Three-time winner Michael van Gerwen beat teenager Luke Littler 10-6 in the opening round of the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Seven-time world champion Van Gerwen has been below his best in 2024 but showed glimpses of brilliance to brush aside Littler.
Matchplay debutant Littler, who has won a ranking event every month in 2024, struggled for fluency at times and was casual at the oche on a number of occasions.
The pair exchanged breaks early on, but Van Gerwen led 3-2 and 6-4 at the intervals before closing out the win.
The Dutchman finished with a 101.93 average and was 43.5% on checkouts as he set up a second-round tie against Joe Cullen.
“This means a lot to me because I’ve been going through a rough time,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports.
“To actually do something good and be rewarded for all your hard work is always nice.”
Elsewhere, number three seed Michael Smith beat Gary Anderson 10-5 to progress.
Smith, world champion in 2023, suffered a double early break but then won seven legs on the spin to take control.
The Winter Gardens crowd were singing “Scotland get battered everywhere they go” to Anderson during Smith’s turnaround, prompting the Scot to gesture ‘2-1’, referencing England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.
Somerset’s Ryan Searle recovered from going 2-0 down to beat Australia’s Damon Heta 10-4 and set up a second-round game against 2018 world champion Rob Cross.
Chris Dobey faces Ritchie Edhouse in the final first-round game on Monday evening.
World champion Luke Humphries and defending champion Nathan Aspinall progressed on Saturday with a 10-4 win over Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko and 10-8 victory over Luke Woodhouse respectively.
Former champion Peter Wright was knocked out on Sunday though, alongside seventh seed Dave Chisnall.
Wright lost 10-5 to Andrew Gilding, while Chisnall was thrashed 10-2 by Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, with the final at 20:00 BST.
Source Agencies
