Michael van Gerwen beats debutant Gian van Veen to win Premier League night one

Michael van Gerwen made yet another statement victory in 2026 as the Dutchman rolled back the years to win night one of the Premier League in Newcastle. The Green Machine failed to win single night in 2025 but got off to the perfect start this time around at the expense of Dutch number one Gian van Veen.

On a fantastic night for Dutch darts, van Veen, who makes his Premier League debut this year after an exceptional 2025, made an instant splash in defeating title favourite Luke Littler.

Littler, who won the World Masters title on Sunday, averaged near 97 but was unable to convert more than a third of his chances at doubles which van Veen was able to capitalise on, winning the last three legs to round off a 6-4 victory.

Earlier in the evening fellow debutant, Josh Rock hadn’t managed to make the same impact despite playing well. A returning Johnny Clayton blew him out of the water with the performance of the night to pick up his first two points of the campaign. The Ferret belted in six 180’s and averaged near 110 to win 6-2.

Luke Humphries was able to put the disappointment of losing the World Masters final behind him to win his quarter-final against Gerwyn Price.

Price, yet again was on the wrong end of a last leg decider to a Luke, but this time the older of the two as Humphries’ scoring proved too much in a 6-5 victory.

Finally, Michael van Gerwen, who defeated Stephen Bunting both their World Series meetings earlier this month, once again got the better of the Bullet. He rattled off six consecutive legs to move into the semi-finals despite a shaky start in which the seven-time champion lost the first two legs.

In the semi-finals Gian van Veen added to his first Premier League points by picking up another one at the expense of Johnny Clayton. The 2021 champion was unable to back up his first-round performance and missed crucial chances after van Veen had stumbled himself.

In the end, a double break of throw and a 5-2 lead proved too much for Clayton to overturn as van Veen ran out a 6-4 winner to move into the final on debut.

It was a clash of champions in the other semi-final as Humphries and van Gerwen faced off. The pair had a fairly even record against one another in 2025, but this time the Green Machine proved far too clinical in a resounding 6-2 win.

Van Gerwen converted 6/7 darts at a double in comparison to Humphries 2/11 and eased into the final having only dropped four legs on the night.

That momentum would be carried into the final by van Gerwen as he faced the man who overtook him as Dutch number one last month. Van Veen was excellent on debut but seemingly ran out of steam in the final, averaging only 90.57 which his opponent was able to take full advantage of.

An early break of throw in the first leg was enough for van Gerwen, who was able to hold his own throw for the rest of the match to take a 6-4 win.

That statement of intent against his fellow countryman leaves van Gerwen top of the Premier League table after night one on five points. Van Veen picks up three for his excellent quarter and semi-final performances. Humphries and Clayton make up the top four with two points each for their respective quarter-final wins.