Clayton Extends Premier League Lead with Rotterdam Victory
Jonny Clayton secured his fourth nightly win of the Premier League season by defeating Luke Littler 6-4 in Rotterdam, much to the delight of the local crowd. The Welsh player maintained composure despite an early surge from Littler in the final, achieving back-to-back nightly victories and marking his fourth win this year.
Littler faced boos throughout the evening following a recent altercation with Dutch favorite Gian van Veen in Manchester two weeks prior but managed to advance to the final regardless. However, after overcoming Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals and narrowly defeating world number two Luke Humphries 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final, Clayton proved too strong a contender.
With this win, Clayton now leads Littler by five points at the top of the table. The world champion holds an 11-point advantage over the fifth-placed player, and both Clayton and Littler are nearly certain to secure their spots at the O2 Arena for finals night.
Dutch Players Exit in Quarter-Finals
Contrasting the hostile reception for Littler, Dutch players Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen received enthusiastic support from the Rotterdam fans. Despite this, both were unable to capitalize on the home crowd advantage. Van Veen struggled against an improved Luke Humphries, who secured a comfortable 6-2 victory.
This result elevated Humphries above Van Veen into fifth place, narrowing the gap to Van Gerwen in the final play-off position to three points. Van Gerwen had an opportunity to increase this margin to five points but was convincingly defeated 6-2 by Clayton, leaving Dutch fans stunned and maintaining a competitive race for the top four.
Had Humphries completed his comeback against Littler in the semi-finals, the competition for play-off spots could have been even tighter.
Stephen Bunting retains hope of qualifying despite a 6-1 loss to Nathan Rafferty, in which Bunting fell behind 4-0 despite averaging 114, as Rafferty began with four consecutive doubles.
Gerwyn Price remains in third place despite exiting in the quarter-finals for the second consecutive week.
Premier League Darts Night 11 Results
- Gian van Veen 2-6 Luke Humphries
- Michael van Gerwen 2-6 Jonny Clayton
- Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries
Premier League Darts Table 2026
[Table data not provided]
Premier League Darts Week 12 Fixtures
Thursday, 23 April - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton
Premier League Darts Format and Points System
Premier League Darts consists of 16 initial weeks in the league stage, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final each night. Each of the eight players faces the other seven in the quarter-finals during weeks one to seven and nine to fifteen, with weeks eight and sixteen featuring fixtures off the table. This structure ensures a fourth versus fifth match in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, potentially deciding play-off spots.
Players earn two points for a quarter-final win, an additional point for a semi-final win, and five points for winning the night.
The top four players after the group stage advance to the play-off night at London's O2 Arena on 28 May. The semi-finals are best-of-19-leg matches, with first facing fourth and second playing third. The final is contested over the best of 21 legs.
If players are tied on points after 16 weeks, rankings are determined by nights won, followed by matches won.
