Michael van Gerwen survived a late scare to defeat Henry Coates 5-4 on Saturday, opening his campaign at the WV Active Aldersley venue in Wolverhampton.
The Professional Darts Corporation event runs from November 14 through November 22, featuring a 48-player field split into 16 groups of three, as reported by Dartsnieuws.com. Players compete for a top prize of £200,000, with group winners advancing directly to the knockout rounds.
Van Gerwen established a 2-0 lead before Coates rallied. The 20-year-old debutant leveled the contest and landed a 121 finish alongside a 156 checkout, NOS Sport reported.
“Van Gerwen is bezig aan een slecht jaar en is zelfs buiten de top tien van de wereldranglijst gezakt,” NOS Sport noted regarding the Dutch player’s ranking. Van Gerwen meets Jeffrey de Graaf on Tuesday in Group L.
The expanded 48-player format requires group winners to play round-robin matches before the knockout stage begins later in the week. Group leaders following the opening fixtures include Luke Littler in Group A, Jermaine Wattimena in Group B, Tommy Morris in Group C, and Stephen Bunting in Group D.
Gerwyn Price leads Group E following a 5-3 win over Joe Hunt, Ryan Searle tops Group F, Anton Ostlund leads Group G, and Wessel Nijman sits atop Group H. Luke Humphries, Tom Sykes, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Chris Dobey, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, and Nathan Aspinall lead Groups I through P respectively.
Group stage matches continue through Sunday and Monday at the Wolverhampton venue. Tuesday’s fixtures will determine the final group standings and establish the lineup for the knockout phase.
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