Shane McGuirk’s World Masters journey ended by Nathan Aspinall
Damon Heta caused an upset by defeating world number four Michael van Gerwen with a 3-1 win in Milton Keynes. Van Gerwen, who was aiming to capitalize on his strong start to the season after winning the Bahrain Masters and reaching the Saudi Arabia final—where he lost to world champion Luke Littler—was taken off…
Damon Heta caused an upset by defeating world number four Michael van Gerwen with a 3-1 win in Milton Keynes.
Van Gerwen, who was aiming to capitalize on his strong start to the season after winning the Bahrain Masters and reaching the Saudi Arabia final—where he lost to world champion Luke Littler—was taken off guard. Heta, ranked 17th in the world, began confidently, winning the first set with a break and then taking a 2-1 lead.
Both players struggled to hold their serves at the beginning of the fourth set, which Heta concluded with an impressive 101 finish after van Gerwen squandered chances at double 10 and double five.
Gian van Veen, the new Dutch number one and a world championship runner-up preparing for his Premier League debut, advanced to the last 16 of the season’s first televised ranking event with a 3-1 win over Ryan Joyce. After Joyce claimed the first set, van Veen, who previously reached the Bahrain Masters final, won five consecutive legs to turn the match around, finishing with a checkout of 46 after hitting a maximum.
Veteran Gary Anderson, who lost to van Veen in the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace, narrowly secured a 3-2 victory against debutant qualifier Niels Zonneveld. Jonny Clayton, last year’s Masters runner-up to Luke Humphries, overcame Dutch qualifier Wessel Nijman 3-1, achieving checkouts of 161 and 136.
Fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price easily defeated James Hurrell 3-0, maintaining his strong start to the 2026 season with a match average of 108 after reaching the semi-finals in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
James Wade won a close match against Latvia’s Madars Razma 3-2, while former Masters champion Chris Dobey dominated Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 in the evening’s opening match at Arena MK, setting up a clash with Heta in the last 16.
