Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock early exit from the Winmau World Masters, with Gian van Veen and Gerwyn Price among the players to take victory in Milton Keynes.

Van Gerwen is a five-time winner of the event but was the highest-ranked player to be eliminated in the Arena MK opener, where he lost 3-1 to Australia’s Damon Heta.

The Dutchman averages just 88.36 points and had a disappointing performance against Hertha. Hertha won the first set with 124 points, but lost the second set despite Van Gerwen wasting 7 darts on a double.

Hertha took the third set on 118 points and ended the match on 101 points, Chris Dobey was his next opponent and the Englishman easily beat Jermaine Wattimena in straight sets.

“It’s special that I won, it doesn’t matter who I play against,” Herta said. “I’ve fought Michael a few times over the years, but beating him was an absolute no-brainer.”

Big-name players improved before Van Gerwen quit

The unique best-of-three-leg format produced some close games, with Van Veen making his tournament debut but coming from a set behind to defeat Ryan Joyce 3-1.

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

“My score was good, I just needed to do better at the end, and it worked out in the end. Double 16 helped me today and I’m very happy with this win.”

Nathan Aspinall will face Van Veen, who averaged over 105 and beat Ireland’s Shane McGuirk 3-1, losing the first set on 141 but winning seven of 11 doubles attempts.

Price put on the standout performance of the night, defeating James Hurrell in straight sets with an average of 108.5 points to advance in four top matches and win six of eight matches.

“I think I was a little ruthless in that fight,” admitted Price, who hasn’t advanced past the second round since 2022. “I had to perform well because James played great. If I had made one or two mistakes, it would have been a completely different game, but thankfully I was ready.”

Price will now face Welsh World Cup partner Jonny Clayton, the former Masters champion and last year’s runner-up, who came back from a set down to beat Dutchman Wessell Niemann 6-1.

James Wade averaged just over 102 to beat Madas Razma in the final set, while Gary Anderson averaged 101 to beat Niels Zoneveld by the same margin, setting the stage for a second-round clash between the veteran pair.

The final eight spots in the second round will be determined on Friday, with defending champion Luke Humphries and back-to-back world player Luke Littler taking on Dave Chisnall and Mike Dedecker respectively.

Friday’s Winmau World Masters schedule

First round x8
Best of five sets
Martin Schindler v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Jimmy Fancy
Danny Noppert v Daryl Gurney
Ryan Sale v Rob Cross
Josh Locke v Connor Scutt
Luke Littler v Mike Dedecker
Luke Humphreys v Dave Chisnall
Stephen Bunting v Geoffrey de Graaf

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