Dimitri van den Bergh a notable early casualty at Players Championship 18; Peter Wright and James Wade among early winners

Richard Veenstra has advanced to the second round of Players Championship 18 at the expense of Dimitri van den Bergh. 'Flyers' eliminated Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 after a strong match.

Veenstra posted a strong average of 104.79. Van den Bergh took the first leg of the match, but then the Dutchman won three legs in a row after a 14-darter and a 15-darter. After Van den Bergh narrowed the gap to 2-3, Veenstra took another three consecutive legs thanks to two 11-darters to put a 6-2 final score on the scoreboard.

Peter Wright did qualify for the second round of Players Championship 18. The two-time world champion defeated Graham Usher 6-3. James Wade made it through the first shuffle after a 6-3 win over Franz Roetzsch, while Joe Cullen dealt with Boris Krcmar (6-4).

Dirk van Duijvenbode also looked to join the last 64 in Milton Keynes. 'Aubergenius' led 5-4 in his match against Rene Eidams, but missed matchdarts in two consecutive legs, including three matchdarts on tops in the last leg. Eidams then took advantage by throwing out 52 for a 6-5 win over Van Duijvenbode.

Jermaine Wattimena and Kevin Doets will also return in the second round of the eighteenth Players Championship tournament of the season. Wattimena triumphed 6-3 against Cameron Crabtree, while Doets was 6-3 too strong for his compatriot Martijn Dragt. Mike de Decker became the first Belgian to secure a spot in the second round with a 6-3 victory over Nick Kenny. Familiar names such as Gabriel Clemens, Krzysztof Ratajski, Luke Woodhouse, Cameron Menzies and Andrew Gilding also qualified for the last 64.