Aspinall Wins In Aberdeen As Littler Seals Top Spot
ByFrank Keogh
BBC Sport senior reporter
15 May 2025
113 Comments
Updated 16 May 2025
Nathan Aspinall took the Premier League nightly win in Aberdeen to close on a play-off place while Luke Littler sealed leading spot.
Aspinall is on the edge of certifying after beating Chris Dobey 6-1 in the last on a dramatic evening which saw Gerwyn Price hit a nine-darter.
Dobey claimed a decider to win his semi-final 6-5 against world champion Littler, who earlier won a timeless against world primary Luke Humphries that featured 14 180s.
Despite averaging 110.01, Humphries might not stop Littler, who balanced 115.96 to guarantee he would end up top of the league phase.
Defending champion Littler had currently received the four-man play-offs in London on 29 May along with Humphries and Price.
Price hit his 2nd nine-darter of the campaign however ended a 6-4 quarter-final loser to Stephen Bunting.
Aspinall moved above seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen into fourth area with a 6-3 victory over the Dutchman before dispatching Bunting 6-1 and going 4 points clear after his final accomplishment.
If Van Gerwen does not declare the night win in Sheffield next week, Aspinall - who completed fifth in 2023 and 2024 - will claim the last play-off area.
"All I have said to my household, I don't desire to come fifth again. I've put one foot in the finals. I play Michael [van Gerwen] again next week and the pressure is on him," stated the English player.
"It's a do or die game. I conserve myself 3 hours of suffering if I can beat him at 8pm, I'm going to the O2 which is an imagine mine. It's in my hands."
Relive Aspinall's win on dramatic night in Aberdeen
Premier League Darts schedule, results, reward money
29 May 2025
Littler beats Humphries in traditional
Littler versus Humphries measured up to its billing as the pair provided a spectacular quarter-final.
Humphries struck 9 optimums to his opponent's 5, however he might not stop Littler's charge.
In a match that ended up in under 12 minutes, there were an overall of 40 100-plus visits - 21 from Littler and 19 for Humphries.
Humphries began by hitting 6 perfect darts, while Littler required just 10 to win the 3rd leg.
"Are you kidding me? This is an outright joke," stated Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle in commentary.
"If this is your very first time seeing a darts match, this is not the standard."
Price strikes nine-darter but loses
For the second time in the Premier League this season, Price hit a nine-darter and lost.
He likewise produced an ideal leg when beaten by Littler in Manchester in April.
The 2021 world champ has the consolation of walking off with another set of 18 carat gold darts from sponsors BetMGM, worth an approximated ₤ 30,000.
There have actually now been 5 nine-darters in this year's event. No previous edition of the competition has had more than 2.
Van Gerwen stays without a night win in 2025 and in serious risk of missing out on the play-offs for only the second time.
His only lack from the finals because his launching season in 2013 can be found in 2020 when he completed sixth in the table.
While he matched Aspinall with a 97 average and 42% checkout, the Englishman got to the double twice as lot of times, which shown crucial.
Rob Cross can not make the play-offs after a 6-2 loss to Dobey, who averaged 107 however is also out of contention after his final defeat.
Premier League Darts Night 15 results
Final
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Chris Dobey
Semi-finals
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 6-5 Luke Littler
Quarter-finals
Michael van Gerwen 3-6 Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price 4-6 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 6-2 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 6-3 Luke Humphries
Premier League Darts table
Premier League Darts format and points system
Premier League Darts is played throughout 16 weeks in the league phase with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a last each night.
Each of the eight gamers is guaranteed to deal with the other 7 in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week 8 and week 16 components done off the table. It suggests we will get 4th v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots possibly on the line.
Players make two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final, and 5 for winning the night.
The top 4 gamers after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London's O2 Arena on 23 May, with first dealing with 4th and 2nd versus 3rd in best-of-19-leg matches. The final, which is the very best of 21 legs, follows.
If players are level on points after the 16 weeks then places are decided by nights won and after that matches won.
Darts night 16 order of play
Thursday, 22 May - Sheffield
Luke Littler v Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall v Michael van Gerwen
Luke Humphries v Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price v Chris Dobey
Darts