European Championship exit for Dave Chisnall

Chisnall, who was seeded fourth, exited in round one after being whitewashed 6-0 by Smith on Thursday.

Smith landed successive 104, 148 and 161 checkouts to set up a match against Ritchie Edhouse, who averaged 109.48 for a 6-1 win against 2023 semi-finalist Gian van Veen.

Day one of the £600,000 event saw eight first-round ties take place, as top seed Martin Schindler was beaten 6-3 by Dirk van Duijvenbode.

He will now play Daryl Gurney, a 6-3 winner over Gerwyn Price, while Luke Woodhouse had a 6-1 victory against 2022 champion Ross Smith.

Schindler’s World Cup partner, Gabriel Clemens, lost 6-1 to Michael van Gerwen, who now faces Gary Anderson following his 6-3 defeat of Stephen Bunting.

Elsewhere, Ryan Searle booked his place in the last 16 by averaging more than 101 in a 6-2 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.