28/11/2020

2020 Players Championship Finals schedule: Saturday afternoon session, featuring Van Gerwen, Price and Wright

Sixteen more high-quality matches are in store for the Players Championship Finals Saturday afternoon session.

Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price both cruised through to round two, but it was much more of a slog for the likes of Peter Wright and Michael Smith. James Wade, Dimitri van den Bergh and Krzysztof Ratajski were among those that plummeted out. More Players Championship Finals hopes will be raised, or crushed, this afternoon.

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There are some big clashes on the Main Stage, starting with Ian White against Gabriel Clemens. That's followed by Nathan Aspinall, who takes on Ross Smith after narrowly avoiding a surprise early exit at the hands of Scott Waites.

It's always a treat when Michael Smith and Gary Anderson meet. Hopefully Anderson is less plagued by pain than he was in the comeback win over Keegan Brown. Smith did superbly to defy Boris Krcmar's record 107.79 losing average, and if the elder statesman can't keep pace, he'll look to punish it.

Joe Cullen plays Rob Cross after each opened with a 6-3 win, before Jose de Sousa sets out to deny Vincent van der Voort a third round spot - the big Dutchman has only passed the second round once in 11 previous attempts.

There's a repeat of the 2017 final after that, as Michael van Gerwen faces stiff competition in the form of Jonny Clayton. Clayton's Welsh team-mate, Gerwyn Price, needs to up his game to take on Jamie Hughes.

The final game of the afternoon will surely light up the Main Stage. Peter Wright forced his way past the impressive Ryan Meikle in a decider, and things don't get any easier for him, with Simon Whitlock plotting to add another big scalp taken at majors this year. Unfortunately for the Aussie, he can't meet regular victim Michael van Gerwen until the final.

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Luke Woodhouse began Friday's play on Stage Two, and he's been asked to raise the curtain again. After seeing off Brendan Dolan, it's Andy Boulton next for Woodhouse.

Karel Sedlacek or Madars Razma will make it to the Last 16, which is a massive opportunity for both. They'll be in high spirits after morale-boosting defeats of Krzysztof Ratajski and Chris Dobey respectively.

Two more players who denied big names on Friday will go head-to-head. It's been a fantastic year for Callan Rydz - beating Ryan Searle, and booking a potential Last 16 game against the world champion, would add yet another layer of gloss.

Damon Heta plays Ryan Murray in a bid to continue his own fine form, before Danny Noppert has to muster the quality to knock out an in-form Mervyn King.

The Dutch stars had a pretty good Friday, and another four representatives from the Netherlands follow Noppert onto Stage Two.

Jermaine Wattimena and Jeffrey de Zwaan play Luke Humphries and Wayne Jones respectively. These two ties could be real highlights based on Friday's stats, with Humphries managing the lowest average of the quartet - a lowly 99.65.

Then there's an all-Dutch match to see us home. Niels Zonneveld caused a big shock by sending James Wade packing. Next up for the talented youngster is Dirk van Duijvenbode, who also has recent form for making waves at majors.