Aspinall survives multiple match darts against Waites, Hughes coasts past Evans

The opening ties are complete in the evening session at the Players Championship Finals with Nathan Aspinall, Jamie Hughes and Vincent van der Voort through.

Aspinall survived a real scare from former Grand Slam winner Scott Waites with five missed match darts from 'Scotty 2 Hotty' went begging and the Stockport ace snatched a 6-5 victory to avoid an early exit in the opening round.

While over on Stage Two, it was a lot simpler for Hughes who eased past his new stablemate Ricky Evans with a 6-2 win with a 99 average and 50% on the doubles.

It was also commanding for Van der Voort who saw off his compatriot Derk Telnekes also 6-2 to begin action on the other stage.

Schedule 2020 Players Championship Finals

Friday November 27

First Round

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Main Stage

Nathan Aspinall (92.15) 6-5 (91.82) Scott Waites

Gary Anderson v Keegan Brown

James Wade v Niels Zonneveld

Peter Wright v Ryan Meikle

Michael van Gerwen v Darius Labanauskas

Gerwyn Price v John Henderson

Jose De Sousa v Mike De Decker

Stage Two

Vincent van der Voort (88.73) 6-2 (87.12) Derk Telnekes

Ricky Evans (87.15) 2-6 (98.9)Jamie Hughes

Ross Smith v Kim Huybrechts

Damon Heta v Maik Kuivenhoven

Jermaine Wattimena v Steve Lennon

Madars Razma v Chris Dobey

Glen Durrant v Wayne Jones

Darren Webster v Jeffrey de Zwaan

Danny Noppert v Steve Beaton