Michael van Gerwen's frustrating run at Rotterdam Ahoy continued as he suffered an immediate exit in front of his home crowd for the fourth consecutive year since the Premier League's format change in 2022. The Dutch star lost his opening match on Night 11, held on Friday, 17 April 2026, falling 6-2 to Jonny Clayton. Van Gerwen admitted ahead of the night that playing on home soil brings extra pressure, and the result added to a recent trend of early departures in the Netherlands.
Van Gerwen expressed his disappointment immediately after the match on Viaplay, stating, 'I'm absolutely gutted.' The turning point came at 1-1, where he missed two darts to take the lead, allowing Clayton to win four legs in a row and build a commanding 5-1 advantage. Clayton, who arrived as the number one in the standings, averaged around 125 and sealed the victory with a phenomenal 170 checkout after Van Gerwen pulled one leg back. Van Gerwen reflected, 'If you create a good chance for yourself there, you have to take it. You have to be critical of yourself that you let it slip against a Clayton in this kind of form. That's what annoys me.' He added, 'You know you're up against a Clayton who's in good nick and in a good flow. You try to break that, and it's not easy.'
Despite the heavy defeat, Van Gerwen insisted he didn't play badly, which made the loss sting more. He said, 'I'm so annoyed, because I feel so good. And then I don't show what I can do. I think I play an okay match, but I'm so much better than this. Sometimes it just hurts my eyes.' However, he remains virtually in the play-off spots in fourth place with five league nights left. Next up is Night 12 in Liverpool on Thursday, where Van Gerwen will face bottom-of-the-table Josh Rock in his opening match.
