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Chris Dobey commences Masters title defence as Stephen Bunting comeback stuns Ross Smith

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Stephen Bunting sends home Luke Humphries at The Masters as Van Gerwen dethrones Dobey

Cazoo Masters 2024 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in Winmau World Masters 03 Feb 2024
Dobey and Van Gerwen face off (Photo by PDC)

The Second Round action takes centre stage at the 2024 Cazoo Masters on Saturday as the top eight seeds start their campaigns.

Day One of the 24-player non-ranking event saw a clutch of big names bow out at the first hurdle in Milton Keynes, including former champions James Wade and Jonny Clayton.

The top eight seeds in the draw enter at the Last 16 stage, with Saturday’s action split across two unmissable sessions at the Marshall Arena.

Arguably the stand-out tie of the day sees defending champion Chris Dobey take on five-time champion Michael van Gerwen.

Dobey is bidding to emulate Van Gerwen by becoming only the second player to successfully retain this title, and he opened up with a 6-3 win over UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Friday night.

Dobey is making his first tournament appearance since squandered a four-set lead to Rob Cross in the Quarter-Finals of the World Championship a month ago and will be determined to bounce back at the first opportunity.

Van Gerwen opened his account for the new season by winning the Dutch Masters on home soil in Den Bosch a week ago, but a disastrous deciding leg resulted in a 6-5 defeat to Michael Smith in his Premier League opener in Cardiff on Thursday.

The evening session also features a clash between world number one Luke Humphries and Grand Slam semi-finalist Stephen Bunting.

Humphries is vying to reach the Quarter-Finals of The Masters for the first time in three attempts, and comes into the event on the back of successive defeats to Luke Littler in the Dutch Masters and Premier League.

The reigning World Champion is challenging for a fifth televised title since October but faces a tough opener against a rejuvenated Bunting – who hit back from 5-2 down to edge out Ross Smith in a deciding leg last night.

Michael Smith aims to pick up from where he left off in Cardiff less than 48 hours ago when he faces Dimitri van den Bergh.

Smith comfortably defeated home favourite Gerwyn Price in the final to secure the Night One title and boasts a solid record in this tournament, having finished runner-up in 2020 and reached the Semi-Finals 12 months ago.

Van den Bergh punished an uncharacteristic 6% on the doubles and 84 average from James Wade to seal a 6-1 demolition on Friday and has already matched his best run in this event in what is his fourth appearance.

World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall looks to bounce back from Thursday’s defeat to Price in his Premier League opener when he meets multiple Players Championship event winner Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Aspinall has won just one of four matches contested in the early stages of the season and now comes up against an injury-ravaged Van Duijvenbode – who registered his first televised win since the Grand Slam by edging past Ryan Searle in a deciding leg on Friday.

The afternoon session kicks off with a tie between two-time Masters finalist Dave Chisnall and former UK Open champion Danny Noppert.

Chisnall, runner-up here in 2016 and 2022, produced the stand-out performance of the opening round as he averaged 109.3 in a 6-1 rout of Martin Schindler with six 180s to his name.

World number seven Noppert was a semi-finalist in last year’s European Championship and was beaten by Gian van Veen in the Quarter-Finals of last week’s Dutch Masters.

An out of sorts Peter Wright looks to turn his fortunes around when he comes up against Polish star Krzysztof Ratajski.

2020 Masters champion Wright secured his eighth major title at the European Championship but has won just two of his eight televised matches since and has failed to average above 94 in any of those fixtures.

Ratajski enjoyed a 6-3 success over 2021 champion Jonny Clayton in Round One to reach the Last 16 here for only the second time in four appearances and will be looking to mount more misery on a struggling Snakebite.

Joe Cullen, the 2022 Masters champion, takes on Daryl Gurney – who replaces Price in the draw after the Welshman withdrew on Thursday.

Cullen, who secured his maiden televised title here two years ago and with it a Premier League place, averaged 99.3 in an impressive 6-4 win over Josh Rock on Friday.

Gurney, the world number 26, returns for his sixth Masters appearance after receiving a late call-up, but has lost in the opening round in four of his five previous attempts.

Last year’s Masters runner-up Rob Cross starts out with a tie against Aussie number one Damon Heta in a repeat of November’s Grand Slam Quarter-Final.

Cross was a dominant 16-6 winner on that occasion after reeling off ten straight legs, and ‘Voltage’ also thrashed Heta 8-1 in the final of the New South Wales Masters last August.

Heta secured his first Masters win courtesy of a 6-2 rout of Gabriel Clemens with a 103 average last night and will be keen to replicate that display.

The action gets under way from 12.45pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 19 legs.

WATCH THE CAZOO MASTERS STREAMED LIVE HERE

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Cazoo Masters 2024 Day Two Schedule

Saturday February 3

Second Round

Afternoon Session (12.45pm-5pm)
Danny Noppert v Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross v Damon Heta
Peter Wright v Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney v Joe Cullen

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Nathan Aspinall v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen v Chris Dobey
Michael Smith v Dimitri van den Bergh

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