Michael van Gerwen suffered a shocking early exit from the Winmau World Masters, while Jan van Veen and Gerwyn Price were among the players to get off to a winning start in Milton Keynes.
Van Gerwen has won the tournament five times, but became the highest-ranked player to lose on the opening night at Arena MK, losing 3-1 to Australia’s Damon Heta.
The Dutchman averaged only 88.36 points and struggled to finish against Heta, winning the first set with a 124 finish but losing the second set despite Van Gerwen wasting seven darts on a double.
Damon Heta has reached the quarter-finals in his last two appearances at Milton Keynes.
Heta took the third set with a 118 finish and closed out the win with a 101 checkout. Chris Dobbie was the next opponent for the Englishman, who defeated Jermaine Wattimena in straight sets.
“It was special to win, it didn’t matter who we played against,” Heta said. “Me and Michael have fought a few times over the years and it would definitely be great to beat him.”
Big names advance before Van Gerwen leaves
The unique set format, played over three legs, led to some close matches, with Van Veen, making his full debut in the tournament, having to come back from a set down to defeat Ryan Joyce 3-1.
“Of course it was fun, but it was a little difficult for me,” Van Veen told ITV. “Fortunately, I felt OK after the first set today. It’s not the end of the world if you lose 1-0, so I just kept my head down.
Jan van Veen failed to qualify for last year’s Winmau World Masters
“The scoring was good. The only thing that needed to be better was the finishing and it worked out in the end. The double 16 helped us today and I’m really happy with this win.”
Nathan Aspinall averaged over 105 with a 3-1 win over Ireland’s Shane McGuirk and will face Van Veen. Although he lost the first set with a 141 finish, he won 7 of 11 double tries.
Price performed on the night, defeating James Harrell in straight sets, averaging 108.5, hitting four maxes and winning six of eight legs.
Gerwyn Price was one of two players to win in straight sets on Thursday night.
“I think I was a little ruthless in that fight,” confessed Price, who hasn’t advanced beyond round two since 2022. “James played great, so I had to perform well too. One or two mistakes would have made it a completely different game, but thankfully I was able to live with it.”
Price will now face his World Cup partner Jonny Clayton of Wales. He is a former Masters champion and last year’s runner-up who came back from a set down to defeat Dutchman Wessel Nijman 6-1.
James Wade averaged over 102 to defeat Madars Razma in the final set, and Gary Anderson averaged 101 to beat Niels Sonnefeld by the same score, setting up a second round matchup between the two veterans.
The remaining eight spots in the second round will be confirmed on Friday, with defending champion Luke Humphries and back-to-back champion Luke Littler taking on Dave Chisnall and Mike Decker respectively.
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Relive how Luke Humphries defeated Jonny Clayton in a final leg shootout to win the 2025 Winmaw World Masters (Credit: ITV Sport)
Friday’s Winmau World Masters Schedule
Round one x 8
best of 5 sets
Martin Schindler v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Jimmy Van See
Danny Knoppert v Darryl Gurney
Ryan Searle v Rob Cross
Josh Locke v Connor Scutt
Luke Littler v Mike Decker
Luke Humphries v Dave Chisnall
Stephen Bunting v Jeffrey de Graaf
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