Michael Smith cruises through to Players Championship Finals round two; Danny Noppert egdes thriller

The pair met recently in the Grand Slam; in Wolverhampton, a flurry of missed chances by Schindler helped Smith towards the win. History repeated itself in Minehead, though this time, the Players Championship Finals 11th seed was a lot more comfortable.

The Bully Boy averaged just 88 and had no checkouts higher than 40, but Schindler's ten missed darts at a double handed him a second-round tie with Brendan Dolan.

On Stage Two, Danny Noppert had a much harder time of things against Ryan Searle. The Englishman cruised into a 5-2 lead, and looked set to claim a big scalp. But a serious drop in form - plus 101 and 137 checkouts for Noppert - took the game into a deciding leg.

It was the World Series Finals runner-up who held his nerve to strike double six and go into round two.

Dave Chisnall beat Matthew Edgar 6-2 to claim his spot in Saturday's play. Edgar, averaging 74, lost out on a chance to save his Tour Card. Devon Petersen, also chasing important ranking money, fell to a 6-4 defeat against Ian White in the last game of the afternoon session.

Click here for more information on the last TV tournament before the World Championship.

Dimitri Van den Bergh (89.65) 2-6 (94.55) Stephen Bunting
Jose de Sousa (91.09) 6-3 (91.91) James Richardson
Glen Durrant (94.45) 6-2 (84.31) Scott Baker
Max Hopp (87.84) 6-3 (87.11) Jelle Klaasen
Chris Dobey (94.55) 6-1 (86.06) Cristo Reyes
Jeffrey de Zwaan (98.29) 5-6 (93.96) Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith (88.2) 6-1 (81.49) Martin Schindler
Ian White (96.97) 6-4 (97.85) Devon Petersen

Harry Ward (90.31) 5-6 (90.95) Darius Labanauskas
Justin Pipe (94.61) 5-6 (101.05) Mervyn King
Brendan Dolan (91.45) 6-1 (76.9) Ross Smith
John Henderson (95.75) 6-5 (93.33) Ryan Joyce
Keegan Brown (86.34) 6-3 (85.04) Andy Boulton
Steve Beaton (88.71) 5-6 (87.65) Ricky Evans
Danny Noppert (99.48) 6-5 (91.08) Ryan Searle
Dave Chisnall (93.12) 6-2 (74.19) Matthew Edgar

https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1197916929970728962?s=20