Michael Smith's poor run of form has continued with a first-round exit from the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
The world number one bowed out in the group stage of last week's Grand Slam of Darts, and he was unable to rouse himself against Richard Veenstra, losing by a 6-3 scoreline.
Although the first four legs were shared, Smith averaged just 85.35 as he deservedly went down to the Dutchman, who averaged 97.36 to earn one of his best wins since earning his PDC Tour Card.
There were no such issues for the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price, the former defeating Callum Rydz 6-3 and the latter breezing past Ricky Evans with a 6-0 win.
LUKE KEEPS HIS COOL! 🆒👏
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2023
A truly professional performance from Luke Humphries there, producing a remarkable comeback to defeat Martin Lukeman 6-4 in an absolute BATTLE!
📺 https://t.co/cWgx5loy06#PCF | R1 pic.twitter.com/rvtZ12nNcS
Luke Humphries - who has recently won the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts - took the last four legs of his contest with Martin Lukeman to prevail by a 6-4 scoreline.
Gary Anderson edged a last-leg decider against Steve Beaton, while Chris Dobey recorded a 6-3 triumph over Raymond van Barneveld.
Despite there being few major shocks, UK Open champion Andrew Gilding lost out to Steve Lennon and world number 95 Niels Zonneveld averaged over 100 in winning 6-3 versus Daryl Gurney.
Darren Plant
