Proud Aspinall reflects on 'emotional' Premier League night

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Nathan Aspinall has reflected on an 'emotional' night which saw him claim a place in the Premier League Play-Offs.

Van Gerwen gives frank assessment of Play-Off disappointment

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Michael van Gerwen gave an honest assessment of his failure to reach the Unibet Premier League Play-Offs.

Aspinall, Wright & Anderson qualify for Play-Offs on Night 16

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Nathan Aspinall, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson qualified for the Unibet Premier League Play-Offs on Night 16.

Play-Off permutations ahead of Unibet Premier League Night 16

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We take a look at the possible permutations ahead of the final night of league phase action.

Van Gerwen and Price keep Play-Off hopes alive on Night 15

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Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price kept their Play-Off hopes alive on Unibet Premier League Night 15.

Unibet Premier League odds update - duo new joint-favourites

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Gary Anderson and Peter Wright are the new joint favourites to win the Unibet Premier League.

Durrant battles back to draw with Van Gerwen on Night 14

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Glen Durrant battled back to draw with Michael van Gerwen on Night 14 of the Unibet Premier League.

Pressure on Van Gerwen to claim first win over Durrant

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We look ahead to tonight's crunch Unibet Premier League clash between Glen Durrant and Michael van Gerwen.

Wright thrashes Van Gerwen on Night 13

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Peter Wright claimed a thumping 8-1 win over Michael van Gerwen on Night 13.

Van Gerwen remaining focused in Play-Off race

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Michael van Gerwen is aiming to remain focused in the race for Unibet Premier League Play-Off places.

Glen Durrant lifted the Unibet Premier League title in Coventry on Thursday after defeating Nathan Aspinall 11-8 in the final.

Durrant became the sixth player to taste Premier League glory with his triumph at the Ricoh Arena, and the first since Michael van Gerwen in 2013 to win the tournament in their debut season.

The 49-year-old had already made history as the third player to top the league phase, and in the Play-Offs Durrant delivered with victories over Gary Anderson - after surviving four missed match darts from the Scot - and Aspinall to scoop one of the biggest crowns in darts.

The Middlesbrough ace had claimed the £25,000 league winner's bonus last month, and scooped the £250,000 top prize for the biggest pay-day of his career.

"It's unbelievable," said an emotional Durrant. "This supersedes everything I've achieved before.

"Tonight I feel like the best player in the world and I've never had that feeling before.

"I'm feeling absolutely fantastic, I'm ecstatic. This means an awful lot to my family, friends and supporters.

"It's a mammoth achievement and it makes my move over to the PDC worthwhile.

"The game against Gary will go down as one of the worst games in Premier League Play-Offs history but I knew I couldn't play that badly twice.

"I stepped my game up massively for the final and I knew I had to to beat Nathan, who is a consummate professional and will go on to achieve many great things in darts."

The 16th staging of the Premier League, which began in Aberdeen in February, reached its climax on Thursday as Durrant and Aspinall played out the first final between two debutants since the tournament's inception in 2005.

There was nothing to separate the pair after the opening 12 legs of the final were all won on throw, but two legs later Durrant punished five missed doubles from Aspinall to go 8-6 up.

A 127 checkout followed for Durrant but Aspinall, who beat Peter Wright 10-7 in the semi-finals earlier in the night, replied with a 96 checkout to stop the rot.

However, Aspinall was unable to find a break of throw as Durrant closed out the win on his favourite double 16 to claim the title and £250,000 top prize.

"Obviously, I'm absolutely mortified to lose," said Aspinall. "After beating the World Champion I felt I had another gear and that I was going to win the final, but credit to Glen.

"He came top of the Premier League, he's probably been the best player throughout the competition and he deserves to win it.

"It's still been a great debut year for me and I'll be back next year to go one better."

Anderson had seen his hopes of claiming a third Premier League title ended when he saw four darts for victory against Durrant go begging in their semi-final, including three in a dramatic deciding leg.

Wright also lost out in the semi-finals following a season which had seen him achieve a nine-dart finish during the league phase before finishing second in the final table.

Unibet Premier League Play-Offs
Thursday October 15
Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Semi-Finals

Glen Durrant 10-9 Gary Anderson
Nathan Aspinall 10-7 Peter Wright

Final
Glen Durrant 11-8 Nathan Aspinall