Wright and Price sail through at Players Championship 17, Wade narrowly beats Menzies with 105 average

The first round has began at Players Championship 17 with Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright successfully through with the top 16 seeds in action first in Hildesheim.

Price eased past Radek Szaganski 6-1 and was the first winner with a 97 average, while it was a comfortable 6-2 victory for Peter Wright over Jelle Klaasen.

Dave Chisnall as top seed is already through due to late withdrawals giving him a bye, so technically the top seed in action this round was Damon Heta who breezed past Keegan Brown 6-3.

Other wins also for James Wade who averaged 105 in taking down Cameron Menzies who averaged 102 in defeat 6-5. Josh Rock, Ross Smith, Rob Cross are all also through.

Top seeds to fall by the wayside this round include Jose de Sousa, Martin Schindler and Joe Cullen, with many of the top names including Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall deciding to skip this double header.

This usually means ProTour specialists like Heta and Chisnall come to the foray or new winners, so watch this space today in Hildesheim.