MICHAEL VAN GERWEN made a winning start to his defence of the Dutch Darts Masters title by defeating John Henderson aside with a 6-3 defeat in Venray on Saturday, as World Champion Gary Anderson was knocked out by Mervyn King.

NEW-LOOK Simon Whitlock began his bid to win a second Dutch Darts Masters title by wearing glasses on stage for the first time as he defeated Mike De Decker in Friday's first round in Venray - round-up & results here.

THE 2016 PDC European Tour season kicks off on Friday with the opening day of the Dutch Darts Masters in Venray - WATCH LIVE ONLINE.

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN and Phil Taylor stormed back to form in the Betway Premier League with 111 averages in victories in Newcastle on Thursday, as Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright maintained winning starts to the season.

ROBERT THORNTON will miss Thursday's Betway Premier League Night Two in Newcastle through illness.

GARY ANDERSON will belatedly kick off his Betway Premier League title defence against Michael van Gerwen as the season visits Newcastle for Night Two on Thursday.

THE Professional Darts Corporation are delighted to confirm that BetVictor have extended their title sponsorship of the BetVictor World Matchplay, ahead of tickets going on sale for the summer's showpiece event.

THE Professional Darts Corporation and Sportradar have announced a new partnership to include the provision of high-quality live streams from World Series of Darts and European Tour events.

THE Professional Darts Corporation will break new ground once again in 2016 by staging its first tournament live on BBC Sport following an exciting new deal to introduce the Champions League of Darts to the circuit in September.

GARY ANDERSON will return to action in the Betway Premier League at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Thursday.