Gian van Veen curtailed Luke Humphries’ bid for a third consecutive Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, as Luke Littler stormed through to Round Two in Minehead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day One of the\u00a0\u00a3600,000 tournament saw Van Veen and Humphries playing out a deciding-leg epic, in a repeat of last month’s European Championship showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries raced into a commanding 3-0 lead, only for Van Veen \u2013 aided by a sensational 161 checkout \u2013 to win five of the next six legs to establish a 5-4 cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman then squandered two match darts in leg ten, but he maintained his composure in the decider to record a fourth consecutive victory over Humphries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler, however, averaged 104.46 in his 6-1 demolition of Jeffrey de Graaf, pinning six of his eight attempts at double and rounding off the contest with a hat-trick of 14-darters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It felt amazing being introduced as the world number one,”\u00a0admitted the 18-year-old, who is chasing a sixth televised ranking title of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve had [in my career,] and hopefully there’s more to come.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top seed Gerwyn Price opened his title challenge with an emphatic 6-2 win against Max Hopp, which featured a magnificent 154 checkout midway through proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, second seed Wessel Nijman was dumped out in a decider by his fellow countryman Richard Veenstra, despite averaging 102.41 and landing five maximums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former finalists Jonny Clayton, Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall also suffered opening round exits, succumbing to James Hurrell, Sebastian Bialecki and Ryan Joyce respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joyce will take on sixth seed Jermaine Wattimena for a place in the last 16, after Wattimena averaged almost 102 to triumph in his all-Dutch encounter against Wesley Plaisier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World number four Stephen Bunting and 2018 winner Daryl Gurney will also go head-to-head, following comfortable wins over Ritchie Edhouse and Brendan Dolan on Day One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gurney is one of three former champions left standing at Butlin’s Minehead Resort, after Scottish icons Gary Anderson and Peter Wright also made winning returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anderson defeated Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 to book a meeting with German number two Ricardo Pietreczko, who condemned William O’Connor to a fourth straight opening round exit at this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wright, meanwhile, completed a 6-3 success against Joe Cullen to set up a heavyweight showdown against world number six James Wade, who saw off Mickey Mansell by the same scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Danny Noppert maintained his sparkling form, averaging 103.84 to dispatch Ricky Evans and set up a clash against Madars Razma, who accounted for another Dutchman in Dirk van Duijvenbode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Germany’s number one Martin Schindler came out on top against former World Champion Michael Smith, while Josh Rock preserved his hopes courtesy of a routine 6-3 success against Gabriel Clemens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nathan Aspinall produced a magical 170 checkout on his way to a 6-3 victory over Czech number one Karel Sedlacek, in a high-quality affair which featured eight maximums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Doets also reeled in the 170 finish during his tie against Callan Rydz, although it came in a losing cause as Rydz moved through to an encounter against 2021 runner-up Ryan Searle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Searle delivered a doubling masterclass in toppling Darren Beveridge 6-1, after fourth seed Ross Smith swept aside Ryan Meikle in identical fashion to create a fascinating tie against Littler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Gilding survived nine match darts in overturning a 5-3 deficit against Dom Taylor, and the former UK Open champion will now play Justin Hood, who dumped out third seed Damon Heta on debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cam Crabtree also enjoyed a debut to remember, rallying from 4-1 down to deny former World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker and advance to a meeting with fifth seed Chris Dobey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey demolished Ireland’s Keane Barry in Friday’s finale, punishing a profligate display from the young Irishman to wrap up a crushing 6-1 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Krzysztof Ratajski won through a scrappy affair against a struggling Raymond van Barneveld, and Poland’s number one will face European Champion Van Veen for a spot in Round Three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bradley Brooks and Adam Lipscombe will collide, after kicking off their campaigns with 6-1 thrashings against Martin Lukeman and Cameron Menzies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Williams, Luke Woodhouse and Nick Kenny completed the Round Two line-up, courtesy of wins over Ian White, Alan Soutar and Niels Zonneveld respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Gian van Veen curtailed Luke Humphries’ bid for a third consecutive Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, as Luke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-6331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One: <\/strong>Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Rob Cross; Ryan Joyce 6-4 Dave Chisnall; Cam Crabtree 6-5 Mike De Decker; Danny Noppert 6-2 Ricky Evans; James Wade 6-3 Mickey Mansell; James Hurrell 6-3 Jonny Clayton; Ross Smith 6-1 Ryan Meikle; Bradley Brooks 6-1 Martin Lukeman; Andrew Gilding 6-5 Dom Taylor; Scott Williams 6-2 Ian White; Nick Kenny 6-4 Niels Zonneveld; Callan Rydz 6-4 Kevin Doets; Adam Lipscombe 6-1 Cameron Menzies; Daryl Gurney 6-3 Brendan Dolan; Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Alan Soutar; Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 William O’Connor; Martin Schindler 6-4 Michael Smith; Josh Rock 6-3 Gabriel Clemens; Gerwyn Price 6-2 Max Hopp; Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse; Luke Littler 6-1 Jeffrey de Graaf; Gian van Veen 6-5 Luke Humphries; Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Karel Sedlacek; Chris Dobey 6-1 Keane Barry; Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Wesley Plaisier; Ryan Searle 6-1 Darren Beveridge; Richard Veenstra 6-5 Wessel Nijman; Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld; Madars Razma 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode; Gary Anderson 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde; Peter Wright 6-3 Joe Cullen; Justin Hood 6-4 Damon Heta<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"