Chat » up, thumped Slovenias Polana Hercog, 6-

Michael van Gerwen was forced to settle for a draw as Robert Thornton boosted his own survival hopes on night eight of the Premier League. The world No 1 could not close out a win over Thornton, who snatched the final leg to earn a point, which was enough to move the Scot out of the bottom two after his earlier win over Michael Smith at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.Phil Taylor remains just behind leader Van Gerwen after he was held to a draw by Peter Wright, while Gary Anderson sits in third following his win over Dave Chisnall, his sixth straight victory of the competition. Robert Thornton collected three points to move out of the bottom two Chisnall joined bottom-placed Smith in the two-man drop zone and they will fight against elimination, along with Thornton, in next weeks Judgement Night in Cardiff.Earlier in the night, Thornton held his nerve in a tense clash with fellow struggler Smith, hitting double 20 to secure his first win of the campaign.But few expected The Thorn to unsettle Van Gerwen, who confidently collected the first leg with a 14-darter.A fantastic 140 checkout from Thornton gained the attention of Mighty Mike and the pair continued to swap legs, with Van Gerwen taking out 130 to move 4-3 up. Michael van Gerwen took out 130 just moments after Robert Thornton had the opportunity himself Victory appeared in the Dutchmans grasp when he nailed a 96 checkout to move one away, but Thornton stood firm, hitting tops for a precious point.Taylor was thwarted in his bid for top spot as he exchanged classy checkouts with the dogged Wright.A sizzling 130 on the bull from Snakebite was followed by a fantastic 141 from Taylor, who appeared to have the edge when he broke for a 6-4 lead. Peter Wright and Phil Taylor shared the spoils in Liverpool but one man was more grateful for the point than the other Wright refused to lie down, responding with an ice-cool 111 checkout, and pinned double 18 for the draw. But Anderson would not be denied and the defending champion cruised to a 7-4 win over Chisnall.The in-form player in the competition fired out a 144 finish and calmly took out double 10 to extend his winning run. Gary Anderson made it six wins in a row in the Premier League after beating Dave Chisnall Adrian Lewis was another winner as he held on for an entertaining 7-5 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.Earlier results meant that Barney was no longer in danger of an early exit, but his top four hopes were dented as Lewis landed his arrow in double eight to take the decider. Night eight results:Michael Smith 5-7 Robert ThorntonGary Anderson 7-4 Dave ChisnallAdrian Lewis 7-5 Raymond van BarneveldPhil Taylor 6-6 Peter WrightMichael van Gerwen 6-6 Robert Thornton Also See: Mardle: Robert on the rise Fixtures/Results On Sky TV Prem Table Dwight Gooden Jersey . -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. Adrian Gonzalez Jersey .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. http://www.metsrookiestore.com/Mets-Gary-Carter-Kids-Jersey/ . The 42-ranked Czech saved seven break points while converting his one chance, and defeated the No. 3 seed in 1 hour 46 minutes. Rosol, who lost in the final in Stuttgart against Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday, awaits the winner between Philipp Kohlschreiber or 2011 champion Gilles Simon. Lenny Dykstra Jersey . The team made the announcement after Saturdays 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. RHP Kenny Giles will be called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Adams spot on the roster. Tom Seaver Jersey . Appearing on TSN 690 Monday afternoon, Mike Babcock said he had conversations with both P.K. Subban and Carey Price about those on-ice traits during Hockey Canadas summer orientation camp. Mike Babcock: McGill experience, P.Den Bosch, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek won her opening match at the Topshelf Open on Monday, then got engaged after the match. Following Krajiceks 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Slovakias Jana Cepelova, she was surprised by boyfriend Martin Emmrich, a German on the ATP World Tour. He proposed on the court and Krajicek said yes. "It was a huge surprise," said Krajicek. "We spoke about marriage a couple of times before, but I didnt expect it now. Its very special. Im really happy and I feel so lucky that he did it like this. We met here one year ago and I think its such a very special place to do it." Other winners Monday included Belgiums Kirsten Flipkens, Spains Garbine Muguruza and the Czech Republics Klara Koukalova. The sixth-seeded Flipkens, last years runner-up, thumped Slovenias Polana Hercog, 6-4, 6-0, while the seventh-seeded Muguruza eased past Dutch wild card Lesley KKerkhove, 6-4, 6-2.dddddddddddd. Koukalova, the eighth seed, outlasted Spains Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2. American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe advanced with a three-set win over New Zealands Marina Erakovic, while German qualifier Mona Barthel advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Maria Kirilenko. Germanys Annika Beck knocked off Israeli qualifier Julia Glushko in straight sets and the Ukraines Elina Svitolina dropped just three games in a pasting of Japans Kurumi Nara. The top four seeds are all set for play Tuesday. Simona Halep, the defending champion and top seed, will take on qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus, while second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia will meet Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova. Third seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada will square off against American Vania King and fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain will battle Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic. ' ' '