Dutch Darts Masters order of play day one: schedule and start times as Luke Littler and MVG enter the stage again
There's no rest on the darts circuit and neither is one welcomed. Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen are back on the same stage for the first time since Ally Pally at the 2025 TOTO Dutch Darts Masters.
The Nuke and his Dutch rival headline the action as the second World Series event of the year takes place at Maaspoort Den Bosch. Van Gerwen won the title 12 months ago and returns having missed the opening tournament in Bahrain last week.
Littler lost-out in the Kingdom in his first outing since winning the World Championship with Stephen Bunting defeating Gerwyn Price in the Final over in the Middle East.
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The trio are joined by their five Premier League colleagues to take on eight Benelux representatives in the two-day tournament over Friday and Saturday.
Veteran Dutch icon Raymond Van Barneveld is amongst the challengers as his compatriot MVG aims to go back-to-back on home soil. Record Sport takes you through the games, times and where you can see the action on day one.
Session one - Friday 6pm
Rob Cross vs Richard Veenstra
Londoner Cross had a nightmare beginning to the World Series when becoming the first-ever PDC rep to lose an opening-round game in Bahrain when he was beaten by Paulo Nebrida and he is on a quickfire recovery mission. Veenstra is hoping to make an impact having made a frustrating early exit at the Wolrlds at the hands of Nebrida's troublesome countryman Alexis Toylo.
Nathan Aspinall vs Kevin Doets
Back in the Premier League and in-form last weekend as he produced excellent darts and should have beaten Luke Humphries before being edged out 6-5 in a last-eight thriller. Dutchman Doets enjoyed his best-ever run at the Worlds with a storming charge to the last 16 at Ally Pally beating Michael Smith on the way before losing to Chris Dobey.
Stephen Bunting vs Gian van Veen
The Bullet is riding the crest of a wave. Semi-finalist at the Worlds and called-up for the Premier League, the Scouser kept up his momentum with success last week in Bahrain to kick-off his World Series campaign in style. Van Veen, the World Youth champion, is an emerging talent in the game. Up to World No.27 despite an early Worlds loss to Ricardo Pietrezcko.
Chris Dobey vs Raymond van Barneveld
Hollywood is hoping for better this weekend having been hammered out of the Bahrain event by a ruthless Stephen Bunting. Dutch legend van Barneveld suffered a bitterly-disappointing exit from the Worlds when dumped in his first game by Nick Kenny. The 57-year-old is fighting father-time to deliver in front of an adoring home crowd.
Gerwyn Price vs Danny Noppert
The Welshman displayed glimpses of his World title best when dismissing Luke Littler in Bahrain and making it all the way to the Final in the Kingdom before losing out to Stephen Bunting. Ex-Lakeside champion Noppert was hammered at the Worlds by eventual quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce.
He won the 2022 UK Open and remains a permanent fixture in the Top 16 of the PDC rankings.
Luke Humphries vs Jermaine Wattimena
The World No.1 is still hunting a second World Series title after coming up just short in Bahrain when losing in the semi-finals to Stephen Bunting. Wattimena was fancied for a big run at Ally Pally before being stopped in his tracks at the last 32 stage by Peter Wright.
The rapid-fire Dutchman reached his first-ever ranking TV Final at the Euros just four months ago.
Michael van Gerwen vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
The Green Machine is back after missing the opening World Series event in Bahrain last weekend. Van Gerwen had a strong end to the last term making the Final of the World Championships at Ally Pally and starts here as defending champ. Van Duijvenbode is the fast-paced local hero was dismissed in the Worlds by Latvian No.1 Madars Razma as he didn’t cope with his rival’s slowing of the play pace. However, showed signs during 2024 he’s on his way back to peak.
Luke Littler vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The Nuke turned 18 this week and is hoping to banish the memories of Bahrain. Appearing for the first time as newly-crowned World Champion, the teenager was dumped out at the last-eight stage by Gerwyn Price. Belgian star Van Den Bergh was overlooked for the Premier League having dropped to World No.18. However, the former World Matchplay champion won two World Series titles in 2022 and last year’s UK Open. Dismantled at Ally Pally by Callan Rydz.
