Arabic version: فان غيرفن يخسر في افتتاح نهائيات سلسلة العالم للسهام

According to BBC News, defending champion Michael van Gerwen was beaten 6-5 by Daryl Gurney in the opening round of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. Van Gerwen had been seeking a record-extending seventh title.

Northern Ireland’s Gurney, brought into the 32-man field as a late replacement after Lourence Ilagan withdrew, surged into a 3-0 lead. Dutch top seed Van Gerwen then won five successive legs to move to the brink of victory, but Gurney claimed the ninth leg and took advantage when Van Gerwen missed six match darts.

Gurney levelled the contest at 5-5 before winning the deciding leg with the throw. He will face England’s Ross Smith in Saturday’s last 16 after Smith defeated Kevin Doets 6-3.

World number one Luke Littler is scheduled to begin his campaign on Friday against former UK Open champion Danny Noppert. World number two Luke Humphries beat Jermaine Wattimena 6-4, while Dutch number one Gian van Veen defeated Chris Dobey 6-2. Dirk van Duijvenbode recovered from 4-1 down to overcome Viktor Tingstrom 6-4.

Ryan Searle hit four 180s in a 6-2 victory over former world champion Rob Cross and will play Josh Rock, who edged Stephen Bunting 6-5 after winning the final three legs. Karel Sedlacek won 6-4 against Ben Robb on his tournament debut and will next meet Van Veen.