World Matchplay: Luke Littler beaten by Michael van Gerwen in round one in Blackpool

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.

Chris Dobey awaits Smith in the second round after he beat Ritchie Edhouse 10-7.

The game was nip and tuck, with Dobey twice hitting double-double checkouts, until he won three legs on the spin to seal the win.

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.

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.