Michael van Gerwen’s World Series of Darts Finals title defence came to an end in the first round as he was beaten by Daryl Gurney in a deciding-leg thriller; Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen won their opening matches as Josh Rock defeated Stephen Bunting 6-5 Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Michael van Gerwen’s title defence at the World Series of Darts Finals came to an end in the first round after he was beaten 6-5 by Daryl Gurney. Van Gerwen missed six match darts at 5-4 up before being taken to a deciding leg which Northern Ireland’s Gurney controlled despite boos and whistles from the Amsterdam crowd. It is just the second time Van Gerwen has lost his first match at the event as his difficult 2026 season continued. “It was really hard work.
I can’t remember the last time I won on a major stage,” said Gurney, who has largely struggled to perform on the big stage in recent years outside of the World Cup of Darts. “I put my darts away twice because Michael had six [match] darts. In all honesty, I was very lucky to even go 5-5 and I had the throw I was like ‘please I need trebles’.” Gurney earned a late call-up to the World Series of Darts Finals after visa issues caused Philippines players Alexis Toylo and Lourence Ilagan to withdraw. Netherlands’ Maik Kuivenhoven and Gurney were the highest-ranked players on the reserve list, so replaced the Philippines duo.
Gurney raced into a 3-0 lead as Van Gerwen did not even get a dart at double but the match swung quickly as the three-time world champion won the next five legs and looked on course for victory. However, Gurney stopped the rot to make it 5-4 then capitalised on Van Gerwen’s half a dozen missed match darts to break throw and held his nerve to book a spot in the second round against Ross Smith, who beat Kevin Doets 6-3 earlier. Also on Thursday, Luke Humphries battled past Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 in another dramatic contest. The opening four legs were shared before Humphries broke with a spectacular 132 checkout (bullseye, bullseye, double 16).
However, at 5-3 up, Humphries missed eight match darts but managed to get over the line, after missing three more match darts in the next leg, to set up a meeting with Dirk van Duijvenbode in Saturday afternoon’s second round. Van Duijvenbode had earlier fought back from 4-1 down to beat Sweden’s Viktor Tingstrom 6-4. Josh Rock also made a comeback to defeat Stephen Bunting 6-5 by winning the last three legs after the latter missed match darts. Rock will play Ryan Searle, who cruised past Rob Cross 6-2, while Gian van Veen beat Chris Dobey 6-2 and Karel Sedlacek saw off Ben Robb 6-4 in the other matches.
On Friday, the first round will conclude with Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, James Wade and Nathan Aspinall among those in action. Littler has won every major title this year and will look to continue his remarkable record by winning the World Series of Darts Finals for a second time. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Thursday September 17Round One x8Viktor Tingstrom 4-6 Dirk van DuijvenbodeRob Cross 2-6 Ryan SearleKarel Sedlacek 6-4 Ben RobbKevin Doets 3-6 Ross SmithStephen Bunting 5-6 Josh RockLuke Humphries 6-4 Jermaine WattimenaMichael van Gerwen 5-6 Daryl GurneyGian van Veen 6-2 Chris Dobey
