Daryl Gurney caused an upset in the afternoon session on the second day of the Betfred World Matchplay, after beating 2018 champion Gary Anderson 10-7 to reach the Second Round in the Winter Gardens. UK Open champion Danny Noppert won an all Winmau match with Brendan Dolan, averaging 100.70 in a 10-6 victory against the History Maker.
Tournament number 3 Michael Smith recovered from 8-4 down to win 11-9 against the dangerous Andrew Gilding, including a 161 checkout in the ninth leg, the highest of the tournament so far. Two Time Pro Tour winner Dirk van Duijvenbode edged out Ryan Searle 10-8 in the opening tussle of the day, also recovering from a losing position to reach the next round.
Gurney found an impressive 68 checkout to head into the first interval ahead against the number 6 seed, hitting double four with his last dart in hand to lead 3-2 despite being broken in the third leg. The Flying Scotsman had his moments hitting three ton plus checkouts over the course of the match, with the highest of 134 coming in the ninth leg after hitting two double tops.
But it was to be the Winmau man who came out on top in Blackpool, despite being booed by the crowd he certainly silenced any hate with a fantastic blind 180 in the final leg of the match. The Northern Irishman hit double eight to seal his spot in the Second Round as he looks to once more challenge for the sport’s biggest prizes.
Superchin will be part of an all Winmau second round match against Danny Noppert, after he found seven maximums in his 10-6 win over Brendan Dolan. The Freeze came close to a nine-dart leg on two occasions in the match, finding seven treble twenties in the twelfth leg of the match and finding six perfect darts in the second leg.
The Joure born thrower struggled early going into the second interval at 6-4 down, with his Northern Irish opponent including a fantastic 135 finish in the sixth leg to break the throw. However, there is a reason Danny is a major winner and that is he can reel off legs in matches, finding six in a row recovering from 6-4 down to win 10-6 and send the recent Pro Tour winner packing on the iconic stage.
The UK Open champion treated the afternoon crowd to a ton plus finish of his own, hitting a Shanghai checkout of 120 in the fourteenth leg to hold throw and win his fourth leg on the trot.
Michael Smith found his best darts at the right time in the last match of the day, as Andrew Gilding included a 130 checkout on tops to lead Bully Boy 8-4. Goldfinger had time with his opponent back on 208 and included some impressive thinking, hitting treble ten after a treble twenty to leave his favourite tops.
The Number 3 seed who has already won the US Darts Masters and the Dutch Darts Championship, found the form that has seen him get to the Finals of the biggest tournaments, missing just eight darts at double over a total of twenty legs of darts. The St Helens ace was formidable on the highest segment as he broke twice on tops to level at 8-8 with Gilding.
The 31-year-old hit double ten to finish 25 in two darts to move onto the Second Round where he faces a difficult match with Dirk van Duijvenbode who opened the afternoon session with victory.
The Titan who represented his country at the World Cup last month, struggled early on in his match with Ryan Searle going into the second interval 6-4 down in Blackpool. Heavy Metal finished 104 in the sixth leg to break his Dutch opponent, who checked out 130 on double five to win the opening leg.
The World Number 14 decided to leave the remaining three Players Championship events last week after winning on the Friday, showing that sometimes rest is key before a major tournament, clinching a vital break of throw in the seventeenth leg hitting tops to finish 50 and lead 9-8.
The highest finish of the match though was saved for the end after some imaginative thinking from the Auber genius, hitting double eighteen to complete a 138 checkout hitting trebles eighteen and sixteen with his first two darts beforehand.
The action doesn’t stop there with four more first round matches still to come live on Sky Sports. Reigning Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen opens his account against Players Championship 20 winner Adrian Lewis, as well as the King of the Euro Tour Luke Humphries meeting Nathan Aspinall in the last match of the night.
Betfred World Matchplay 2022: Afternoon Session Results
First Round:
Dirk van Duijvenbode (14) 10-8 Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert (11) 10-6 Brendan Dolan
Daryl Gurney 10-7 Gary Anderson (6)
Michael Smith (3) 11-9 Andrew Gilding
Evening Session Order of Play:
Joe Cullen (13) v Damon Heta
James Wade (5) v Martin Lukeman
Michael van Gerwen (4) v Adrian Lewis
Luke Humphries (12) v Nathan Aspinall
—–Ends—-
Taylor Lanning/PDC
