Betfred World Matchplay Darts, Day Two - Cullen White-washed, Wade wins thriller, van Gerwen sets up Durrant clash

Joe Cullen suffered a whitewash, James Wade won a sudden death leg and Michael van Gerwen sets up a second round tie with Glen Durrant.

Afternoon Session
(15) Darren Webster 5-10 Krzysztof Ratajski
Krzysztof Ratajski opened the second day of the tournament with a win as Darren Webster became the latest seed to fall at the first hurdle.
The Polish Eagle was making his World Matchplay debut, but won't be seen as a shock to some, winning once on tour this year after three titles last year when he didn't even have a Tour Card.
Ratajksi opened up a 3-1 lead before the Demolition Man responded with a 105 checkout as he rallied to level the scores at 5-5, but the Pole went through the gears and completed an easy win.

(12) Dave Chisnall 9-11 Max Hopp
Max Hopp won a thriller in extra-time against Dave Chisnall for his first victory on the Winter Gardens stage.
The Maximiser trailed 7-4 against Chizzy, who fired in 10 maximums on the match.
The German number one won the next four legs to lead 8-7 against the St Helens thrower, before an 84 checkout for a 12-darter from Chisnall levelled before he took a 9-8 lead.
He then fluffed his lines on a 97 checkout for the match, not getting a dart at double but leaving double top.
He didn't get another chance though as Hopp took his time to checkout 100 to force additional legs.
Chisnall missed six darts in the next leg before Hopp converted his fourth match dart.

(10) Ian White 10-0 Joe Cullen
Ian White made a big statement in the discussion for the World Matchplay winner with a whitewash over an out of sorts Joe Cullen.
The Rockstar averaged just 88.63 and missed all 10 of his darts at double.
By the end, Diamond looked embarrassed by the scoreline, as he became the last person to dish out a Blackpool whitewash since Michael van Gerwen against Jamie Caven in 2016.

Photo from sportinglife.com

Cullen missed one dart to get a leg on the board at 2-0, while he missed seven in the ninth leg at which point he could sense it wasn't his day.
White opened the encounter with an 11-dart break of throw, averaging 98.6 and hitting four 180s.
Two-winner on the European Tour this year, White hit a match high checkout of 121 to complete a 12-darter to got 7-0 up.

(5) Michael Smith 10-7 Jamie Hughes
Michael Smith defeated debutant Jamie Hughes in an entertaining clash.
Bully Boy - wearing a different shirt in support of charity and St Helens' rugby league team - was 4-1 and 6-3 down before ending Yozza's hopes of an upset.
The Tipton thrower recently won the Czech Darts Open to fill the last qualifying spot for the Matchplay, and his form meant he was tipped to cause Smith some problems, who has struggled for form this year.
A 12-darter moved Hughes 6-3 up with a 128 checkout, before Smith hit an 11 then 12-dart leg with an 86 checkout on the bull.
Three more legs on the spin for Smith put him 8-6 up, Hughes pulled one back but Smith ended it in style with checkouts of 120 and then 130 to book his place in round two.

Evening Session
(8) James Wade 13-12 Jeffrey de Zwaan
James Wade and Jeffrey de Zwaan served up a Winter Gardens thriller as Wade survived match darts to win the sudden death leg.
The Machine was 9-6 down before winning three legs on the bounce, after the Black Cobra had missed three match darts in two of those legs.
While leading 11-10, the Englishman spurned a chance for victory when trying to take out 117, the Duthcman making his pay for that mistake.
The 2018 semi-finalist rattled in an 11-dart break of throw before two more missed match darts at tops, as the European and World Series champion pinned double five to force the sudden death decider.
Wade left 80 after 12 darts, and after a brilliant set-up shot from de Zwaan had left him 32, Wade hit double top with his last dart and went very big with his celebrations.

Photo from sportinglife.com

Wade averaged just higher than his opponent - 96.16 to 95.26 - as we come to expect from him, and his double was better hitting 50% of his while de Zwaan missed 20 of his 32 double attempts.
The opening leg saw the match high checkout as Wade nailed 160, but he wouldn't lead again until going 11-10 up.

