Nathan Aspinall triumphed over Chris Dobey 6-1 on Night 15 of the Premier League in Aberdeen, moving closer to the coveted play-offs spot, while earlier Gerwyn Price struck a stunning nine-dart finish and Luke Littler secured the top seed at the O2.
Aspinall, after breezing past Stephen Bunting with an identical scoreline in the semi-finals, quickly took control by breaking Dobey early on in the match.
Dobey, who ousted Littler in order to make it to the final, fell behind once again as he forfeited his throw in the sixth leg and subsequently fluffed two darts at double in the seventh, allowing Aspinall to seal the deal with a double 10 finish.
Aspinall’s win now puts him comfortably into fourth place, four points ahead and dashes Dobey’s hopes, while Michael van Gerwen is left with the task of claiming victory in Sheffield to leapfrog Aspinall.
“I felt very confident coming into tonight, I bottled it last week but tonight is a new night,” claimed Aspinall speaking to Sky Sports.
“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.”
Earlier, Littler had orchestrated a remarkable comeback to defeat world number one Luke Humphries in their quarter-final clash, ensuring himself top seeding in London.
Despite falling behind, Dobey mounted a powerful counterattack to go 3-1 and then 4-2 up against world champion in their semi-final encounter.
However, though Littler made a valiant late resurgence to push for a deciding leg, he missed a crucial shot on double six, allowing Dobey to swoop in for the win, taking out 32.
Littler’s earlier 6-3 victory over Humphries in the quarter-finals was marked by exceptional skill and tenacity.
World number one Humphries finally ended his 10-week drought for a Premier League nightly victory by narrowly defeating Littler in a last-leg decider in Leeds, starting off impressively with an early break to lead 2-0 then 3-1. However, Littler made a stunning comeback, winning five legs consecutively and finishing with a match average of nearly 116, while Humphries, despite hitting nine maximums, suffered defeat with an average of 110.
Price, the Welshman who had already secured a play-off spot, delivered a nine-dart finish in his quarter-final loss to Bunting, reducing the deficit to 5-4. This marked Price’s second nine-dart finish in this year’s tournament, which has one more nightly event in Sheffield before the play-offs at London’s O2 on May 29.
Despite losing his first eight games, former Masters champion Bunting, who was already out of the running to progress, managed to secure a 6-4 victory over Price, advancing to the semi-finals. In the opening match at P&J Live, Aspinall capitalised on a quick start to defeat Van Gerwen 6-3, bolstering his own play-off chances.
Dobey, landing five 180s and averaging 107, clinched a 6-2 victory over former world champion Rob Cross, who is now unable to reach the top four.
