ASPINALL SILENCES DOUBTERS WITH PREM WIN

By Aaron Nijjar  

NATHAN ASPINALL silenced the doubters in style after clinching victory on Night 10 of the Premier League in Manchester.  

‘The Asp’ surrendered FIVE match darts before eventually securing a gritty 6-4 victory over Luke Humphries in the final.  

Two-time major winner Aspinall moved up to fourth in the table but level on 15 points with Michael van Gerwen, putting him in the Play-Off positions due to his one nightly success compared to none for the Dutchman. 

Former UK Open champion Aspinall believes the win proves anybody who questioned his and Gerwyn Price’s inclusion in the Premier League wrong. 

World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker and Dave Chisnall raised doubts due to Aspinall being world No 11 at the time. 

Aspinall said: “If you ask people who they want to watch apart from Littler I genuinely believe it would be me and Gezzy.  

“Hand on heart, purely on form I shouldn’t have been in the Premier League but the PDC know why they put us in.   

“In the pressure situations we can perform and have the minerals to win. Sometimes the others cannot do that.  

“Me and Gezzy made a pact to prove our worth this year and so far we are achieving that.  

“I’ve had so much hate towards me online. That is why I have come off social media now because it was horrible. 

“Anyone who is struggling or fed up just keep going.  

“I was fed up six months ago but now I have won a Euro Tour and Premier League Night in the last two weeks and now I’m all smiles.” 

He added: “In my opinion I’ve been one of the best players in the world in the past three or four weeks and I am confident.  

“The thing with me is when I’m confident and I’m scoring well there isn’t many people in darts that can beat me.  

“This a big win for me tonight in my hometown. I’m going to get so much confidence from this.” 

Aspinall has since jumped up to world No 7 with a victory on the European Tour and the nightly triumph in the AO Arena continues his good run of form. 

He also made the final of the International Darts Open in Riesa last weekend in a bid to become the sixth player to win back-to-back Euro Tour tournaments. 

The Stockport ace has delivered impressive performances on the big stage this year, reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championship, World Masters, and UK Open.  

Image by Taylor Lanning.