Van Gerwen, Van Veen and Others Win Grand Slam of Darts Opening Matches

Michael van Gerwen started his Grand Slam campaign on Saturday with a tense 5-4 victory over 20-year-old English debutant Henry Coates in Wolverhampton, NOS reported.

The three-time world champion has struggled through a difficult year, dropping out of the top ten of the world rankings. Yet with the World Championship approaching in December, he has shown signs of recovery by winning 14 of his last 18 matches on floor tournaments, according to NOS. Van Gerwen broke Coates immediately in the opening leg and secured a 2-0 lead before his young opponent settled into the match.

Coates impressed the crowd by firing off a 121 finish and a 156 checkout, eventually taking a 4-3 lead after Van Gerwen missed several scoring chances. In de beslissende negende leg liet Coates twee matchdarts liggen, waarna Van Gerwen toesloeg en de winst pakte, zo meldde De Telegraaf.

Van Gerwen meets Jeffrey de Graaf on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, with a spot in the knockout phase on the line.

Gian van Veen opened his tournament with a dominant 5-2 victory over Carl Sneyd, averaging over 110 to record the second-best match of his career, NOS noted. Van Veen faces Bradley Brooks next in Group M.

Maik Kuivenhoven suffered a difficult start against Nathan Aspinall, winning just the opening leg before losing 5-1. Dartsnieuws.com reported that Aspinall finished with a blistering 111.68 average to sweep past Kuivenhoven.

Other Dutch competitors enjoyed smoother openings in Wolverhampton. Jermaine Wattimena defeated Lisa Ashton 5-2 in Group B, while Wessel Nijman conceded only a single leg in a 5-1 win over American entrant Adam Sevada in Group H, NOS confirmed.

The expanded 48-player tournament features 16 groups of three, where only the group winner advances to the knockout rounds, placing immediate pressure on every round-robin fixture.

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