(9) Mensur Suljovic 10-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Mensur Suljovic dominated a visibly frustrated Jermaine Wattimena in a 10-1 demolition job.
The Austrian stuck to his usual methodical pace, which seemed to get under the skin of the Dutchman, who likes to throw quickly and return to the oche as soon as he can.
It was the Gentle's sixth consecutive win over the Machine Gun, showing how effective Suljovic's style is over the rhythm players.
The former Champions League champion, who hasn't reached a final since this event last year, averaged 96.76 to Wattimena's 82.02, with three 180s apiece, two of Suljovic's came at the start of the ninth leg as he threatened a nine-dart finish.
Whereas Suljovic pinned 10 of his 18 attempts at doubles, including one at tops for a match high checkout of 80 in the sixth leg, Wattimena missed six of his seven.

(1) Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Steve Beaton
Michael van Gerwen limped over the line against Steve Beaton to reach round two in Blackpool. 
The world champion averaged 93 - his 12th match in a row with a sub-100 average - and missed 28 darts at double.
Mighty Mike cruised into a 4-0 lead, before the 1996 Lakeside world champion battled back to 5-4
The crowd sensed another upset like the one that saw Jeffrey de Zwaan dump MVG out at the first round stage last year, before the Green Machine won five of the next seven legs with a 10, 13 and a pair of 14-dart legs, but his checkout percentage was still only 27.03% for the match.
The Bronzed Adonis, appearing on this stage for the 19th year in a row, hit the same number of 180s as van Gerwen with four but his average was just 89.86 and missed 11 darts at doubles.

(16) Adrian Lewis 4-10 Glen Durrant
Glen Durrant played an impressive World Matchplay debut with a 101 average thrashing Adrian Lewis.
The three-time Lakeside world champion against the two-time PDC world champion was tipped to be the match of the first round, but Jackpot struggled against the man who only earned his Tour Card in January this year.

Photo from sportinglife.com

Duzza pinned 10 of 19 darts at double hitting a 101 checkout, while the Stoke thrower hit six 180s to Durrant's one, he averaged just 94.69 and missed six of his 10 double attempts.

Monday Order of Play
(14) Jonny Clayton (WAL) v Keegan Brown (ENG)
(11) Simon Whitlock (AUS) v John Henderson (SCO)
(3) Daryl Gurney (NIR) v Ricky Evans (ENG)
(6) Peter Wright (SCO) v Vincent van der Voort (NED)

Draw
Section One
(1) Michael van Gerwen (NED) 10-6 Steve Beaton (ENG)

(16) Adrian Lewis (ENG) 4-10 Glen Durrant (ENG)

(8) James Wade (ENG) 13-12 Jeffrey de Zwaan (NED)

(9) Mensur Suljovic (AUT) 10-1 Jermaine Wattimena (NED)
=
(1) Michael van Gerwen (NED) v Glen Durrant (ENG)
(8) James Wade (ENG) v (9) Mensur Suljovic (AUT)

Section Two

(5) Michael Smith (ENG) 10-7 Jamie Hughes (ENG)

(12) Dave Chisnall (ENG) 9-11 Max Hopp (GER)

(4) Gary Anderson (SCO) 10-6 Danny Noppert (NED)

(13) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) 5-10 Mervyn King (ENG)
=
(5) Michael Smith (ENG) v Max Hopp (GER)
(4) Gary Anderson (SCO) v Mervyn King (ENG)

Section Three

(2) Rob Cross (ENG) 10-3 Chris Dobey (ENG)

(15) Darren Webster (ENG) 5-10 Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)

(7) Gerwyn Price (WAL) 12-13 Stephen Bunting (ENG)

(10) Ian White (ENG) 10-0 Joe Cullen (ENG)
=
(2) Rob Cross (ENG) v Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)
Stephen Bunting (ENG) v (10) Ian White (ENG)

Section Four

(6) Peter Wright (SCO) v Vincent van der Voort (NED)

(11) Simon Whitlock (AUS) v John Henderson (SCO)

(3) Daryl Gurney (NIR) v Ricky Evans (ENG)

(14) Jonny Clayton (WAL) v Keegan Brown (ENG)
=
v
v

Day One Results and Report

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