Ross Smith and Ryan Searle are among the first names to qualify for the second round at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead on Friday afternoon.
Smith was convincingly 6-2 too strong for Scott Williams. ‘Smudger’ grabbed a 3-1 lead with two 15-darters and a 12-darter, before Williams connected via double 16 to make it 3-2. Smith then threw another 12-darter and then decided the game with an 18-darter and a 17-darter.
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Searle handled Boris Krcmar (6-4) after a high-quality match. The Croatian surprisingly took a 2-0 lead with a 15-darter and a 110 finish, but Searle then countered with an 11-darter and a 128 finish. Heavy Metal took over the lead with a 15-darter. With two 14-darters the Englishman then ran out to 5-2. Krcmar fought his way back to 5-4 before Searle won the match with a 16-darter.
Radek Szaganski managed to get the win against Ian White in a very mediocre match. Partly due to many missed doubles, both players threw an average of just 82. However, Szaganski was slightly better scoring than White and therefore created slightly more chances on the doubles, giving the victory 6-2 to the Pole.
Luke Woodhouse was responsible for the elimination of Simon Whitlock. The latter led 1-3, but then saw Woodhouse take four legs in a row. However, Woodhouse still struggled to finish the match. He missed six matchdarts in the ninth leg, allowing Whitlock to make it 4-5 with a 100 finish. Eventually the eighth matchdart was hit for Woodhouse, making it 6-4.
