Well, well, well. This World Matchplay is turning out to be something special.
Michael van Gerwen has joined
Rob Cross and
Gerwyn Price on the heap after
being dumped out in style by
Simon Whitlock. It means that unless
Gary Anderson claims the
World Matchplay, we'll have a brand new name to etch onto the
Phil Taylor Trophy.
Daryl Gurney's now right up there with the favourites to take the title. The two-time major champion didn't really do much of anything
against Ricky Evans to prove it, though his best wasn't needed. A ruthless spell of five legs on the bounce showed Gurney's ability to grab hold of matches.
His next assignment is
Vincent van der Voort, who ended a miserable World Matchplay run in style with a
thoroughly competent 10-6 win over Dave Chisnall. He also goes down in history
as possibly the first person ever to be delighted to be in Milton Keynes. Van der Voort will be after a second Matchplay quarter-final, 11 years after his first.
The Dreammaker versus The Rockstar
Dimitri van den Bergh and
Joe Cullen have got a real shot at taking their World Matchplay bid all the way. Both find themselves in a quarter of the draw missing three of the four seeds. Then again, given the depth of quality in the game right now, you could easily assume that this pair are in the top 16. Both clearly have the quality - it's nerves that threaten to derail their respective bids. Cullen's 2018 Matchplay journey at least gives him some valuable experience, while Van den Bergh will be buoyed
by an excellent defeat of sixth seed Nathan Aspinall.
A year ago,
Glen Durrant powered to a comfortable first round win, and then stunned the world champion. This time around, he claimed the biggest margin of victory of any first round matches, and now the world champion lies in wait. Some things don't change.
Peter Wright went all Clark Kent in round one, ditching the glasses and then
bulldozing poor Jose de Sousa. It was a close escape for Wright, and it's unlikely that Durrant will show him any routes back into the game should he fall behind.
Danny Noppert became very popular with a few people
by ditching a heavily sub-par Gerwyn Price.
Adrian Lewis might be one of those people - he's suddenly the only seed in his quarter. This could be the moment that Jackpot gets himself back into the reckoning for major titles. But let's not discount Noppie. For all the focus on Price's failings, the former world finalist put in a strong performance of his own. Van den Bergh or Cullen awaits the winner of this one.
Click here for more information about the World Matchplay, including the tournament bracket, TV coverage and prize money breakdown.
Schedule World Matchplay 2020
Wednesday July 22
Second Round