Raymond Smith won ANZ Premier League Night 4 in Auckland on Friday, hitting the competition's first ever 170 checkout and becoming the first player to lock in a Finals Night spot. In Maastricht, Damon Heta beat defending champion Jonny Clayton 6-1 and reached the quarter-finals before Stephen Bunting stopped him 6-3. Niels Zonneveld won the Dutch Darts Championship from the first round, beating Danny Noppert 8-5 for his first European Tour title.
Next up: Heta takes on James Wade at the European Championship in Dortmund, and the ANZ Premier League finishes its regular season in Newcastle on Saturday.
In this roundup
- How did Raymond Smith win ANZ Premier League Night 4?
- How far did Damon Heta get in Maastricht?
- Who won the Dutch Darts Championship?
- That's the week
How did Raymond Smith win ANZ Premier League Night 4?
By winning every match 5-2. Smith beat Mal Cuming, Jonny Tata and Brody Klinge at the NZICC, and saved his best for the final: four 180s and a 95.97 average (Darts News).
The moment of the night came in the semi-final against Tata. Smith took out 170, the first maximum checkout in ANZ Premier League history. It's his second weekly title after the opening night in Canberra, worth A$1,000 and five points.
"I still think I've got a lot left in the tank," Smith told the PDC. He lost last year's final, so the rest of the field has been warned.
Watch: Official PDC highlights from ANZ Premier League Night 4 in Auckland.
Klinge made the final by beating Night 3 winner Tim Pusey 5-2 and Simon Whitlock 5-1. Those wins keep him in the hunt with one regular-season night left.
After four of five nights, Smith leads on 14 points from Pusey (8), Cuming (7), Tata (7) and Whitlock (6). Joe Comito is the only player out of contention, so six players are chasing three Finals Night places in Newcastle.
How did Damon Heta go in Maastricht?
To the quarterfinals, and the standout came on Saturday. Heta beat Clayton, the defending champion and last week's Swiss Darts Trophy winner, 6-1 with a 103.57 average and checkouts of 126 and 101 (Darts News).
He opened on Friday with a 6-4 win over Dutch qualifier Maikel Verberk, helped by a 130 checkout. On Sunday afternoon he came from 4-3 down against seed Martin Schindler, finishing 81, 97 and 59 to win 6-4 with a 102.5 average.
Bunting ended the run 6-3 in Sunday night's quarter-final (Sky Sports). Two wins over seeds in front of a Dutch crowd is solid form to carry into Dortmund this week.
If you like the look of what Heta throws, the Series 4 keeps his tapered, front-weighted barrel and adds ring cuts along the full length for grip.
Heta's tapered, front-weighted profile with ring cuts along the full length and Quick Point tips. 21g, 23g, 24g and 25g in stock.
Not sure which of Heta's barrels suits your throw? Our guide, Damon Heta Darts: 5 Things To Know Before Buying The Heat's Setup, compares the shapes and weights.
Who won the Dutch Darts Championship?
Niels Zonneveld, the hard way. He started in Friday's first round, knocked out Krzysztof Ratajski and Gerwyn Price, then came from 5-3 down against Wessel Nijman in the quarter-finals with finishes of 71 on the bull and 128 (Darts News).
He beat Bunting 7-4 in the semis and Noppert 8-5 in an all-Dutch final, averaging 92.93 to Noppert's 87.66. The title is worth £35,000 and gets him a first Grand Slam of Darts appearance in Wolverhampton next month.
The record of the weekend belonged to Gian van Veen. His 120.24 average in a 6-0 win over Sebastian Bialecki on Saturday is the first 120-plus average in European Tour history, according to Darts News. Meanwhile Michael van Gerwen went out on home soil in the second round, beaten 6-5 by William O'Connor.
Watch: Official PDC Finals Night highlights from the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht.
That's the week
The European Tour Order of Merit is locked in, and the top 32 head to Dortmund. All times below are Melbourne time (AEDT).
- European Championship: Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October, Westfalenhalle, Dortmund. Heta is drawn against James Wade in the first round (best of 11 legs). The first session starts at 7pm Thursday local time, which is 4am Friday in Melbourne. The PDC will confirm which session Heta plays.
- Weekend sessions: Saturday's 1pm and 7pm sessions in Dortmund are 10pm Saturday and 4am Sunday in Melbourne.
- Watch the clock change: Germany comes off daylight saving early on Sunday 25 October, so the gap to Melbourne grows from nine hours to ten. Sunday's 1pm and 7pm sessions are 11pm Sunday and 5am Monday in Melbourne, and the semi-finals and final are expected in that Monday-morning session.
- ANZ Premier League Night 5: Saturday 24 October, Newcastle Entertainment Centre. Newcastle runs on the same time as Melbourne. Quarter-finals: Smith v Comito, Pusey v Robb, Tata v Klinge, Cuming v Whitlock. The top four go through to Finals Night in Brisbane.
We'll have the Dortmund and Newcastle results here next Monday.
Results and schedules sourced from PDC, Darts News, Sky Sports, Yahoo Sports Australia and Darts Nerd.