van Gerwen targets record seventh crown

The World Series of Darts Finals begins in Amsterdam tonight as reigning champion Michael van Gerwen targets a record-extending seventh title in the Dutch capital.

Van Gerwen – the solitary ever-present in World Series of Darts Finals history – celebrated a milestone victory at AFAS Live 12 months ago, defeating Luke Littler 11-7 to triumph in a thrilling final.

Van Gerwen also defeated Wessel Nijman, Rob Cross, Luke Humphries and Josh Rock en route to glory last year, subsequently ending his two-year wait for a Premier televised title.

“I had goosebumps – it was amazing to hold a trophy again,” said Van Gerwen, who also lifted the title in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2023.

“I had to dig really deep, and to win in front of my home crowd meant a lot to me.

“I was playing some fantastic darts, and that gives you energy, that gives you joy, and I’m really glad I could perform like this.”

Despite only featuring in three of the year’s six World Series of Darts events, Van Gerwen will return to home soil as the top seed, following wins in Bahrain and Copenhagen earlier this year.

The Dutch superstar will take on Daryl Gurney on Thursday’s opening night, after the Northern Irishman was drafted in as a late replacement due to the withdrawal of Lourence Ilagan.

The 32-player field compete for the £100,000 top prize across six sessions.

Van Gerwen will be amongst the star attractions on Day One, alongside 2023/24 World Champion Humphries and Dutch number one Gian van Veen.

Humphries, who retained his US Darts Masters title in June, opens his challenge against home favourite Jermaine Wattimena, while Van Veen faces former Masters champion Chris Dobey for a last 16 berth.

Stephen Bunting and Rock go head-to-head in another intriguing clash, with Dutch duo Kevin Doets and Dirk van Duijvenbode up against Ross Smith and Viktor Tingstrom respectively.

World number one Luke Littler will enter the fray on Friday evening in Amsterdam, as he continues his pursuit of a clean sweep of Premier televised titles in 2026.

The 2024 champion will kick off his campaign against former UK Open champion Danny Noppert, having whitewashed the Dutchman en route to Czech Darts Open glory earlier this month.

However, Littler is refusing to look too far ahead in his quest for history, having succumbed to Van Gerwen in last year’s showpiece.

“I can’t be looking forward any more than what’s next, which is Amsterdam,” claimed the World Champion.

“If I hopefully do win the World Series [Finals], then Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll be in Den Bosch for the Pro Tours to try and qualify for Minehead.

“We’ve just got to see what happens in Amsterdam this weekend.”

Littler will be one of four former champions in action on Day Two, as James Wade, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton also prepare to feature.

Wade – fresh from victory in Sunday’s Flanders Darts Trophy – has been pitted against Australian number one Damon Heta in a repeat of their semi-final showdown in Antwerp last weekend.

“I’m James Wade. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad,” quipped the 2018 World Series of Darts Finals winner.

“If it was good all the time, I would smash them all to bits, but we cannot always select how we feel.

“I did enough last weekend. I will take my moment of glory on the stage, and I was very happy to win.”

Two-time champion Gerwyn Price will play Australian Darts Masters runner-up Brody Klinge in a fascinating clash, with Clayton up against Maik Kuivenhoven, who replaced Alexis Toylo in the field.

Elsewhere, 2023 runner-up Nathan Aspinall meets New Zealand Darts Masters semi-finalist Raymond Smith, as Nijman begins his title tilt against Australian icon Simon Whitlock.

Following the conclusion of Friday’s action, round two will take place across two sessions on Saturday September 19, as players compete over an extended best of 19 legs format.

This will be followed by the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the semi-finals and final in Sunday’s decisive evening session.