Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen & Gary Anderson draw Newcastle opener
- Published
Michael van Gerwen won his second PDC world title in January
World champion Michael van Gerwen drew 6-6 with Scotland's Gary Anderson in Newcastle in the opening round of fixtures in the 2017 Premier League.
In a repeat of January's PDC World Championship final, Van Gerwen held a two-leg lead early on, but was pegged back by world number two Anderson.
Van Gerwen then trailed 6-5 before a 68 checkout sealed a point in Newcastle.
Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade and Peter Wright won their opening games of the tournament.
Taylor, a six-time winner of the Premier League, announced in January that 2017 will be his last year on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit.
How the Premier League works
In the first stage of the competition, the 10 players will face each other once in a league format - the bottom two in the table after nine matches will be eliminated.
Points are carried forward and the remaining eight will play each other again, with the top four in the standings after 15 matches qualifying for the play-offs at the O2 Arena in London on 18 May.
Van Gerwen beat Taylor 11-3 to win his second Premier League title in May 2016.
Premier League - round one results
Kim Huybrechts (Bel) 5-7 James Wade (Eng)
Raymond van Barneveld (Ned) 7-5 Adrian Lewis (Eng)
Phil Taylor (Eng) 7-3 Dave Chisnall (Eng)
Gary Anderson (Sco) 6-6 Michael van Gerwen (Ned)
Peter Wright (Sco) 7-4 Jelle Klaasen (Ned)
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