Nathan Aspinall did well to return from a career threatening injury at the turn of the year and has gone through a real darting resurgence since then and his
World Matchplay campaign has begun with a hammering of one of the tournament favourite Luke Humphries 10-5.
Before a dart was thrown in Blackpool, Humphries was among the favourites with his European Tour triumphs and blistering form no point of contention but his charge was sent back down to earth with six 180's and 95.5 average from 'The Asp' who punished a poor start on the doubles from 'Cool Hand Luke' to surge through.
It was a clinical start to the tie for Aspinall as he opened up a 4-1 lead over a struggling Humphries hitting a 143 in the early highlight and sending ‘Cool Hand’ into deep trouble early.
This nightmare start continued as his doubling went to 13% which allowed Aspinall into a 6-1 lead and heading towards the finishing line.
Humphries finally began to show some resolve with a 78 checkout and 65 to trail 7-3 at the break before holding to go three behind but likely needing a break to get himself back towards the former UK Open champion.
But this was not forthcoming with Aspinall pinning a last dart 100 checkout to make it 8-4. Humphries pinned double 12 to make it 8-5 but was still three behind as the legs began to run out.
Aspinall pounced after Humphries missed a dart at 110 to seal a near hammer blow at 9-5 up and it was sealed with ‘The Asp’ moving through.