Winmau World Masters darts: Michael van Gerwen makes shock exit as Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price make winning starts | Darts News

Michael van Gerwen made a shock early exit from the Winmau World Masters, as Gian van Veen and Gerwyn Price were among the players to make winning starts in Milton Keynes.

Van Gerwen is a five-time winner of the event but was the highest-ranked player to be knocked out on the opening night at Arena MK, where he suffered a 3-1 exit to Australia’s Damon Heta.

The Dutchman only managed an 88.36 average and struggled with his finishing in a disappointing display against Heta, who took the opening set with a 124 finish but lost the second despite Van Gerwen wasting seven darts at double.

Heta claimed the third set with a 118 finish and wrapped up victory with a 101 checkout, with Chris Dobey his next opponent after the Englishman breezed past Jermaine Wattimena in straight sets.

“It was special that I got the win, it didn’t matter who I played,” Heta said. “Me and Michael have had a few battles over the years, but to get a win over him is definitely a feather in the cap.”

Big names progress before Van Gerwen exit

The unique format of sets being played over the best of three legs produced some close contests, with Van Veen – making his full debut in the tournament – having to come back from a set down to see off Ryan Joyce 3-1.

“Of course I enjoyed it, but I made it a little bit difficult for myself,” Van Veen told ITV. “Luckily today it was okay after the first set. 1-0 down is not the end of the world and I just kept my head down.

“I was scoring well, it was just the finishes that needed to go better, and in the end it worked out. Double 16 helped me out today and I’m really happy with this win.”

Nathan Aspinall will face Van Veen after averaging over 105 in a 3-1 win over Ireland’s Shane McGuirk, where he lost the opening set to a 141 finish but took seven out of 11 attempts at double.

Price delivered the performance of the night as he averaged 108.5 in a straight-sets demolition of James Hurrell, where through in four maximums and won six of the eight legs available.

“I think I was a little bit ruthless in that game,” confessed Price, who has not progressed past round two since 2022. “I had to perform well as James played fantastic. If I had one or two slip-ups, it would have been a completely different game, but thankfully I was up for it.”

Price will now take on Welsh World Cup partner Jonny Clayton – a former Masters champion and last year’s runner-up, who came back from a set down to beat Dutchman Wessel Nijman 6-1.

James Wade averaged over 102 to see past Madars Razma in a final-set decider, while Gary Anderson delivered a 101 average to beat Neils Zonneveld by the same margin to set up a second-round meeting between the veteran pair.

The final eight second-round spots will be confirmed on Friday, as defending champion Luke Humphries and back-to-back world Luke Littler are in action against Dave Chisnall and Mike de Decker respectively.

Friday’s Winmau World Masters schedule

Round One x8
Best of five sets
Martin Schindler v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Jimmy van Schie
Danny Noppert v Daryl Gurney
Ryan Searle v Rob Cross
Josh Rock v Connor Scutt
Luke Littler v Mike De Decker
Luke Humphries v Dave Chisnall
Stephen Bunting v Jeffrey de Graaf

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