The Premier League Darts returns on Thursday and is the main sporting highlight in a day that includes live semi-final football action and some important basketball encounters.
The Premier League Darts returns on Thursday with the top eight players in the PDC taking part in a four-month event which will see the top four advance to the play-offs which will be held as a Finals Day at the O2 Arena in May.
Thursday’s instalment comes from the Manchester Evening News Arena with Andy Hamilton making his Premier League debut after reaching the final of the World Championship in January.
Hamilton will kick off his campaign in the opening match against James Wade at 1910 GMT, before Australian Simon Whitlock locks horns with popular Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld.
Defending champion Gary Anderson is up next against Kevin Painter, before the main event reaches the oche at 2130 GMT with the world champion Adrian Lewis going up against world number one Phil Taylor.
Thursday’s instalment of live streaming football action will feature a very intense Coppa Italia semi-final clash between Siena and Napoli.
Italy is the place to be on Thursday night with the Coppa Italia semi-final clash between Siena and Napoli as well as Lazio’s home encounter against Cesena in Serie A.
Napoli appear to be out of the Serie A title race, so this competition is likely to be their best chance of winning domestic silverware this season.
Next up for Napoli is a two-legged tie with Siena, who have seen off Torino, Cagliari, Palermo and Chievo to advance all the way from the elimination stage of this competition.
Lazio are currently fourth in Italy’s top tier with a record of 11 wins, six draws and five defeats leaving them two points off the Champions League berths, and six points off current table-toppers Juventus.
Cesena are second-from-bottom in the standings with a record of four wins, four draws and 13 defeats leaving them in the relegation zone, four points from safety after 21 games.
There are two more key matches on Thursday night when Internacional and Juan Aurich lock horns in the Copa Libertadores, while Freamunde play host to Moreirense in Liga Vitalis in Portugal.
Basketball fans are in for a treat on Thursday with action from the Euroleague, the Baltic League and the Korean Basketball League.
There are four matches being streamed live from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague on Thursday night.
The first of Thursday’s Euroleague matches comes from Group H with Zalgiris Kaunas taking on FC Barcelona Regal at 17:45 GMT.
The Lithuanian champions challenged strongly last week in Barcelona before the hosts pulled away late. A loss could end Zalgiris’s play-off chances.
The only undefeated team in the competition is also the only team that controls their destiny this week. CSKA Moscow travels to GS Medical Park knowing that a win puts them through to the play-offs, though the Russian champs will need to wait at least another week to mathematically clinch first place in Group E.
The fans at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv will be ready for a must-win clash for their beloved team when Maccabi Electra hosts Bennet Cantu. After Cantu won by 8 last week, Maccabi will be targeting not only a victory, but also to eclipse the margin they lost by in order to gain the potential tiebreaker between the teams.
Top 16, Week Four ends with the Game of the Week in which defending champions Panathinaikos face Fenerbahce Ulker at 19:45.
The Greens will come into the game knowing the result of Wednesday’s other Group G game, which will dictate whether a playoff ticket will be on the line already in this game.
There are two matches from the Korean Basketball League with Seoul Samsung Thunders taking on Anyang KGC and Wonju Dongbu Promy facing Goyang Orions.
The Women’s Korean Basketball League is also in action with Shinhan S’Birds taking Samsung Life Bichumi, while Baltai and Kalev go into battle in the Baltic League.
Other key events taking place on Thursday include the Table Tennis Qatar Open, the Welsh Grand Prix Bowls and the Championship League Snooker tournament.
To make sure you do not miss a second of the action, check out the full schedule below:
09.02.2012
00:00 | SOCCER - Real Potosi v Nacional Potosi
00:00 | SOCCER - Vasco Da Gama RJ v Nacional De Montevideo
06:55 | TABLE TENNIS - Qatar Open
09:55 | BOWLS - Welsh International Open
09:55 | BOWLS - Welsh International Open
11:00 | SNOOKER - Championship League Snooker
11:00 | SNOOKER - Championship League Snooker
13:00 | VOLLEYBALL - Rabita Baku vs Trefl Sopot Women
13:00 | BOWLS - Welsh International Open
14:00 | VOLLEYBALL - Dinamo Kazan Women vs Dresdner SC Women
14:45 | BOWLS - Welsh International Open
15:00 | BASKETBALL - Baltai vs Kalev/Cramo
15:00 | VOLLEYBALL - V Gunes Sigorta Women vs Eczacibasi Women
15:30 | VOLLEYBALL - Dinamo Moscow Women vs Villa Cortese Women
17:45 | BASKETBALL - Zalgiris vs Barcelona
18:00 | VOLLEYBALL - Fenerbache Women vs Prostejov Women
18:00 | BASKETBALL - Galatasaray vs CSKA Moscow
18:00 | HANDBALL - HCM Constanta vs Wisla Plock
18:00 | HANDBALL - THW Kiel vs Pick Szeged
19:00 | HANDBALL - Kadetten SH vs RK Bosna Sarajevo
19:05 | BASKETBALL - Maccabi Electra vs Cantu
19:10 | DARTS - Andy Hamilton v James Wade
19:30 | VOLLEYBALL - Pesaro Women vs Bergamo Women
19:45 | SOCCER - Lazio v Cesena
19:45 | BASKETBALL - Panathinaikos vs Fenerbahce
19:45 | SOCCER - Siena v Napoli
20:00 | DARTS - Simon Whitlock v Raymond Barneveld
20:15 | SOCCER - Freamunde v Moreirense FC
20:45 | DARTS - Kevin Painter v Gary Anderson
21:30 | DARTS - Adrian Lewis v Phil Taylor
22:00 | SOCCER - Internacional v Juan Aurich
