Michael van Gerwen bows out against Ryan Searle in Leverkusen; Stephen Bunting impresses with average of 117
OtherSunday, 23 June 2024 at 14:20
Michael van Gerwen did not make it past the third round at the European Darts Open. The 35-year-old from Vlijmen was beaten by Ryan Searle, who proved too strong for Van Gerwen.
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Van Gerwen was broken in the first leg by Searle, who missed six chances to lead 2-0. The Dutchman came back to 1-1, but then lost his own leg again. Three more breaks followed, before Searle doubled his lead to 4-2 with a 62 finish.
The seventh leg went to the Dutchman, but Van Gerwen missed one chance in the eighth to equalize. Searle made it 5-3 with a 15-darter, then decided the match with a 62 finish in the ninth leg.
Stephen Bunting provided the highlight of the tournament by posting an average of 117.12 in his third round match. That average is a personal record for "The Bullet" and also the highest average ever in the history of the European Darts Open.
The Englishman managed to win 6-0 over his compatriot Owen Bates at the last sixteen. Bunting started the match with an 11-darter and then produced two 12-darters to extend the lead to 3-0. A 14-darter in the fourth leg then made it 4-0. In the fifth leg, Bunting missed some chances on the doubles, but a 16-darter made it 5-0 after all. Bunting then decided the match with a 12-darter via a 136 finish.
The match between Damon Heta and Chris Dobey was a lot more exciting. Heta won this match after a deciding leg 6-5. 'The Heat' recorded an average of 99, compared to 101 for Dobey.
Early in the match, Heta still trailed 2-0 after a 170 finish by Dobey in the first leg. Thanks to a 124 finish, Heta fought back to 2-2. After that all the legs went with the darts. Heta decided the match with a 17-darter in the eleventh leg.
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I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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