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McCoy's Premier League Expanded

http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/12yda...eague-expanded

THE McCoy's Premier League Darts will feature TEN players in 2013 under a new format which was announced on Wednesday evening, with Michael van Gerwen, Wes Newton and Robert Thornton to make their debuts in the tournament.

A radical change will see the field expanded from eight players to feature ten stars this year as they compete across 15 nights in the UK and Ireland's biggest arenas.

The ten players will face each other once over the opening nine weeks of the tournament, over the best of 12 legs, before the bottom two players in the league table are relegated following the ninth league night in Brighton.

The remaining eight players will then face each other again over the remaining five league nights before the top four progress to the Play-Offs at The O2 in London on May 16.

Reigning McCoy's Premier League Darts champion Phil Taylor - who won the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship on Tuesday - will head the field of ten players, alongside 2009 winner James Wade and 2011 champion Gary Anderson.

They are joined by established Premier League stars Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld, while Andy Hamilton retains his place in the tournament following an impressive debut season in 2012.