Van Gerwen suffers another early exit as Van Veen makes history

Key points

• Michael van Gerwen lost 6-5 to William O'Connor in the second round of the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht.
• Gian van Veen set a new European Tour record average of 120.24 in a 6-0 win over Sebastian Bialecki.
• Gerwyn Price returned to the stage with a 6-3 win over Scott Williams.

Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock second-round exit at the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht on Saturday, losing 6-5 to Ireland's William O'Connor. The defeat continues a poor run for the Dutch favourite, who had already lost his opening match at four European Tour events this season: the European Darts Trophy, German Darts Grand Prix, Flanders Darts Trophy and Swiss Darts Trophy. The article says this is his most first-round exits in a single season since the tour began in 2012.

O'Connor sealed the win with three ton-plus checkouts of 136, 131 and 121, booking his place in round three.

Record night for Van Veen

Gian van Veen broke the European Tour record average, scoring 120.24 in a 6-0 whitewash of Sebastian Bialecki. The previous record of 118.66 was held by Dave Chisnall.

Gerwyn Price's return to the stage ended in a 6-3 win over Scott Williams.

Van Veen averaged a staggering 120.24 in whitewashing Sebastian Bialecki

— Sky Sports

European Championship places decided

Martin Schindler secured his spot at the European Championships later this month by beating Karel Sedlacek. Stephen Bunting also qualified by beating already-qualified Cameron Menzies 6-2, knocking Kim Huybrechts out of the running.

Brendan Dolan remains the only player who can push Sedlacek out of the qualifying spots after beating Heine Uuldriks 6-4. Nathan Aspinall ended Michael Smith's hopes of qualifying for Dortmund with a 6-1 win.

Sunday's final stages

The tournament ends on Sunday with a double session in Maastricht, as the final 16 players compete for the title. Round three starts at 12pm, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final from 6pm.