Nathan Aspinall won in Rotterdam for the second consecutive year to overtake Michael van Gerwen and go third in the 2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts table.

Following on from his victory in 2023, The Asp, only in the Play-Off places by one point heading into the night, increased the gap to two thanks to a victory over fifth placed Michael Smith in the nightly final.

It puts the 2023 World Matchplay Champion in an excellent position to reach his third Finals Night in four Premier League Darts seasons, having missed out last year to Jonny Clayton on nightly wins despite having the same points.

Aspinall sees off Smith in Play-Off position match

Both Smith and Aspinall knew coming into the final that the winner would leave the Netherlands in the Play-Off places.

The Asp started the brighter thanks to back-to-back 16-darters, maintaining the two leg advantage throughout much of the contest.

The Bully Boy though produced a sensational 170 Big Fish checkout to reduce the deficit to 5-4, but he paid the price for spurning a dart at tops to force a decider, as Aspinall eventually pinned double eight to claim the victory.

Earlier in the night, Aspinall had won 6-2 against Peter Wright to all but end Snakebite’s hopes of qualifying for Finals Night at The O2, before fighting back from 4-1 down against World Champion and world number one Luke Humphries, winning five legs on the spin to make the showpiece game.

Smith had seen off Luke Littler 6-3 in his first quarter final, before coming through against Gerwyn Price in a last leg decider in his last four tie.

What else happened?

While Humphries and Price missed out on the final, both picked up two points for reaching the semi finals.

Humphries saw off home hero Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in his last eight match, going back to top of the table in the process after Littler’s loss to Smith.

Price beat Rob Cross 6-3 in the other last eight tie, but still remains 10 points outside the top four.

The 2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts visits Liverpool next week, as the roadshow heads to the M&S Bank Arena.

2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts Night 12 Results

Rotterdam Ahoy

Thursday 18 April

Final

Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Michael Smith

Semi Finals

Michael Smith 6-5 Gerwyn Price

Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Luke Humphries

Quarter Finals

Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Littler

Gerwyn Price 6-3 Rob Cross

Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Peter Wright

Luke Humphries 6-4 Michael van Gerwen

2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts Night 13 Schedule of Play

M&S Bank Arena (Thursday 25 April, 1900 BST)

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price

Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall

Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen

Michael Smith v Rob Cross