German Darts Grand Prix Sunday Evening Round-up | Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen big-name casualties as Aspinall, Rock, Clayton squeeze through tight contests

The 2026 German Darts Grand Prix has brought a huge amount of upsets in the second day of action. After six seeds departed in the afternoon session, another four would exit the tournament at this early stage. The most notable was reigning champion Michael van Gerwen who fell 6-1 to an inspired Niko Springer.

Van Gerwen had darts to break but missed a pair of them on tops. Springer hit that target before repeating the events to break the four-time champion. He would then take out 52 before pinning double 19 with no hesitation to move into a flabbergasting 4-0 lead.

‘Mighty Mike’ has lost just two matches in this tournament, both coming against Luke Humphries in 7-0 and 8-1 defeats. He prevented the whitewash but another missed dart at double 16 allowed Springer to return to the oche and came in clutch on double five to move within one of the match.

‘Meenzer Bub’ got the job done on tops, cementing a statement display against one of the world’s best to set up a third round showdown against the 2023 champion Michael Smith.

The number one seed and 2025 runner-up Gian van Veen was the last man in action, but he was hapless against a brilliant William O'Connor who dumped him out in a convincing 6-2 triumph. 'The Giant' kicked off with a hold but was pegged back in ominous fashion. He won three legs on the spin, missing double 14 for a 121 before coming back to mop up to move 3-1 in front. A comical moment occurred when O'Connor sipped van Veen's water from the wrong table.

He soon recovered from that little slip-up by finding a maximum before taking out 120 for a double-break advantage and a commanding 4-1 lead. Van Veen got one of the breaks back before O'Connor missed five darts ahead of coming in clutch on double seven to sneak within one of a massive victory. He finished in style, taking out 108 on double 14 to cause yet another huge upset in this tournament.

Josh Rock and Ryan Joyce both mustered up a brilliant match of darts, but it was the Northern Irishman able to win it 6-4. Rock began with an 11-darter along with some incredible scoring to break. He backed it up with a hold before Joyce got a first leg on the board with a little helping hand from double 16 before getting back level thanks to wasted doubling by ‘Rocky.’

Rock’s blistering start felt like a distant memory as Joyce took the lead with a 10-darter. Another burst by Rock put him ahead with a break advantage but that was extinguished within an instant by Joyce who took out 72 for the second time in the match, this time via double 16. A third consecutive break by Rock was done with a fantastic 140 checkout which put him within a whisker from victory. The World Cup champion booked his spot in the third round with both players averaging over 102 in a high quality affair.

Marcel Hausotter almost caused one of the biggest upset results in Euro Tour history but was just pipped at the post by Jonny Clayton 6-5 in a dramatic last-leg decider. The match did not start well for Clayton. He went for the bull thinking he was on 66 when in fact he was on 46. Fortunately, he was able to get to a double but missed chances allowed Hausotter to nick the first leg. More holds of throw followed in routine fashion as the German kept Clayton at bay, finding a 12-darter to go 3-2 in front.

Hausotter got a standing ovation from everyone inside the Kulturhalle Zenith after going seven darts into the perfect leg. He finished in 11-darts as Clayton failed to make any impact on his throw. ‘Hausi’ would pin the bull for an 81 checkout to move one from victory and another incredible upset after knocking out Raymond van Barneveld. The contest would go to a last-leg decider, and Hausotter was looking like he was set to have a dart for the match but completely missed the 16 segment when on 123. This allowed Clayton, who had missed the bull in the prior visit, to come back and clean up 25 to survive a huge scare.

James Wade played his 100th Euro Tour event, once more showcasing his incredible longevity. However, he has now gone five consecutive Euro Tour events without a win with Kevin Doets coming back from 4-2 and 5-3 to take down Wade 6-5.

Holds of throw dominated the early proceedings. Doets missed double 12 for a 101 checkout before the next leg Wade showed him how it was done with a 104 checkout on tops. He then broke with an 84 checkout before edging further clear aided by double seven after going inside on double 14 for a second ton+ checkout of the match.

Doets ends the mini leg drought before having four chances to break. However, twice on the spin he went inside on double 18 and nine. Wade’s response was going double 18-double 20 for a 96 outshot to move one from the match. ‘Hawkeye’ used his precision to pin the bull for a 170 after leaving it for the fourth time in the match. He then broke back to leave it at 5-5 and would successfully hold to seal a fine comeback win.

Despite trouble with dartitis, Ricardo Pietreczko fought bravely to push Natham Aspinall the distance, losing 6-5 in a thrilling tie of darts. Pietreczko reached this stage after narrowly defeating Ian White despite averaging 79. It was a tumultuous match but he managed to kickstart his second round match with a hold. Aspinall responded before some dartitis crept in for ‘Pikachu.’ He fell a break behind as the Englishman sailed into a 3-1 lead.

Pietreczko was not letting his woes effect him as he kept on tabs with his rival, holding to move 3-2 behind before a ‘come on’ echoed up by the former Matchplay champion indicated that he restored his two-leg cushion. However, ‘Pikachu’ fought back. He won two legs on the spin to level at 4-4 and had regained the throw. Aspinall went six into the perfect leg and left 58 after nine, but two squandered efforts at tops was overshadowed by Pietreczko taking out 201 in four darts to take the lead for the first time since the start of the contest. A 12-darter from Aspinall set up a hugely intriguing last-leg decider. Pietreczko had the first match winning dart but missed the bull. Aspinall was able to get the job completed shortly after to fend off a defiant opponent.

It was not pretty, but Martin Schindler managed to conclude an action-packed evening for German darters with a 6-4 win against Brendan Dolan. On 54, Schindler fails to get to a double for a break. This sloppiness was made to pay by Dolan who held his throw. The German number one would find his groove with a three-leg spurt which saw him break the Dolan throw and move ahead.

The Irishman managed to close the gap while ending the leg drought and almost pounced on a golden situation when Schindler missed eight darts for the leg. However, ‘The History Maker’ spurned five of his own and Schindler got away with one to go 4-2 to the good. Three more routine holds saw Schindler move 5-4 in front but Dolan was pressuring ‘The Wall.’ He had a dart to break the throw but missed, allowing Schindler three more opportunities to win the match. He took his fourth match dart and pictured a relieved figure at the end.

Kim Huybrechts thrashed Luke Woodhouse 6-1 in another example that he is getting back to his best. The inform Belgian started the faster, taking out 126 on double six to break and go 2-0 in front. He made it three out of three on the outer ring to move halfway from victory. He was averaging 118.6 at this point. Woodhouse, who was also averaging over a ton, managed to get a first leg on the board despite the barrage coming his way. He was then offered a poke at the 152 to break back but failed to pin the double.

Huybrechts reinstated his three-leg lead before snatching another break of throw before being afforded multiple match darts thanks to some sloppiness by ‘Woody.’ While his average dipped to just above a ton, it was a fantastic performance from ‘The Hurricane.’