Chizzy gets busy to win in Germany

LUKE LITTLER and Luke Humphries missed this week’s Protours in Germany to avoid burnout – but there was still plenty going on in Hildesheim.

Firstly, my own game felt good, and I could have easily won day two – losing concentration in a game with Dirk Van Duijvenbode when I was 5-3 ahead which was stupid.

That said, I had good wins including beating Michael Smith and was pushing 100 with some of the averages so my game is coming back.

Dirk ended up reaching the final and losing to Dave Chisnall (top), which just carried on the excellent form that Chizzy had last year on the Protour circuit.

The story of the two days though was Raymond van Barneveld (right) rolling back the years and grabbing another Players Championship. It was great to see – especially when it is someone that has been around longer than I have!

The Premier League travels to Dublin this week, and it will be interesting to see whether the rested players are chomping at the bit or slightly rusty.

Peter Wright got his first win last week but has his work cut out against Humphries.

Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross have had a couple of good battles in recent weeks (including one final).

I don’t say this often about Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price – but both kind of need to win that game after recent results and that brings its own pressure.

Finally, Littler takes on Smith and although Luke is the favourite, we all know that Michael can catch fire and win legs in a matter of seconds.

James Wade’s column is sponsored by Elitecompetitions.co.uk – use code WADE25 for 25% off tickets