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| Photo from sportinglife.com |
Michael Smith had to win the last leg to rescue the draw, in an all too familiar position for the Bully Boy.
The Englishman played far superior to the Gentle, but threw away his commanding lead.
Smith threw seven maximums in the match and averaged 101, and after cruising to a four lg leg lead at 6-2, Suljovic took out 120 to reduce the deficit.
A 12-darter before a 116 checkout for the on-fire Austrian saw him move ahead for the first time.
Suljovic had left tops when Smith hit double eight with his last dart, but will still be glad to nick a point from a losing position.
Gerwyn Price squandered four match darts against a sub-par Rob Cross who rescued a draw.
The Welshman was 3-1 down before turning the match around to lead 6-4 and 7-5, but refused to speak to the cameras after the match due to a frustrating end to the match.
Voltage averaged 98 to the Iceman's 101, with the former world champion staring down the barrel of a loss that would drag him into contention to miss out on a play-off place.
The Grand Slam champion hit his second maximum to go one leg from victory before spurning three match darts from 36 at 7-5 and then another at tops in the decider as Cross pinned double 16 for a closing 14-darter.
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| Photo from BBC Sport |
SuperChin hit four 180s and eight of 14 darts at double, moving one point behind the top four.
Gurney's sterling display included three ton-plus checkouts, the best was a 116 to lead 6-4, while an 81 checkout sealed the match with a 12 dart leg.
Snakebite went 2-0 before the Northern Irishman won four of the next five legs.
Wright hit a 124 checkout for a 12 dart leg to level the match at 4-4 in what turned out to be his final leg on the board.
James Wade failed to complete the double over the defending champion Michael van Gerwen, as they shared the points in a draw.
The Machine went 7-5 ahead as he attempted to become just the second player ever to claim a pair of regular season victories over the Dutchman.
But on his 30th birthday, Mighty Mike hit back-to back 12 and 13 dart legs to make it 7-7.
The Englishman hit seven of his 11 attempts at a finish, including two on the bullseye for back-to-back 121 checkouts in the second and third legs, while van Gerwen only missed three darts at doubles and also took out a pair of 100+ checkouts himself - 117 and 107 to level the scores at 4-4 and 5-5 respectively.
The world champion managed a pair of 12-darters in a high-quality showdown in which all legs were won in 15 or fewer but the best was Wade's 11-darter, finished off with an 84 checkout to go 4-3 up.
7 February, Newcastle
James Wade 7-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 7-4 Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey 6-6 Mensur Suljovic
Michael van Gerwen 7-5 Michael Smith
Peter Wright 6-6 Rob Cross
Night Two Results
14 February, Glasgow
Peter Wright 6-6 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 7-4 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gerwyn Price
Daryl Gurney 7-3 Glen Durrant
Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Michael van Gerwen
Night Three Results
21 February, Dublin
Gerwyn Price 6-6 James Wade
Steve Lennon 5-7 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Rob Cross
Michael Smith 5-7 Daryl Gurney
Mensur Suljovic 6-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Night Four Results
28 February, Exeter
Luke Humphries 6-6 Gerwyn Price
Daryl Gurney 1-7 Rob Cross
Mensur Suljovic 7-4 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 3-7 James Wade
Michael Smith 7-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Night Five Results
7 March, Aberdeen
Michael Smith 3-7 Rob Cross
Daryl Gurney 0-7 James Wade
Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 7-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 6-6 John Henderson
Night Six Results
14 March, Nottingham
Nathan Aspinall 2-7 Michael Smith
James Wade 3-7 Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross 7-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 2-7 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright 6-6 Daryl Gurney
Night Seven Results
21 March, Berlin
Gerwyn Price 4-7 Rob Cross
James Wade 6-6 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 2-7 Mensur Suljovic
Max Hopp 3-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Night Eight Results
27 March, Rotterdam
Gerwyn Price 5-7 Michael Smith
James Wade 6-6 Dimitri van den Bergh
Rob Cross 5-7 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 1-7 Michael van Gerwen
Raymond van Barneveld 1-7 Daryl Gurney
Night Nine Results
28 March, Rotterdam (Judgement Night)
Daryl Gurney 7-3 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 5-7 Gerwyn Price
Rob Cross 7-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Raymond van Barneveld 1-7 Michael van Gerwen
James Wade 7-4 Michael Smith
Night 10 Results
4 April, Belfast
Mensur Suljovic 8-6 James Wade
Michael Smith 7-7 Peter Wright
Rob Cross 8-4 Daryl Gurney
Michael van Gerwen 7-7 Gerwyn Price
Night 11 Results
11 April, Liverpool
Rob Cross 8-5 Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price 8-5 Mensur Suljovic
James Wade 7-7 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 3-8 Michael van Gerwen
Night 12 Results
18 April, Cardiff
Mensur Suljovic 8-5 Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross 2-8 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 5-8 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 2-8 James Wade
Night 13 Results
25 April, Birmingham
Mensur Suljovic 7-7 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 7-7 Gerwyn Price
Daryl Gurney 8-4 Peter Wright
James Wade 7-7 Michael van Gerwen
Night 14 Fixtures
2 May, Manchester
Rob Cross v Michael Smith
Peter Wright v Mensur Suljovic
Daryl Gurney v Michael van Gerwen
James Wade v Gerwyn Price
Night 15 Fixtures
9 May, Sheffield
Michael Smith v James Wade
Mensur Suljovic v Rob Cross
Daryl Gurney v Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright
Night 16 Fixtures
16 May, Leeds
Gerwyn Price v Peter Wright
Daryl Gurney v Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Mensur Suljovic
James Wade v Rob Cross
Night 17 Fixtures
23 May, London
Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
Two matches TBC
Finals (Best of 21 legs)
One match TBC
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