Cazoo Masters Darts 2023 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The top eight seeds enter the fold at the 2023 Cazoo Masters on Saturday as the Second Round action takes centre stage in Milton Keynes.
Night One of the £275,000 invitational saw the unseeded hopefuls battle it out at the Marshall Arena, with three matches going down to a last-leg shoot-out.
The world’s top eight ranked players will now look to hit the ground running as the stakes and format increase on Day Two, with two mouth-watering sessions on the cards.
The afternoon session features a stand-out tie between former World Champions Rob Cross and Gary Anderson.
Cross is making his sixth consecutive appearance at The Masters, with a Quarter-Final spot on debut in 2018 representing his best performance to date.
The two-time European Champion was runner-up in last November’s Players Championship Finals, as well as three European Tour events but landed two ProTour titles during a strong season on the floor.
Anderson got his season off to a flying start by defeating Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 on Friday, and the 2017 Masters finalist will be out to pick up from where he left off.
The Flying Scotsman comes into the new campaign as world number 22 – his lowest ranking position since joining the PDC back in 2009.
The afternoon’s action commences with a tie between reigning UK Open champion Danny Noppert and former Lakeside World Champion Stephen Bunting.
Noppert is making his debut at The Masters after a breakthrough 2022 which saw him follow up his triumph in Minehead last March by reaching the Semi-Finals of the World Matchplay and two European Tour finals.
Bunting, quarter-finalist at the recent World Championship, atoned for last year’s whitewash exit at the hands of Dave Chisnall by overcoming Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in a dramatic opener last night.
Two former Premier League champions go head-to-head as Jonny Clayton takes on James Wade.
Clayton claimed a career-changing Masters title in 2021 to secure a debut appearance in the Premier League – going on to win the event and follow up with World Grand Prix and World Series Finals titles later that year.
His sole televised triumph last year came at the New South Wales Masters, and his 2023 campaign has begun with back-to-back defeats to Gerwyn Price on the World Series in Bahrain and Copenhagen.
Wade, the 2014 Masters champion, produced a strong opening salvo to defeat Callan Rydz 6-2 with a 98.8 average on Friday, and revealed he has been putting in the hours on the practice board this month ahead of what he hopes will be a season of success after a below-par 2022.
World number five Luke Humphries starts out against world number 21 Chris Dobey.
After Humphries had battled back from three sets to one down to prevail 4-3 in the 2021/22 World Championship, Dobey reeled off six straight legs to gain some degree of revenge at last year’s World Grand Prix.
Humphries, a four-time European Tour event winner last season, has warmed up for this event with his first two appearances on the World Series and is aiming to bolster his chances of Premier League selection this weekend.
Dobey produced a pivotal 125 checkout on his way to dethroning reigning champion Joe Cullen in Round One with a 97 average and is now out to reach the Quarter-Finals here for the first time.
The evening session kicks off with a tasty tie between Gerwyn Price and Dirk van Duijvenbode in a repeat of the 2020 World Grand Prix final.
Price is vying to add this trophy to his haul of seven televised titles, with his best run to date coming two years ago when he reached the Semi-Finals.
The Welshman continued his superb spell of consistency on the World Series by reaching back-to-back finals at the Bahrain Masters and Nordic Masters over the past fortnight, but was forced to settle for second prize on both occasions.
Van Duijvenbode enjoyed his best season to date in 2022, picking up two ProTour titles and reaching the final of the Dutch Masters, as well as the Semi-Finals of the European Championship.
The lively Dutchman dispatched Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 in the opening round, and a statement win over Price could boost his hopes of gate-crashing this year’s Premier League.
Newly-crowned World Champion Michael Smith starts out against reigning European Champion Ross Smith.
Bully Boy has enjoyed a fairy-tale couple of months since landing his first major title at the Grand Slam, hitting a nine-darter in the final at Ally Pally en route to achieving his darting destiny little over three weeks ago.
He then continued his winning spree by claiming the inaugural Bahrain Masters title, before seeing his unbeaten run come to an end in Copenhagen at the hands of eventual champion Peter Wright in the Semi-Finals.
Ross Smith, meanwhile, marked his Masters debut with a dramatic 6-5 win over Damon Heta, surviving two missed match darts in the process.
Smith scooped his first major title in Dortmund last October to catapult him to a career-high ranking of 17, and he was narrowly denied in a seventh set decider for the second successive year at the World Championship by Van Duijvenbode in a classic contest which featured a record 31 maximums.
Michael van Gerwen launches his quest for a sixth Masters crown with a clash against former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa.
Van Gerwen enjoyed a sensational season of success in 2022, picking up the Premier League, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals, before being denied glory in a thrilling final at Ally Pally.
The world number three faces a tricky opener against former Premier League finalist De Sousa – who battled past German star Gabriel Clemens in Round One.
Peter Wright aims to pick up from where he left off in Copenhagen last weekend when he faces two-time Masters finalist Dave Chisnall.
Wright opened his account for the new season by claiming Nordic Masters glory and returns to the scene of his maiden Masters triumph in 2020 – where he defeated Michael Smith 11-10 in a nail-biting final.
Chisnall produced a spirited fightback from 4-1 down to edge out Ryan Searle 6-5 with a spectacular 161 checkout in the deciding leg on Friday.
An ever-present in The Masters, ‘Chizzy’ boasts an impressive record in this event, having reached at least the Quarter-Final stage in his last four appearances.
The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 19 legs.
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Cazoo Masters 2023 Day Two Schedule
Saturday January 28
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12.45pm-5pm)
Danny Noppert v Stephen Bunting
Rob Cross v Gary Anderson
Jonny Clayton v James Wade
Luke Humphries v Chris Dobey
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Gerwyn Price v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright v Dave Chisnall
Michael Smith v Ross Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Jose de Sousa
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