Darts’ two Lukes, Humphires and Littler, dominated the headlines on the opening day of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals, Luke Humphries kicked off his title defence with victory over Gabriel Clemens and The Nuke produced a mesmerising display to whitewash Rob Cross.
Day One of the £600,000 event saw all 64 players in first round action at Butlin’s Minehead Resort, as five World Champions crashed out during a marathon double session.
However, Littler stole the headlines on his Players Championship Finals debut, registering the second highest average in the tournament’s history to dispatch Cross in just over 11 minutes.
The newly-crowned Grand Slam champion averaged 112.73 to set up a second round tie against Ritchie Edhouse, registering winning legs of 14, 14, 13, 15, 13 and 11 darts in the process.
Humphries also eased through to round two with a routine 6-2 win against Clemens, defying a mid-game rally from the German number two to kick off his title defence in style.
“Every game you play now is cut-throat,” declared the world number one, who will play Dutch stalwart Raymond van Barneveld in Saturday’s second round.
“If you rest on your laurels you will face defeat, and I think we’ve got to step up and start working harder, because if you don’t, there are other players that will take your place.”
There were a host of big name exits on a bumper opening day in Minehead, with seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen losing out against an inspired Ian White.
White – a semi-finalist in 2019 – averaged 102 and conjured up a spectacular 170 checkout to wrap up a famous 6-1 win, with Van Gerwen’s solitary leg coming courtesy of a 160 outshot.
2021 champion Peter Wright suffered the same fate against Daryl Gurney, who averaged 108.81 to kickstart his charge for a second Players Championship Finals crown.
Elsewhere, 2014 winner Gary Anderson squandered five match darts in an extraordinary last-leg tussle against Ryan Meikle, relinquishing a 5-3 cushion despite averaging 103 and posting five maximums.
Gerwyn Price – a runner-up in 2019 – suffered a shock 6-4 defeat against Thibault Tricole, while 2017 finalist Jonny Clayton was punished for a profligate display by Germany’s Florian Hempel.
Jeffrey de Graaf hit six 180s to overturn a 5-3 deficit against 2021 runner-up Ryan Searle, before third seed Damon Heta cantered to a 6-1 success over two-time finalist Mervyn King.
Heta 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.
Ten-time TV title 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.
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 spurn two match darts in a dramatic finale.
Danny Noppert also won through a deciding-leg affair against James Hurrell, while five-time World Champion Van Barneveld averaged 98 to ease through his all-Dutch clash against Chris Landman.
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.
Saturday’s double session will be split across the Main Stage and Stage Two, with the second round taking place in the afternoon, followed by the third round in a blockbuster evening session.
Play will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, and through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, with Stage Two coverage broadcast worldwide on PDCTV.
2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals
Friday November 22
Afternoon Session
First Round
Main Stage
Scott Williams 6-5 Gian van Veen
Martin Schindler 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Burton 6-4 James Wade
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Ryan Searle
Connor Scutt 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Joe Cullen
Stage Two
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Kevin Doets
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 William O’Connor
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
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Alan Soutar
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Wessel Nijman
Evening Session
Main Stage
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Peter Wright
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Chris Dobey
Ian White 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler 6-0 Rob Cross
Luke Humphries 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Gary Anderson
Ross Smith 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stage Two
Damon Heta 6-1 Mervyn King
Florian Hempel 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Danny Noppert 6-5 James Hurrell
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Chris Landman
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Mike De Decker 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Michael Smith 6-5 Nick Kenny
Josh Rock 6-1 Ricky Evans
Saturday November 23
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Main Stage – 8x Second Round
Kim Huybrechts v Scott Williams
Nathan Aspinall v Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta v Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney v Michael Smith
Raymond van Barneveld v Luke Humphries
Josh Rock v Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Littler v Ritchie Edhouse
Stage Two – 8x Second Round
Cameron Menzies v Ryan Joyce
Dave Chisnall v Andrew Gilding
Jeffrey de Graaf v Thibault Tricole
Florian Hempel v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Mario Vandenbogaerde v Connor Scutt
Danny Noppert v Stephen Burton
Mike De Decker v Ian White
Ryan Meikle v Martin Schindler
Ross Smith v Wesley Plaisier
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Main Stage
Third Round 4x
Stage Two
Third Round 4x
——ENDS—–
Images: Kieran Cleeves/PDC
