Last updated at 11:13, Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Darts ace Peter Manley previews week 5 of the Premier League in association with www.180bets.com

Peter Manley

Previous entry: Brilliant to see Ronnie Baxter doing so well

I am fresh off the plane from Germany where I played in two tournaments over the weekend.

I put in a reasonable showing but was disappointed not to have done better. The fact is that 15 dart legs are now a minimum requirement if you want to win a game of darts and the standard at these tournaments now is incredible.

Part-time players who no one has heard of are regularly beating the top stars and the forthcoming UK Open - best known as the FA Cup of darts - as it provides anyone the opportunity of entering and has already got over 1500 entries.

Everyone wants a piece of the darts money pie and whilst what’s on the table is getting bigger, there are a lot more hungry players sitting down for lunch.

There are no mugs about any more and whilst I might not get the seven course banquets out of the game any more, I am still hoping that a few nibbles will come my way.

Take care, Peter

James Wade vs Ronnie Baxter
James needs a win which might be easier said than done as Ronnie is playing well and his confidence is up. He is a classy player and should have won last week. I have a feeling he might nick this for no good reason other than he has to win some time.

Phil Taylor vs Mervyn King
Phil has been at about 80 per cent of his best thus far but it has been enough to remain undefeated as the other players have been disappointing. If he brings that form to the table again and Mervyn hits top form then an upset will be on the cards.

Terry Jenkins vs Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond doesn’t look happy and if he goes behind early then the towel might get thrown in. That’s something Terry will never do, as he is a dogged old performer and if Raymond isn’t up for a fight then he could well be heading back to Holland with nothing to show for his night’s work.

Adrian Lewis vs Simon Whitlock
If Adrian can get some kind of consistency then he would be as good a player as there is in the game. He comes off the back of a tournament win in Germany at the weekend and a repeat showing of that form will see him over the winning line here.

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First published at 11:11, Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk