2006 Premier League Darts
| 2006 Premier League Darts |
|---|
| Winner |
 Phil Taylor
|
| Runner-up |
 Roland Scholten
|
| Score |
| 16–6 |
| Date |
| February 16 – May 29, 2006 |
| Edition |
| 2nd |
| Number of players |
| 7 |
| Venues |
| 11 |
| Premier League Darts |
| < 2005 | 2006 | 2007 > |
The 2006 Holsten Premier League the second year of the Professional Darts Corporation's popular darts league. The 2006 league was launched with the top six players in the PDC world rankings and the addition of a wildcard player, Raymond van Barneveld who decided to switch from the British Darts Organisation just weeks after reaching their 2006 World Championship final.
Barneveld, a four-times BDO World Champion went on to achieve the perfect nine-dart finish on 23 March against Peter Manley, on the fifth night of the 2006 Premier League at the Bournemouth International Centre. It was the same night that he faced Phil Taylor for the first time since his switch, the match ended in a 7–7 draw.
Taylor and Barneveld dominated the league stages, with both players winning every match in the league phase against the other 5 players in the league. Taylor came out on top 8–6 in their other meeting in Doncaster.
Given the form of Taylor and Barneveld in the group matches, there was much anticipation of a clash between the two in the final. However, it failed to materialise as Roland Scholten averaged 104.13 in the semi final to hammer Barneveld (average 91.79) by 11 legs to 3. Phil Taylor averaged 105.03 in his 11–3 semi-final win over Colin Lloyd (average 99.42).
Phil Taylor successfully defended his title by seeing off Scholten in the final by 16 legs to 6. Taylor's average in the final was 101.41 to Scholten's 92.01.
The format had a slight change from 2005. Previously, all twelve legs of a match had to be completed – regardless of whether a winner had already been determined. From 2006, a match would finish when a player reached the 8 legs victory target, unless the match reached 7–7 when the points would be shared and the match drawn.
King George's Hall, Blackburn
Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland
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