Betfred World Matchplay 2023 | Day Four Preview and Order of Play
The Second Round action commences at the 2023 World Matchplay on Tuesday with a trio of World Champions topping the bill in Blackpool.
The opening round saw four seeded stars bow out, including reigning and three-time champion Michael van Gerwen, blowing the bottom quarter of the draw wide open.
A clutch of big names collide on Night Four at the Winter Gardens, kicking off with a show-down between 2018 champion Gary Anderson and two-time semi-finalist Daryl Gurney.
Anderson is making his 15th consecutive World Matchplay appearance and returned to Blackpool unseeded in the draw for the first time since 2010.
After a barren 2022 which included First Round defeats in both the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix and saw him drop to 22nd in the Order of Merit, the Scot has roared back into form this term, picking up a Players Championship title and reaching a further two finals.
He dispatched 12th seed Dave Chisnall 10-6 on the opening night and is now looking to gain revenge on Gurney, having lost their previous Matchplay meetings in the Second Round in 2017 and Round One last year.
Gurney went on to reach the Semi-Finals in 2017, as well as 2019, and avenged that heart-breaking defeat to Rob Cross with a 12-10 success in their First Round encounter on Saturday.
Semi-finalist on the European Tour this season, ‘Superchin’ is vying to reach his first major ranking Quarter-Final since the 2021 Players Championship Finals.
Meanwhile, reigning World Champion Michael Smith faces a mouth-watering clash with Masters champion Chris Dobey.
Smith has enjoyed a whirlwind eight months since ending his long wait for a first major title at the Grand Slam last November, going on to fulfil his darting destiny at Alexandra Palace in January, while also adding a World Series title in Bahrain, European Tour and ProTour silverware this season.
The world number one came closest to lifting this trophy in 2019 when he finished runner-up to Cross and is looking to join Phil Taylor as the only player to have won both the World Championship and World Matchplay in the same calendar year.
However, he will be determined to improve on his opening salvo this weekend which saw him average just 89 in coasting past an out of sorts Steve Beaton 10-2.
Dobey registered his first Matchplay win at the fourth time of asking by overcoming 2007 champion James Wade 10-8 on Sunday, averaging 96.2 in a solid display.
The Premier League star has won three of his four televised meetings with Smith this year, including a Semi-Final success en route to capturing the Masters crown.
Last year’s runner-up Gerwyn Price resumes his quest for a maiden Matchplay title with a tie against former Masters champion Joe Cullen.
After reaching the Premier League play-offs this year for the first time, Price was denied glory by Van Gerwen in the final and returns to the Winter Gardens – where MVG also proved to be his nemesis in the final 12 months ago – but now has no such obstacle in his way.
Price had historically struggled in this competition prior to 2022, but produced his blistering best form in reaching the final, notably landing a nine-darter in his Semi-Final win over Danny Noppert.
The world number four swept aside Stephen Bunting 10-3 in Round One with a 96.8 average and has won his last four televised meetings with Cullen.
Cullen, last year’s Premier League runner-up, is making his eighth consecutive World Matchplay appearance, with his best run coming in 2018 when he reached the Quarter-Finals before losing out to eventual champion Gary Anderson in a 36-leg epic.
Cullen has reached two Euro Tour Semi-Finals this season and was also a semi-finalist in last Tuesday’s Players Championship 16, before launching his campaign here with a 100.7 average in defeating Belgian debutant Mike De Decker 10-7.
Two familiar opponents face off once again as world number eight Danny Noppert plays world number nine Nathan Aspinall.
The pair have met four times on the European Tour this season, with Noppert winning the first two fixtures before Aspinall prevailed in the following two to balance the books.
Aspinall enjoyed an impressive return to the Premier League this year, finishing fifth in the league table, and also finished runner-up at the German Darts Grand Prix in April.
Twice a major finalist last year, ‘The Asp’ lost in back-to-back Quarter-Finals to MVG at the World Matchplay and came a tough opener against Krzysztof Ratajski 10-7.
Noppert embarked on a sensational run to the Semi-Finals 12 months ago, defeating Brendan Dolan, Daryl Gurney and Dirk van Duijvenbode before eventually bowing out to Price.
The former UK Open champion, who edged out Martin Schindler 10-8 on Sunday, has been solid if not spectacular so far this year, picking up a third ProTour title back in February and reaching the Semi-Finals of the European Darts Open.
The action gets under way from 7pm BST, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 21 legs.
All matches must be won by two clear legs, with a match being extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a sudden death leg is required. For example, in a Second Round match, if the score reaches 13-13 then the 27th leg will be the sudden death decider.
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World Matchplay 2023 Day Four Schedule
Tuesday July 18
Second Round
7pm-11pm
Daryl Gurney v Gary Anderson
Danny Noppert v Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price v Joe Cullen
Michael Smith v Chris Dobey
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