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Michael van Gerwen moved clear at the top of the McCoy’s Premier League as James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld all also grabbed important victories in Sheffield on Thursday evening.

van Gerwen claimed a brilliant triumph against world number one Phil Taylor before going on to edge out Wade, who had earlier seen off Adrian Lewis with an equally delightful display at the Motorpoint Arena.

van Gerwen, who also faces a double-header in Dublin next Thursday, was delighted with his evening’s exploits.

“To beat Phil Taylor in the Premier League was a huge moment for me,” said the world number two.

“I had targeted at least two points tonight so to go on and take on all four makes me very happy.

“I felt that I was much the better player against Phil and then I had to win a game that wasn’t as good against James.

“Maybe, playing twice affected us both but winning is the most important thing.”

The tenth night of action began with Whitlock, who survived a relegation scare last week, getting back to winning ways against Robert Thornton.

Wade then swept past Lewis with a 7-2 success, in which ‘The Machine’ averaged around 104 and hit five 180s before van Gerwen took to the stage against Taylor in a repeat of January’s World Championship final.

‘The Power’ prevailed on that occasion but ‘Mighty Mike’ stormed to victory in Yorkshire, also averaging 104 in a comfortable 7-3 triumph.

van Barneveld then earned a hard fought win against Andy Hamilton to leave himself tied on 14 points with Wade and van Gerwen at the top of the table.

It was van Gerwen who was to take a clear lead as he increased his tally to 16 with a 7-5 victory over the 2009 champion.

Next Thursday sees the tournament reach Dublin, where ‘Barney’ will take on Taylor and van Gerwen, who will also face Lewis.

Wade and Thornton will do battle at the O2, where Whitlock will play Hamilton.

By Chris Murphy

Visit Michael van Gerwen’s official website for further report and reaction

Visit James Wade’s official website for further report and reaction

Visit Raymond van Barneveld’s official website for further report and reaction

Visit Simon Whitlock’s official website for further report and reaction

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