Van Gerwen suffers another early exit as Van Veen makes history and Price wins

Michael van Gerwen's poor form in 2026 continues as he suffers second-round Dutch Darts Championship defeat to Williams O'Connor; Gerwyn Price, Gian van Veen, Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall each progress; watch Grand Slam of Darts live on Sky Sports from November 14-22

Dutch favourite Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock second-round exit at the Dutch Darts Championship on Saturday, losing 6-5 to Irishman William O'Connor.

The defeat extends Van Gerwen's poor run of form, having lost his opening match at four European Tour events this season before arriving in Maastricht: the European Darts Trophy, German Darts Grand Prix, Flanders Darts Trophy and Swiss Darts Trophy. It marks his most first-round exits in a single season since the tour began in 2012.

O'Connor produced a superb display, firing in three ton-plus checkouts of 136, 131 and 121 to seal his victory and book his place in round three.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Gerwyn Price's return to the stage ended in glory as he beat Scott Williams 6-3, while Gian van Veen broke the European Tour record average.

Martin Schindler and Stephen Bunting also jumped into the qualification spots for Dortmund.

Van Veen averaged a staggering 120.24 in whitewashing Sebastian Bialecki, breaking the previous record of 118.66 by Dave Chisnall.

Schindler sealed his spot at the European Championships later this month with his victory over Karel Sedlacek.

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Bunting left it late to secure his place at the European Championship, beating already-qualified Cameron Menzies 6-2 to book his spot. The former Masters champion needed a strong finish to get over the line.