European Darts Grand Prix: Michael van Gerwen mocks opponent Michael Unterbuchner after win

Michael van Gerwen mocked opponent Michael Unterbuchner after beating him 6-2 at the European Darts Grand Prix on Saturday evening.

The Dutchman cruised through his first match of the tournament in Sindelfingen, which he is seeking to win for a third time, before addressing comments made by his German opponent on Friday.

Unterbuchner shocked William O'Connor in the first round and then joked: "Who is that?" when he was asked about facing Van Gerwen.

But the three-time world champion was unimpressed, saying: "He's one of them guys that tries to be funny.

"He's never beaten me in his life and he will never beat me in his life. He's not good enough. Even my B-game and C-game beats him but who cares? "

He added: "The day I'm going to worry myself about Unterbuchner, that's the day I'm going to quit playing darts."

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Van Gerwen will face Jermaine Wattimena in the last 16 on Saturday afternoon after his fellow Dutchman averaged 99 to prevail in his all-Dutch clash against Kevin Doets.

In this biggest shock of the tournament so far, Niko Springer dumped out reigning champion Gary Anderson.

The Scot produced two ton-plus checkouts, but it wasn't enough as Germany's Springer secured a convincing 6-3 victory. He will now take on Danny Noppert, who survived a scare to sink Sweden's Oskar Lukasiak.

The performance of the day was produced by Premier League leader Jonny Clayton, who averaged 106.78 in powering to a 6-1 victory against Latvia's Valters Melderis.

The Welshman raced out of the blocks with legs of 13, 11 and 11 darts, before threatening a nine-dart finish in the closing stages of the contest.

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Wessel Nijman also delivered a statement display in Sindelfingen, averaging more than 104 in a 6-2 win over Ryan Searle. Nijman will now continue his charge for a second European Tour title of 2026 against seventh seed Stephen Bunting, who converted 75 per cent of his attempts at double in overcoming Mickey Mansell 6-3.

However, top seed Gian van Veen suffered an early exit at the hands of Joe Cullen, who produced a mid-match burst to advance to the last 16 of a European Tour event for the first time in 12 months.

James Wade brought an end to his five-match losing run on the European Tour, averaging 104.15 to account for a resurgent Kim Huybrechts and book a meeting with Nathan Aspinall in round three.

Aspinall began his bid for back-to-back European Tour titles with a comprehensive 6-1 win at the expense of Jeffrey de Zwaan, including a magnificent 170 finish.

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Gerwyn Price opened his challenge with victory over Dave Chisnall, averaging 99.71 and firing in five 180s to set up a meeting with Chris Dobey, who swept aside last year's runner-up Andrew Gilding.

Martin Schindler joined his fellow countryman Springer in the last 16, defying a sluggish start to deny Australian number one Damon Heta and set up an enticing tussle against Clayton.

Josh Rock and Ross Smith will also go head-to-head on Finals Day, following 6-3 successes against Keane Barry and Cameron Menzies respectively.

Krzysztof Ratajski will face Cullen for a place in the quarter-finals, after punishing a poor doubling display from Mike De Decker.

The European Darts Grand Prix reaches its climax on Sunday, with the last 16 players in the afternoon, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are held in a bumper evening session.

2026 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix: Saturday results

Saturday April 18
Round Two
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Mike De Decker
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Kevin Doets
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert 6-5 Oskar Lukasiak
Chris Dobey 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Niko Springer 6-3 Gary Anderson
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Josh Rock 6-3 Keane Barry

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Ross Smith 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan
James Wade 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Joe Cullen 6-3 Gian van Veen
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Michael Unterbuchner
Martin Schindler 6-5 Damon Heta
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Valters Melderis

2026 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix: Sunday schedule

Afternoon Session (12pm)
Joe Cullen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert v Niko Springer
James Wade v Nathan Aspinall
Josh Rock v Ross Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Jermaine Wattimena
Stephen Bunting v Wessel Nijman
Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
Gerwyn Price v Chris Dobey

Evening Session (6pm)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final

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