Latest news with #SteveBeaton
The Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
‘Players are not enjoying it' – Phil Taylor makes explosive claim about Premier League Darts and demands urgent change
DARTS legend Phil Taylor has slammed the format of the Premier League. Luke Humphries beat Luke Littler in the play-off showpiece to end the 16-night roadshow. 2 2 The eight-player format involving a quarter, semi and final every Thursday has been in place since 2022. But Taylor is not a fan of the setup, saying: "It's very tiring… I think they do need to look at it now. "It needs revamping, that's what I think. A lot of the players are not enjoying it and you can tell." Fans also criticised the repetitive format after last week's final and so did legend Steve Beaton, labelling it "boring". He argued that seeing top players face each other regularly dampens the blockbuster feel to the match-ups. But Taylor has been entertained by the standard of play on show throughout this year's Premier League. He added: "Luke and Luke are really setting the standards at the moment. "The levels they're producing and how they're bringing the best out of each other — it's incredible for the rest of the sport. "And not just Luke and Luke — I love watching Chris Dobey. "Nathan Aspinall is playing superb. Absolutely superb. He's won two or three of these Premier Leagues. He's done brilliant.'
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
‘It's getting BORING now' – Darts icon slams Premier League format as he says something has to ‘change' to protect sport
DARTS hero Steve Beaton has had his say on the state of modern darts. Beaton, 61, has competed on the professional darts circuit since 1991 - competing against the likes of Dennis Priestley and Bob Anderson - before calling it quits last year. 2 The Bronzed Adonis is playing at the World Seniors Darts Championship nowadays but believes the current elite level of darts is in a tedious position that underwhelms clashes such as Luke Humphries and Luke Littler. 'I think the Premier League could be changed a bit. It's getting a bit boring now," Beaton, who retired from his professional PDC career at the end of 2024, told Online Darts. 'I know they sell it out all the time. It was nice to see Luke and Luke play each other, but almost every week they're playing each other. There's too much of [the same] players playing each other. If that's how they want to do it, that's how they want to do it.' In 2022, the Premier League shifted their format with aims of the introduced nightly bracket from round-robin phase would entice viewers throughout over the duration of 16 weeks. As seen this year, the restricting does juice up some crunching clashes but Beaton argues it hinders the unpredictability that the sport is built on. Humphries and Littler — the two most recent world champions — have naturally featured in the final more than any other pairing. 'You've seen them play that many times all year…" Beaton continued. "[Before] they (the top players) met now and again, now they're playing all the time. I don't think it's such a big thing when they do play each other.' The 1996 World Champion hopes that the structure is reviewed after its conclusion in O2 at the end of the month. Top two, Humphries and Littler, are joined by Gerwyn Price for the Final Four in the capital - with one more place up for grabs.
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Steve Beaton raises darts complaint in Luke Humphries and Luke Littler argument
Steve Beaton has joined calls for the Premier League Darts format to be revamped following a succession of repeat matches between the sport's leading players this year Darts legend Steve Beaton believes the rivalry between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler is being diluted by the Premier League format. Since 2022, the tournament features quarter-finals, semis and a final on each of the 16 nights. The top four points scorers then contest the play-offs on finals night at London's O2 in late May. The format has meant regular meetings between the sport's top players, like Littler and Humphries, the last two PDC world champions. Critics have pointed out that it leads to too many repeat matches. Some want to see the Premier League revert to its former format of each player playing once per night, with a field of 10 or even 12. Former BDO world champion Steve Beaton, who called time on his PDC career at the end of last year, is in that camp. He's called for a shake-up ahead of the 2026 tournament. He believes matches like Littler vs Humphries have lost their novelty value due to the amount of time they play each other. The pair met again in Aberdeen on Thursday night, with the Nuke winning a thrilling game 6-3 before losing in the semis to Chris Dobey. 'I think the Premier League could be changed a bit. It's getting a bit boring now,' the 1996 Lakeside world champion told Online Darts. 'I know they sell it out all the time. 'It was nice to see Luke and Luke play each other, but almost every week they're playing each other. There's too much of [the same] players playing each other. If that's how they want to do it, that's how they want to do it.' Beaton fears the regularity of certain games is diminishing rivalries at the top of the sport. He continued: 'You've seen them play that many times all year… "[Before] they (the top players) met now and again, now they're playing all the time. I don't think it's such a big thing when they do play each other.' As for this year's competition, Nathan Aspinall took a major step towards play-off qualification with victory in Aberdeen. Aspinall went into Thursday's action one point adrift of Michael van Gerwen in fourth position, but the Stockport star produced a hat-trick of stellar displays to triumph in Scotland. The 33-year-old recorded a crucial 6-3 victory over Van Gerwen in the evening's opener, before defeating Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey to put himself in pole position for a top-four place. Aspinall now leads Van Gerwen by four points ahead of the final night of league phase action in Sheffield, where the pair will meet again in the quarter-finals. The former World Matchplay champion can confirm his qualification with victory over Van Gerwen, while the Dutchman must clinch his first nightly win of the campaign to snatch a play-off place.
