Former champion Michael van Gerwen led off a quartet of Dutch darting maestros too advance on Sunday at the Betfred World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Day Two of the summer’s showpiece event saw eight opening round ties take place at the Winter Gardens, as Van Gerwen kicked off his campaign with a battling win.
Van Gerwen recovered from a sluggish start to see off Andrew Gilding, overturning a 4-1 deficit to set up a clash with fellow countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode.
MVG missed double 12 for a spectacular nine-darter in leg six of the contest – sparking a timely turnaround which saw him win nine of the last 11 legs to complete a 10-6 victory.
“It was a strange game,” conceded Van Gerwen, who is targeting a fourth Phil Taylor Trophy in 2026.
“I think I had some really good patches and some really poor patches, but when you win the game, that’s the most important thing.
“This was a good win for myself. There is still a lot more in the tank, and I hope I can show that later in the tournament.”
Van Duijvenbode, meanwhile, won through an epic affair against Chris Dobey, surviving four match darts and defying 13 maximums from the Bedlington star to prevail in a breathless tie-break.
Gian van Veen and Wessel Nijman capped off a terrific day for Dutch darts, defeating Krzysztof Ratajski and Dave Chisnall respectively to set up a tantalising clash on Wednesday evening.
Van Veen produced a finishing masterclass to account for Poland’s premier player Ratajski, converting a brace of 144 checkouts and a spectacular 160 in the process.
“I think everyone knows I’ve been struggling in the last couple of months,” revealed the European Champion, who pinned 67% of his attempts at the outer ring.
“I just needed that win here today. I started off really well but my finishing got me through that game.“My scoring needs to improve in the next round, but I’m really happy with this win and hopefully I can continue further like this.”
Nijman – a winner of eight ranking titles in 2026 – enjoyed similarly serene progress, averaging almost 99 to sweep aside five-time quarter-finalist Chisnall in his opener.
The opening round of the Betfred World Matchplay concludes on Monday, as 2024 champion Luke Humphries enters the fray against Scotland’s Cameron Menzies.
2019 champion Rob Cross plays Danny Noppert, 2022 runner-up Gerwyn Price takes on Martin Schindler, with Ross Smith and Kevin Doets also set to lock horns.
The Betfred World Matchplay is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN, CANAL+ and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2026 Betfred World Matchplay
Sunday July 19
Round One x4
Dirk van Duijvenbode 13-11 Chris Dobey
Gary Anderson 10-2 Ryan Joyce
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Damon Heta
Sunday July 19
Round One x4
Ryan Searle 10-6 William O’Connor
James Wade 10-7 Jermaine Wattimena
Gian van Veen 10-6 Krzysztof Ratajski
Wessel Nijman 10-5 Dave Chisnall
Monday July 20 (1900 BST)
Round One x4
Ross Smith v Kevin Doets
Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries v Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert v Rob Cross
Best of 19 legs
Tuesday July 21 (1900 BST)
Round Two x4
Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall
Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting
Best of 21 legs
ENDS
Images: PDC /Taylor Lanning
