Michael van Gerwen won the opening night of the 2026 Premier League Darts in Newcastle, reminding the darting world that he will be fighting to claim his eighth title in this event.

The Dutchman, who failed to qualify for the Play-Offs last year, defeated debutant Gian van Veen 6-4 in a rematch of the Bahrain Darts Masters Final, as his excellent start to the new darting season continued.

Despite losing in the final, van Veen defeated world champion Luke Littler en route to making the showpiece game in his first ever Premier League Darts night.

Van Gerwen reminds van Veen who the Dutch master is

Van Veen overtook van Gerwen in the world darts rankings after making the World Championship Final, taking away the Dutch number one title from him for the first time in over a decade. For the second match since though, MvG reminded the youngster who the main main in Dutch darts still is.

Mighty Mike took control early in the contest, winning the opening leg against the throw, following up with a hold. He then missed a dart for a Big Fish 170 outshot and to make it 3-0, allowing The Giant to clean up 84 and get on the board.

Van Veen throughout the contest carved out opportunities to get the break back, but couldn’t take advantage, as both continued to hold their throw. With the score at 5-3, MvG missed multiple match darts in the ninth leg, allowing van Veen to hold once more and take it to 5-4.

It did not matter though, as a 14 dart hold in the 10th leg, finishing with a 28 checkout, gave van Gerwen his first nightly win in the Premier League Darts since April 2024, when he defeated Luke Littler in Birmingham.

Both had to come through two games to reach the final in Newcastle. MvG easily defeated Stephen Bunting in the fourth quarter final 6-2, and then repeated the feat in the second semi final, beating defending champion Luke Humphries by the same scoreline.

GvV defeated Luke Littler 6-4 in a rematch of the World Championship Final, before beating Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline in the first semi final.

What else happened?

Despite missing out on a place in the night one final in the 2026 Premier League Darts, Luke Humphries and Jonny Clayton did get points on the board in the first week.

Humphries defeated Gerwyn Price in the third quarter final 6-5, in which The Masters runner up found a 104.55 average and finished 6/9 on the checkouts, as The Iceman missed match darts to get himself up and running.

Clayton defeated debutant Josh Rock 6-2 in a high quality opening game of the evening, as he averaged 109.81 and hit 6 180s. The two shared a hold and a break of throw in the first four legs, the Ferret’s Premier League Darts experience eventually told, winning the next four legs to seal two points.

The 2026 Premier League Darts continues next Thursday, as the travelling roadshow heads to the AFAS Dome in Antwerp, Belgium for the first time.

2026 Premier League Darts Night One Results

Utilita Arena, Newcastle

Final

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Gian van Veen

Semi Finals

Gian van Veen 6-4 Jonny Clayton

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Luke Humphries

Quarter Finals

Jonny Clayton 6-2 Josh Rock

Gian van Veen 6-4 Luke Littler

Luke Humphries 6-5 Gerwyn Price

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Stephen Bunting

2026 Premier League Darts Night Two Schedule of Play

Thursday 12 February (1800 GMT, 1900 CET)

AFAS Dome, Antwerp

Quarter Finals

Luke Littler v Luke Humphries

Michael van Gerwen v Josh Rock

Jonny Clayton v Stephen Bunting

Gerwyn Price v Gian van Veen

Semi Finals

Littler/Humphries v van Gerwen/Rock

Clayton/Bunting v Price/van Veen

Final

Littler/Humphries/van Gerwen/Rock v Clayton/Bunting/Price/van Veen