Dimitri Van den Bergh hits a nine-darter in the afternoon session as Stephen Bunting also wins; Rob Cross and Joe Cullen through but Peter Wright beaten; World Matchplay continues on Monday on Sky Sports Action and Main Event at 7pm
Sunday 14 July 2024 23:54, UK
Dimitri van den Bergh hit a magical nine-darter as he beat Martin Schindler at the World Matchplay Darts on Sunday afternoon.
The Belgian rattled in only the ninth perfect leg in the history of this competition in the seventh leg of his first-round match against the German No 1.
The nine-darter - the second Van den Bergh has hit in a televised PDC match - came against the throw and sparked a 10-6 victory which sets up a second-round date with Jonny Clayton.
In the evening session, 2019 champion Rob Cross came through a nail-biter to win 13-12 in a sudden-death leg against Gian van Veen.
Van Veen took an early 3-2 lead with a sensational break of throw, reeling in the Big Fish as Cross opted to not go for the big checkout.
Cross then rallied as he brought his average up over 101, two breaks of throw giving him a 6-4 advantage, but the Dutchman fought back with brilliant 167 and 126 checkouts on the bull to bring the game square at 10-10.
Van Veen missed six match darts and as we went to the final leg, Cross showed his class, took out a maximum, and a big victory.
Elsewhere, Joe Cullen put in a confident performance to beat Brendan Dolan 10-4 in the first round.
Cullen found an early break of throw and defended it well, going in 6-4 up at the break.
He then continued where he left off, another break of throw plus a massive 117 checkout putting him 8-4 ahead.
The Rockstar raced to the finish, a 130 checkout for another break giving him the darts for the match, and he secured the 10-4 win.
Peter Wright suffered an early defeat at the hands of Andrew Gilding as he battled hard but lost 10-5.
Gilding took an early lead in the tie, a lovely 103 checkout and break of throw taking him to 3-1.
Wright fought back to bring the match to 4-4 but he missed opportunities and Goldfinger took his chance to move 6-4 in front.
Another break of throw then moved him 8-5 in front and showing a cool head under pressure, he nailed a solid 10-5 win.
Krzysztof Ratajski dominated Dave Chisnall in a 10-2 victory in the final match of the evening session.
Ratajski absolutely cruised into the lead against Chizzy, taking five legs on the spin and two breaks of throw to go 5-0 ahead in quick fashion.
Chizzy found a way to claim a couple of legs but Ratajski was on top throughout and was 8-2 up in no time.
The final few legs were more of a battle but Ratajski was the man in the big moments once again.
Earlier in the afternoon session, Danny Noppert became the first seed to lose in this year's tournament as he fell to a 10-5 loss to 2007 champion James Wade.
The Machine won the first four legs of the match and rarely looked back, though his Dutch opponent will rue three missed darts at D12 to narrow the scores to 7-6 after a temporary fightback.
Wade hit 10 out of 22 darts at the double and will face defending champion Nathan Aspinall in the last 16.
Stephen Bunting battled to a tense 12-10 victory over Ryan Joyce to secure a meeting with world champion Luke Humphries in the second round.
The 16th seed was 8-5 ahead, but saw his opponent battle back to level the match at 8-8 with an incredible 167 finish on the bull.
However, Bunting responded with a 164 checkout of his own in the very next leg before grinding out a stubborn win.
Ross Smith opened his campaign in ruthless fashion with a 10-4 victory over Josh Rock in the opening match of the day.
The Englishman smashed in spectacular finishes of 160 and 120 in the final two legs of a high-quality match, finishing with an impressive 71 per cent checkout ratio to set up a second-round tie against Gerwyn Price.
The World Matchplay continues on Monday with a session at 7pm live on Sky Sports Action. Get instant access to the entire World Matchplay for £26 with NOW.
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