Peter Wright through in deciding leg, Ricky Evans knocks out James Wade as Players Championship 12 gets underway

The 12th Players Championship tournament of the 2024 Pro Tour is well underway and among the early results, the has been some mixed fortunes for the big names.

Peter Wright has survived a scare against former WDF star James Hurrell. Despite the Englishman averaging over 101, it was Snakebite who prevailed in the end with a 6-5 victory. For multiple-time major winner James Wade however, it's a first round exit as Ricky Evans impressive took the 6-3 win averaging over 101.

Wessel Nijman, Jermaine Wattimena and Jurjen Van der Velde all managed to advance to the next round at the expense of a compatriot. Nijman was responsible for the elimination of Dirk van Duijvenbode, who reached the semi-finals of Players Championship 11 on Tuesday. The first five legs all went with the darts, but after Nijman broke with a 15-darter two more breaks followed. Nijman then led 5-3 and finished it off with a 17-darter.

Wattimena won after a decisive leg from Niels Zonneveld. The first leg went to Zonneveld with an 18-darter, before Wattimena took four legs in a row. Zonneveld then came back to 4-4, after which both men held their own leg. In the deciding leg, Wattimena produced an 11-darter. Also the match between Van der Velde and Kevin Doets was only decided after an eleventh leg. Van der Velde won the first two legs, but faced a 3-2 deficit three legs later. Eventually it became 5-5, after which Doets started the last leg. In the last leg, however, Doets recorded three visits without a triple, while Van der Velde produced a 180 and a 140. With a 14-darter, Van der Velde decided the match.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Jose De Sousa, Cameron Menzies and Callan Rydz amongst others whilst the Belgian contingent notably started the tournament well, as the first three Belgian darters in action all made it to the last 64. Kim Huybrechts again won his first match of the tournament, defeating Ritchie Edhouse 6-3. Mike de Decker triumphed 6-1 against Graham Usher, while Andy Baetens was 6-3 too strong for Luke Woodhouse.