The 2023 Betfred World Matchplay has reached the Quarter Final stage, and with Peter Wright and Dimitri van den Bergh exiting on Night 5, we will have a brand-new name on the Phil Taylor trophy.
Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen, Daryl Gurney, Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall, Damon Heta and Ryan Searle will fight it out at the Winter Gardens, with 5 of the remaining players yet to win a PDC Major.
Day 6 sees the opening 2 Quarter Finals including an all Winmau clash between Joe Cullen and Daryl Gurney, with the Rockstar winning one of the games of the tournament as he fought back to beat last year’s Runner Up Gerwyn Price 13-11.
The Iceman produced 11 maximums and a 100.01 average but fell short against the 13th Seed, who fired in a doubling percentage of 61.9% and 2 112 finishes.
Superchin also impressed on his doubles, striking perfection to open a 6-0 lead against 2018 winner Gary Anderson, who was only afforded 2 darts at the bullseye.
The Northern Irishman went on to claim an 11-4 win at the Winter Gardens with an average of 104.43 and a 68.75% checkout rate.
Luke Humphries kept up his hopes of winning a first PDC Major title after winning a Blackpool belter against Dirk van Duijvenbode, fighting back from a 10-7 deficit to prevail 14-12 against the Aubergenius.
The Dutchman found the 2nd big fish of the night in the 21st leg and 9 180s, but it wasn’t enough against the World Number 6 who included 8 maximums himself as well as 32 140s.
The Englishman defeated van Duijvenbode most recently in the Final of the European Darts Matchplay, and repeated the trick at the Winter Gardens as he sets up a Quarter Final with Damon Heta.
The Heat defeated Brendan Dolan 11-1 in the opening match on Day 5, as the Australian like Humphries will face the prospect of a first Matchplay Quarter Final on Friday night.
Jonny Clayton also reached his maiden Winter Gardens Quarter Final, as he gained revenge on Dimitri van den Bergh for the recent World Championship Last 8 defeat.
The Ferret clinched an 11-6 win over the 2020 winner, averaging 101.90 and finding the 2nd 170 finish of the tournament.
The Welshman will face Ryan Searle, who has thrown the highest tournament average so far at the Winter Gardens, beating Raymond van Barneveld in the 1st Round before claiming the Scalp of 2021 winner Wright.
Chris Dobey claimed the scalp of World Number 1 Michael Smith in what was a night of major shocks in Blackpool, with Bully Boy following Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson in exiting the tournament on Tuesday.
Hollywood produced a finishing rate of 73.33% as he recorded an 11-7 victory over the reigning World Champion.
The reigning Masters Champion will face good mate Nathan Aspinall on Thursday night, with the Asp recording back-to-back 98+ averages in beating Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert to reach the Last 8 for the third consecutive year.
The Quarter Finals begin from 8pm on Thursday live on Sky Sports with Daryl Gurney facing Joe Cullen in the opening match, before Nathan Aspinall takes on Chris Dobey in a first to 16 legs format.
Betfred 2023 World Matchplay
Day 6 – Order of Play:
Joe Cullen (13) v Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey v Nathan Aspinall (9)
—–ENDS—–
Images: Taylor Lanning \ PDC
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