World champion Luke Humphries followed up his win at Brighton with another win at Nottingham to move to the top of the Premier League.
Humphries defeated Michael Smith and Peter Wright to reach the final, before defeating Nathan Aspinall 6-3.
The 29-year-old Dutchman overtook Michael van Gerwen at the summit after losing to teenager Luke Littler in a quality quarter-final.
Littler then lost to fellow Briton Aspinall 6-3 in the last four.
Neither Humphries nor Aspinall were able to reach top gear in the final, but it was the world No. 1 who made it through and created a two-point gap over the leader.
“Every point matters now,” he told Sky Sports. “I think we were able to break through with 24 points last year, but it's really close. They're all pretty close, and it's probably going to take a lot more points this year than last year to get to the semifinals.”
“Obviously I want to finish first, which would be great, but finishing in the top four is exactly what I want.
“I'm still learning, but it's tough because I'm playing against the best players every week.”
Littler, who, like Humphries, is in his debut season in the Premier League, has won six of his seven quarter-final matches, but has reached just one final and is yet to win.
Against three-time world champion Van Gerwen, the 17-year-old averaged 114 and narrowly missed out on a nine-dart finish in the final leg for a 6-2 win.
Van Gerwen lost three games in a row in the quarter-finals after winning three nights in a row at the start of the tournament, but was close to his best form with an average of nearly 111.
Scott Wright defeated Gerwyn Price in the final of the quarter-finals to win his first match of the 2024 tournament, but Humphries proved too strong in the next round.
The eighth night of the league phase will be held in Dublin on Thursday 21st March.
