Gary Anderson dumped out by Ryan Meikle as Ross Smith averages 105 in easing past off-colour Dimitri van den Bergh

It has not been the day of the big names as Gary Anderson and Dimitri van den Bergh were the last two to fall on Day One of the 2024 Players Championship Finals in Minehead.

Anderson in recent years has not fared too well at Minehead despite the fact that he lives close by but it is a different Flying Scotsman. A narrow loss to Luke Littler which could've seen him crowned Grand Slam champion eventually last weekend and now an early exit this weekend.

Ryan Meikle accounted for him with 'The Barber' in disbelief as he hit the winning double as Anderson rushed off stage after missing five match darts in the decider. Anderson didn't play badly either hitting a 103.5 average in losing out 6-5 but missed the key doubles in the crunch deciding leg to hand Meikle one of his best wins.

Michael Smith has not had the best year and nearly fell victim to the big name curse too as he managed to squeak past Nick Kenny who was a late replacement for Dom Taylor who failed a drugs test.

Smith survived his scare as Kenny hit back from 5-2 to force a decider. But the pressure told as Smith pounced after two missed match darts from the Belgian and the 2023 World Champion lives to fight another day.

Josh Rock though in a rapid fire tie breezed past Ricky Evans 6-1 averaging 96.3 while Dimitri van den Bergh certainly walked the walk going onto stage but was very poor on it. He averaged just 87 as Smith gained a confidence boosting thrashing as he eased through 6-1 against 'The Dreammaker'.

From UK Open champion at the turn of the year to now hitting a bad patch at the wrong time, Van den Bergh is another who is now out with Smith hitting a 105 average in a superb end to the opening day.