Champions League of Darts

The third edition of the Champions League of Darts was held in the Brighton Centre on 22 and 23 September 2018. Gary Anderson crowned himself Champion after an all-Scottish final against Peter Wright (11-4).

The former World Champion started his campaign badly. The Flying Scotsman lost his first match against World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney. After an easy win against Dave Chisnall and a tough game against Michael van Gerwen, Anderson managed to qualify for the semi’s. Especially his encounter against the world number one was an epic one. Anderson went 9-6 up, but van Gerwen managed to make it 9-9. A deciding leg was required. Van Gerwen had two darts to eliminate the Scot, but Anderson survived the match darts and produced a 140 checkout to take the win. Anderson met Austrian ace Mensur Suljoivc in the semi’s, a repeat of last year’s final. The Scot was far too good for ‘the Gentle’ this time and won 11-4.

Peter Wright started his Champions League with a win against Simon Whitlock. However ‘Snakebite’ lost his second game against Mesnur Suljovic. Therefore the Scot needed a win against world champion Rob Cross to qualify for the semi-finals. Wright meant business in this match and won 10-3. In the semi’s Wright defeated Michael van Gerwen. Van Gerwen led 8-5, but was not able to take the win because Wright won six out of the last seven legs: 11-9.
Although Van Gerwen did not manage to win the Champions League of Darts, the Dutchman showed his great form during his opening match against Dave Chisnall (10-2). Van Gerwen ended the match with an average of 111, missing just two darts on the double. Despite this great display in his first match, the Dutchman was not able to win the Champions league of darts, a trophy that is still missing in his cabinet.