GERWYN Price got his Ladbrokes UK Open campaign off to the perfect start in Somerset following a first loss in this year's Unibet Premier League a day earlier.

Entering the UK Open at the fourth-round stage, Markham's Price beat Danny Noppert 10-3, and he will now face Ricky Evans in the last 32.

However, while Price progressed, there was disappointment for Cwmbran's Nicky Kenny following a 6-2 loss to Bradley Brooks in his Minehead opener, which came in round two.

Some 24 hours earlier, previously unbeaten Price was beaten 7-3 by Glen Durrant in the Exeter leg of the Premier League.

Durrant won the opening four legs in a sensational start, before Price took two of the next three to hit back to make it 5-2.

Durrant, though, finished 46 to secure at least a point and ended Price's hopes of a fightback by sealing victory with a brilliant 129 checkout, inflicting a first loss of the season on the Welshman.

"This is one of my biggest wins and I'm so happy," said Durrant. "Gerwyn's been on a 13-match unbeaten run and nobody gave me a chance, and that was the fire in the belly that I needed.

"There are eight of the best players in the world in that practice room and me, and I've got to stop admiring everybody else and realise my own potential.

"My combination finishing right now is as good as anybody's. I want to play the whole 16 weeks and I'm having the best time in the world at the moment in the Premier League."

Meanwhile, Luke Humphries created history as the first Challenger to win in the Premier League, as Peter Wright reignited his season and Michael Smith defeated Michael van Gerwen.

World youth champion Humphries claimed a 7-5 win over Gary Anderson to celebrate his one-off appearance in this year's event.

The Newbury ace had drawn with Price when he played in Exeter last year - ironically after Anderson's withdrawal with a back problem created the concept which gave him a big-stage opportunity.

This time he held his nerve in a dramatic conclusion to a tight contest as he denied Anderson, who missed six darts in the deciding leg to claim a draw from the match.

Wright posted the highest average so far in the 2020 season of 110 in his brilliant 7-3 win over Nathan Aspinall.

The world champion bounced back from last week's 7-1 loss to Price in Dublin with a relentless display to claim his second victory of the season in style.

World number one van Gerwen suffered his second defeat of the season as Smith produced a memorable performance in a 7-4 victory to claim a third successive win.

Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney shared the points in the night's opening tie, with the 2019 Premier League finalist hitting back from 3-0 down to move onto four league points, two ahead of the Northern Irish ace.

Following this weekend's Ladbrokes UK Open, the Unibet Premier League season will resume on Thursday at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, where St Helens' Stephen Bunting steps in as a Challenger against Cross.

The ties in Liverpool will also see Durrant take on Gurney, Smith meet Wright, van Gerwen take on Price and Anderson play Aspinall.