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Van Gerwen, Anderson and Price among stars to crash out on day of upsets at the Players Championship Finals

Jamie Shaw in Players Championship Finals 23 Nov 2024

Ian White dumps out Michael van Gerwen (Photo by Kieran Cleeves/PDC)

Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Gerwyn Price were among five former World Champions to crash out on a monumental day of shocks at the Players Championship Finals on Friday.

An astonishing start to the season’s penultimate major saw 15 of the world’s top 32 ranked players bow out in Round One at Butlins Minehead.

Seven-time champion Van Gerwen, who had featured in eight of the last nine finals in this event, suffered his earliest Players Championship Finals exit since 2011 as he was sent packing by a resurgent Ian White.

White produced a show-stopping 170 checkout and averaged 102.7 in a crushing 6-1 victory, marking his first win in this competition since 2020.

Meanwhile, 2014 Players Champion Gary Anderson squandered five match darts as he slipped to a 6-5 defeat at the hands of Ryan Meikle, despite averaging 103 and landing five 180s.

Meikle looked down and out at 5-3 behind, but dug deep to pull off arguably the biggest win of his career to date with the aid of four maximums.

Price, the 2019 runner-up, saw his woes on the big stage continue as he went down 6-4 to French number one Thibault Tricole.

Price, who failed to qualify for the recent Grand Slam, rallied back from 5-1 down with three straight legs, but Tricole hauled himself over the line with a 62 finish in leg ten.

Jonny Clayton, the 2017 runner-up, was punished for yet another poor display of finishing by Florian Hempel – who closed out a 6-3 victory on Stage Two.

Jeffrey de Graaf fired in six 180s as he overturned a 5-3 deficit against 2021 runner-up Ryan Searle – who squandered 13 darts at doubles in total.

Ten-time major winner James Wade was another high-profile casualty, succumbing 6-4 to Stephen Burton, who rattled off four straight legs to secure a landmark victory.

Luke Littler produced a mesmerising display to whitewash Rob Cross, registering the second highest average in the tournament’s history (112.73) to storm through in just over 11 minutes.

The newly-crowned Grand Slam champion registering winning legs of 14, 14, 13, 15, 13 and 11 darts and landed four 180s, as well as six from ten on the outer ring.

Luke Humphries also eased through to Round Two following a commanding 6-2 win over Gabriel Clemens, defying a mid-game rally from the German number two to kick off his title defence in style.

Daryl Gurney produced a blistering display to thrash fellow former Players Champion Peter Wright 6-1 with a 108.8 average, five 180s and six from nine on the doubles.

Third seed Damon Heta cantered to a 6-1 success over two-time finalist Mervyn King and is now the highest seed left in the event, after Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting were convincingly beaten by Nathan Aspinall and Mario Vandenbogaerde respectively.

World number three Michael Smith survived a major scare in his opener against Nick Kenny – who fought back from 4-0 down to force a decider, only to squander two match darts in a dramatic finale.

Danny Noppert also won through a deciding-leg affair against James Hurrell, while five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld averaged 98 to ease through his all-Dutch clash against Chris Landman 6-2.

Ross Smith, Mike De Decker and Josh Rock also recorded convincing first round wins on Friday evening, seeing off the trio of Dimitri Van den Bergh, Richard Veenstra and Ricky Evans.

Scott Williams defied a 104 average to deny Gian van Veen in a last-leg thriller, which sets up a showdown against 2012 runner-up Kim Huybrechts – who eased past a below-par Wessel Nijman 6-1.

Fifth seed Dave Chisnall swept aside Joe Cullen by the same scoreline to mark his return to winning ways, and he will now take on Andrew Gilding, who defeated Kevin Doets 6-3 in Friday’s curtain-raiser.

Dirk van Duijvenbode averaged 99 to dispatch Callan Rydz 6-1 in quick-fire fashion, while Jermaine Wattimena fended off a late fightback from Alan Soutar to continue his impressive resurgence.

Edhouse and Littler will collide in a battle of the most recent TV title winners on Saturday afternoon, after the European Champion took out 116 to defeat Luke Woodhouse in a last-leg shoot-out.

Connor Scutt and Wesley Plaisier – the top two players on the 2024 Challenge Tour– also delivered on Day One, closing out 6-4 wins against Martin Lukeman and Mensur Suljovic respectively.

Cameron Menzies landed five 180s to dump out Jim Williams, and the Scot’s reward will be a meeting with 2023 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce, who recovered from 4-2 down to sink Karel Sedlacek.

German number one Martin Schindler ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Brendan Dolan, while Krzysztof Ratajski and Niels Zonneveld came out on top against Madars Razma and William O’Connor respectively.

Players Championship Finals 2024 Day One Results

Friday November 22

First Round

Afternoon Session

Main Stage
Gian van Veen 5-6 Scott Williams
Brendan Dolan 2-6 Martin Schindler
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 4-6 Stephen Burton
Ryan Searle 5-6 Jeffrey de Graaf
Martin Lukeman 4-6 Connor Scutt
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Joe Cullen

Stage Two
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Kevin Doets
William O’Connor 3-6 Niels Zonneveld
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Madars Razma
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Jim Williams
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Callan Rydz
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Alan Soutar 4-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Wessel Nijman 1-6 Kim Huybrechts

Evening Session

Main Stage
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price 4-6 Thibault Tricole
Chris Dobey 1-6 Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen 1-6 Ian White
Luke Littler 6-0 Rob Cross
Luke Humphries 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Gary Anderson 5-6 Ryan Meikle
Ross Smith 6-1 Dimitri van den Bergh

Stage Two
Damon Heta 6-1 Mervyn King
Jonny Clayton 3-6 Florian Hempel
Danny Noppert 6-5 James Hurrell
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Chris Landman
Stephen Bunting 2-6 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Mike De Decker 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Michael Smith 6-5 Nick Kenny
Josh Rock 6-1 Ricky Evans

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Van Gerwen, Anderson and Price among stars to crash out on day of upsets at the Players Championship Finals

Players Championship Finals 2024 Day One Results

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