Van Gerwen wins opening Premier League night

Michael van Gerwen kick-started his bid for an eighth Premier League title in style with victory on night one of the 2026 tournament in Newcastle.

The Dutchman beat compatriot Gian van Veen 6-4 in the final to earn the £10,000 nightly prize and claim the first five points of the new season.

“It’s definitely a good start – without even playing my A performance, I still won,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think I was deadly. I had some fantastic finishing in the right moments.

Van Veen impressed on debut and edged to a 6-4 quarter-final win over world number one Luke Littler – who beat him in the 2026 World Championship final.

He followed up that triumph with a 6-4 win in the semi-finals against 2021 champion Jonny Clayton – who had averaged 109.81 in defeating debutant Josh Rock 6-2 in the last eight.

But Van Veen came unstuck in a tight contest with Van Gerwen, who averaged seven points more than the European champion in the final to take victory.

It was a real boost for Van Gerwen, who failed to reach finals night last year for only the second time in 13 attempts.

The three-time world champion reeled off six consecutive legs to come from 2-0 down and beat Stephen Bunting 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, he earned another 6-2 win over reigning champion Luke Humphries – who had edged past Gerwyn Price 6-5 in a last-eight thriller.

Quarter-finals

Josh Rock 2-6 Jonny Clayton

Luke Littler 4-6 Gian van Veen

Luke Humphries 6-5 Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting 2-6 Michael van Gerwen

Semi-finals

Jonny Clayton 4-6 Gian van Veen

Luke Humphries 2-6 Michael van Gerwen

Final

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.

Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.

Thursday, 12 February – FAS Dome, Antwerp

Quarter-finals (from 19:15 GMT)

Luke Littler v Luke Humphries

Michael van Gerwen v Josh Rock

Jonny Clayton v Stephen Bunting