Darts Feb 16, 2026

Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price defeats Michael van Gerwen in final after wins over Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton in Antwerp

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price defeats Michael van Gerwen in final after wins over Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton in Antwerp

Gerwyn Price flexed his muscles to defeat Michael van Gerwen and seal his first Premier League nightly win of the season in Antwerp, with Luke Littler and Luke Humphries both sitting outside the top four.

Van Gerwen dumped out Littler 6-4 in a topsy-turvy semi-final contest featuring a total of six breaks of throw to make his second weekly final on the spin, averaging 100.7 and hitting four 180s.

Littler missed the bullseye as he attempted to reel in 'The Big Fish' in a scintillating third leg, and Van Gerwen then wrapped up a 10-darter to break en route to beating the world No 1.

Price, who knocked out Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton to reach the final, delivered Van Gerwen his first defeat of this Premier League campaign with a 6-3 final win in the tournament's first visit to Belgium.

Littler defeated defending Premier League champion Luke Humphries in a last-leg thriller in a rollercoaster of an opening contest which featured 14 maximums.

The 19-year-old produced an extraordinary comeback, winning five out of the last six legs and surviving three match darts to beat his arch-rival in deciding-leg drama.

Before the match, Littler revealed he has been suffering from a bug.

Van Gerwen picked up where he left off in Newcastle with a comfortable 6-2 success against a below-par Josh Rock, with a Shanghai 120 finish the highlight of the Dutchman's win.

Rock took to Instagram after his match to apologise to those who came out to watch him and admitted he had no grip on his darts.

In the final, Van Gerwen fell 2-0 down to Price before rattling off a barnstorming 167 checkout on the bullseye and sinking a monstrous 160 to level up.

But Price opened up a two-leg advantage once again with an 82 combination finish before hitting D10.

The Welshman moved a leg away from victory by pinning D6 after costly missed darts from 'The Green Machine'.

Despite missed match darts on his throw, Price eventually secured the win - converting when it mattered most.

He said: "I played fantastic in Germany [Players Championship], but it's trying to do it on the main stage. Towards the end, I did, and I tried to focus. It was great. Just to get two points, I was happy, but five points is even better - and 10 grand!"

"I think I'm playing some of the best stuff I've played. I'm just not winning tournaments, and that will come," said Price, who was in red-hot form in Hildesheim earlier this week but lost out to Wessel Nijman in Players Championship 2.

"If I keep playing the way I am, there's no way I can't pick up a major, pick up ProTours, Europeans (European Tour events). I just need to keep entering as much as I can and keep the form rolling.

"How I didn't win that tournament [Players Championship 2], I don't know! Fair play to Wessel Nijman. He played fantastic on his darts, and that's all you've got to do. If you play well on your darts and win matches, then you win tournaments. I'm going to get some!"

"Obviously ranking points and ranking tournaments are the main priority, but turning up week in, week out for crowds and trying to perform and win and pick up points, that's what gives you confidence going into ProTours and Europeans.

"This is probably top of my priority, but I just need the win in these to give me confidence going into ProTour [Events]. So, yeah, it's probably top priority at the minute."

Clayton roared back from 4-0 down to win six legs on the spin and beat a forlorn Stephen Bunting 6-4 in their quarter-final, with 'The Bullet' stuck on zero points and joint-bottom of the table after two weeks.

'The Ferret' produced a showcase of finishing, including going six darts into a nine darter, as he finished with a 103.17 average and hit six out seven on the doubles.

Price set up an all-Welsh semi-final with Clayton after 'The Iceman' hit back from 3-1 and 4-2 down to edge out last week's runner-up Van Veen - who missed a match dart in the deciding leg.

The former world champion continues his dominant record against Clayton - making it 10 on the spin over his World Cup team-mate - by edging a deciding leg with an 100.8 average.

Your Site Darts' Laura Turner on Luke Littler and Luke Humphries both being outside the top four in the Premier League table:

"I think that just is a testament to how tough this tournament is.

"One or two small slips, if you're not feeling 100 per cent, anything can happen in these tournaments, and then you start thinking.

"They [Littler and Humphries] are not going to start panicking yet, as this is just week two.

"If it goes on to week three, week four, then people start thinking, start talking and questioning where they are in the league.

"I think the next few weeks are going to be really interesting as to how the table starts to look."

Littler headlines in Glasgow next Thursday, as he plays Van Gerwen in a repeat of the 2025 World Championship final, while Welsh duo Clayton and Price collide on Scottish soil.

In the other half of the draw, Bunting takes on Van Veen while defending champion Humphries tackles Rock.

Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February until May on Your Site. .

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