Chris Dobey, Jonny Clayton, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh join Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price as part of the eight-man Premier League line-upwatch the opening night in Belfast on Thursday February 2 – live on Sky Sports
Last Updated: 30/01/23 10:35am
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Watch every nine-darter that has been hit in the Premier League
Watch every nine-darter that has been hit in the Premier League
Masters champion Chris Dobey has made this year’s Premier League Darts line-up alongside Dimitri Van den Bergh, Nathan Aspinall and Jonny Clayton.
‘Hollywood’ Dobey produced a brilliant display to defeat former world champion Rob Cross 11-7 to clinch his first televised title in Sunday’s Masters final.
The 32-year-old – who dumped out last year’s Premier League runner-up Joe Cullen and fifth seed Luke Humphries to reach the last eight – continued his fine form to create history in Milton Keynes.
Dobey is joined by Belgian ace Van den Bergh, former World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts finalist Aspinall and Welshman Clayton.
New world No 1 Michael Smith returns for the sixth time in eight years and will headline the event after his impressive maiden World Darts Championship victory over Michael van Gerwen, who returns as defending champion and chases a record seventh Premier League title.
Former world champions Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price complete the four automatic qualifiers, based on their positions in the PDC Order of Merit, but who will complete the eight-player league when the 17-week contest begins on February 2.
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Michael van Gerwen edged out Joe Cullen in a dramatic final to claim his sixth Premier League title in Berlin
How does the Premier League work?
The Premier League will retain the same format it introduced successfully in 2022, where the eight players compete each night in a knock-out format before the top four players from the final league table progress to the Play-Offs.
The new season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday February 2, the first of 17 individual venues to host the 2023 Premier League, which will be staged on Thursday nights from February to May.
The iconic Belfast venue famously saw Price hit two nine-dart finishes on the same night in the 2022 Premier League and will now stage the opening night for the first time, with February will also featuring league nights in Cardiff, Glasgow and Dublin.
March starts in Exeter before Liverpool’s event at the M&S Bank Arena takes place on March 9 to avoid clashing with the Eurovision Song Contest at the same arena, with events in Nottingham, Newcastle and Berlin completing a busy month.
Birmingham, Brighton, Rotterdam, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Aberdeen all host events, with the top four players in the season-long standings then qualifying for the Play-Offs at The O2 on May 25.
Who should feature in the 2023 Cazoo Premier League darts? Watch every week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on February 2 and runs every Thursday until the play-offs at The O2 in London on May 25.
