Gerwyn Price showed just why he was the World’s Number 1 Darts player, incredibly hitting eight maximums in his 10-8 victory over Martin Schindler at the Betfred World Matchplay. 2018 champion Rob Cross recovered from an 8-2 deficit to beat Chris Dobey 11-9 in the opening tungsten affair, including a 108 checkout in his late resurgence in Blackpool.
Dave Chisnall will meet the World Number 2 in the next round after coming through the last First Round match of the tournament, beating Kim Huybrechts 10-7 winning the last three legs of the match to rock the Hurricane. Jose de Sousa despite a poor year on the Pro Tour finished his match with Gabriel Clemens with a brilliant 136 checkout on double eight to win 10-6.
Red Dragon star Price endured a difficult Premier League campaign finishing seventh over sixteen weeks of action and took a while to get going against Schindler, trailing 3-2 at the first break despite a break of throw in the final leg. The Wall making his Winter Gardens debut showed just why he qualified for the tournament, finishing 141 on double twelve for a 5-5 leveller just before the second interval.
From then on, the rampant Welshman found his purple patch on the heated oche including a crucial break of throw in the fifteenth leg with the second dart at tops, finishing 44 and taking the lead for the first time since leading 5-4. The Markham man closed out with a 91 check out on tops in two darts to end the hopes of the German thrower who I’m sure we will be seeing more of in the future.
The form of the 2020 World Champion tonight shows real intent going on into the rest of the tournament, and a message to the rest as Price looks to add the Matchplay to his list of major honours which included three Grand Slams.
Rob Cross the tenth seed dug deep in his match with Chris Dobey, showing signs of troubles on his doubles earlier on and allowing Hollywood darts to take four of the first five legs in the Winter Gardens.
The Bedlington man threw seven 180s to treat the crowd in the opening match of the night, wanting revenge after losing to Voltage in the First Round back in 2019.
The former World Champion found his best darts when he needed it winning six legs in a row to level the match with the 32-year-old at 8-8, punishing missed darts at double from his opponent and including checkouts of 76 to break in the eleventh leg and a 104 finish to go within two of levelling.
Cross continued his successful run on the outer ring including two more treble to double combinations, hitting 74 to force a 9-9 draw and 70 on double nine with his second dart to crucially break and throw for the match at 10-9.
A huge relief for the Pembury born thrower who showed the signs of a true fighter, proving the World Title win back in 2018 was no one hit wonder moving onto the next round in Blackpool.
Dave Chisnall averaged 94.56 in beating Kim Huybrechts 10-7 after reaching the Semi Finals of the recent Players Championship 21 in Barnsley a week ago. Chizzy included four maximums and sixteen 140s on the oche, despite his Belgian opponent hitting six in the match and averaging slightly more at 95.30.
The recent Masters finalist finished 97 in the second leg to hold throw in his highest checkout of the match, before proceeding to break throw in the third leg and lead for the first time in the match.
A 90-checkout followed from the tournament number 15 seed in the twelfth leg to level at 6-6 with Huybrechts, slightly showing the more composure on stage having reached the Quarter Finals on five occasions in his darting career.
A mouth-watering clash with Price waits for the Englishman on Wednesday after closing out a 10-7 victory over the former Premier League participant, hitting double four to become the sixteenth and final player through to the Second Round.
Jose de Sousa beat recent German World Cup star Gabriel Clemens in the second match of the night, with fourteen maximums over the course of the tungsten affair in Blackpool. The Special One at no point in the match was behind against the recent Pro Tour finalist, including a 94 checkout to lead 3-1 just before the first break.
The German Giant will be back on our screens again hitting eight maximums and finding his highest checkout of the match straight after the break, finishing 92 and proceeding to break in the following leg.
However, it was not to be his night with the Portuguese reeling three legs in a row to lead 7-3 at the second break, and unfortunately saw his dart at double tops hit and fall out in what was a match dart. Clemens punished but missed multiple darts to close out the seventeenth leg, allowing de Sousa to finish 136 on double eight, winning 10-6 and booking his spot against Rob Cross in the Last 16.
Monday brought a close to the First-Round action of the World Matchplay, with the Second Round kicking off tomorrow night in the heat of the Winter Gardens. Peter Wright returns to face Krzysztof Ratajski whilst Michael van Gerwen and Joe Cullen meet in a repeat of the Premier League Final last month in the last match of the night.
2022 Betfred World Matchplay Results
First Round:
Rob Cross (10) 11-9 Chris Dobey
Jose de Sousa (7) 10-6 Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price (2) 10-8 Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall (15) 10-7 Kim Huybrechts
Tuesday Order of Play: Second Round Matches
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Dimitri van den Bergh (9)
James Wade (5) v Nathan Aspinall
Peter Wright (1) v Krzysztof Ratajski (16)
Michael van Gerwen (4) v Joe Cullen (13)
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Images: Taylor Lanning/PDC
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