T-shirt and added to her look with a Louis Vuitton bag. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. It comes after it was revealed earlier this month that Annie and Kyle's relationship is 'as bad as it's ever been', as the England international ponders his next move following an unsuccessful spell at AC Milan. The full-back is back in the UK and according to pals is 'barely speaking' with Annie, who is still unable to forgive him and move on from the footballer's affairs with Lauryn Goodman, 34, the mother of two of his six children. Kyle hoped his stint in Italy with the seven-time Champions League winners would trigger a fresh start for himself and Annie. Being away from the 'noise' of his sex scandal was a major reason behind his hasty departure from Manchester City in January. But the Rossoneri have declined the opportunity to sign Kyle for an extra year, meaning he will now have to find another club with City boss Pep Guardiola indicating the defender has no future at the Etihad, despite having one year left on his contract. And insiders have told MailOnline his inner circle view his stint in Milan as a 'wasted opportunity', not only for his football career but getting his marriage back on track with Annie. A friend said: 'Kyle really enjoyed his time with Milan, especially off the pitch. The full-back, 34, is back in the UK and according to pals is 'barely speaking' with Annie, who is still unable to forgive him and move on from the footballer's affairs with Lauryn Goodman, 34 (pictured), the mother of two of his six children 'Having played under Guardiola for so long, which is exhausting having to meet his lofty standards, he felt the shackles were off when he joined Milan and made the most of his new lifestyle, perhaps eating and drinking what he wouldn't ordinarily consume, as well as socialising more. 'That impacted him on the pitch which is why he didn't perform to the levels he's become accustomed to over the years. 'That disappointed his parents who flew over to watch him for the last game of the season and he didn't even make the bench.


Daily Mirror
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Palace chief 'sets price' to sell stake as club sweat on Europa League fate
Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor is ready to offload his stake in the Londoners in order to ensure they are able to compete in the Europa League next season John Textor is said to be prepared to sell his stake in Crystal Palace for less than market value in a bid to ensure that the FA Cup winners are able to compete in the Europa League next season. The American, 59, holds a 43 per cent stake in Palace via Eagle Football Holdings but the company also holds a stake in Lyon, who have also qualified for Europe next term. Textor's involvement at both clubs has led to scrutiny from UEFA, who are set to rule on whether or not the Eagles can feature in the competition later this month. Textor and Steve Parish, the Palace chairman, met with Uefa officials last week in a bid to persuade them that the former's 25 per cent voting rights means he is not, in fact, a person of influence at Selhurst Park. But with Palace still facing the threat of missing out on Europe altogether it has now emerged that Textor is willing to offload his stake in the club for a lower price. The Times report that Textor offloading his stake is seen as the most viable way to resolve the matter with a potential sale to his Palace cohorts a possibility. American co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have matching 18 per cent stakes and a sale to them, if viable, is seen as the 'simplest outcome' for all parties. The report adds that sources close to Textor feel the outlined price of £170million is significantly less than he would stand to recoup otherwise given the club's current market value. Textor's involvement at both Palace and Lyon has caused unrest in the Premier League, too, in light of Uefa's recent meeting over the former's Europa League fate. It emerged earlier this week that Nottingham Forest have written to the authorities to express concern given the multi-club ownership rules that are in place. Forest would stand to profit if Palace were expelled from the Europa League; they are currently set to participate in the Europa Conference League as a reward for their stellar 2024-25 campaign, where they finished seventh in the Premier League. Even if Textor is successful in selling his stake there are concerns that the case could make its way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, further muddying the waters surrounding Palace and their fate. Textor did attempt to put his shares into blind a trust to enable Palace to compete in Europe next season - an act other club chiefs have done - but Uefa ruled their attempts were too late, citing a deadline of March 1.