Raymond Van Barneveld boosted his chances of avoiding relegation in his final Premier League campaign before retirement with a 7-3 victory over home favourite Max Hopp on night seven in Berlin.
With Michael Smith suffering a 7-2 hammering by Mensur Suljovic, the veteran Dutchman knew he could close the gap to a point with his first win of the tournament.
The VAR decision is in... definitely a yellow for Michael Smith. pic.twitter.com/b9j8qwacP3 — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 21, 2019
And the five-time world champion did just that to give himself a chance of surviving ahead of back-to-back nights in his homeland next week.
Van Barneveld regained some of his confidence last weekend, finishing runner-up in the Players Championship 8 in Wigan, and carried that on with the first 170 of this year's competition.
Rob Cross took advantage of Michael Van Gerwen's slip-up to move two points clear at the top of the table.
Obviously really happy with the win. A bit scrappy in places on my own throw. But the main thing is that I got the job done. Delighted to have won four Premier League games in succession.Brilliant fans in Berlin. Danke schoen 🇩🇪⚡️ pic.twitter.com/W97D3HBz3p — Rob Cross (@RobCross180) March 21, 2019
The former world champion claimed a fourth consecutive win, beating Gerwyn Price 7-4, while Daryl Gurney came back from 2-0 behind to stun Van Gerwen 7-5.
Peter Wright surrendered a 5-2 lead before holding his nerve in a decider to draw 6-6 with James Wade.
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