Phil Taylor is playing his final season before retirement (Pic: Lawrence Lustig)
Phil Taylor is playing his final season before retirement (Pic: Lawrence Lustig)

World Matchplay Darts: Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld set up second-round clash in Blackpool


Phil Taylor will meet Raymond van Barneveld in the second round of World Matchplay in Blackpool. Here's a full round-up of Sunday's action.

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Sunday evening session round-up

Phil Taylor marked an emotional night with an impressive 10-5 victory over a showboating Gerwyn Price to reach the second round of the World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens.

And a certain Raymond van Barneveld awaits next in potentially the last ever 'El Clasico of darts' on a major televised stage.

The Power is 16/1 from 20/1 with Sky Bet to win a 16th crown here and 4/6 to beat his old rival on Wednesday night while Barney is 40/1 in the title betting and 6/5 to end Taylor's dream.

The 15-time champion is making his final appearence at the Blackpool showpiece as his retirement draws ever closer but his confident Welsh opponent had no intention of making life easy, landing the maximum 170 checkout in the fifth leg to underline his own ambitions.

Taylor was never behind and had settled early nerves with 106 and 151 checkouts but still struggled to shake off the unseeded Price, who landed double 12 to make it 5-5 at the second interval.

But the Power, who averaged 94.04, hit two 180s and landed 45.45% of his doubles, found an extra gear when the players returned to the oche, reeling off five legs on the trot to set up a second-round meeting with his great old rival van Barneveld, who came through a thrilling tie with Joe Cullen.

The main talking points of the match were Price's showboating late on, first trying - yet failing - to take out 150 with three bullseyes and then successfully pulling off a 'blind 180' in what proved to be the final leg, looking away on the release of his third dart.

He made a mess of his next visit as Taylor returned to complete victory and afterwards the 56-year-old said: "If I were him I'd calm it down a bit until he wins."

Taylor added via the PDC website: "Gerwyn's a difficult player to beat. I like him and I want him to carry on because you need players like him, he looks great and he's got character."

Taylor admitted to being emotional as he returned to the venue where he has been most successful, saying: "I felt fine until I got here but then I did an interview with Sky and it got me thinking, and I was nervous.

"I'd love to win this week, of course, and I'll be giving it my best shot but I'm going to go up there and enjoy it too and that makes you more dangerous when you're relaxed."

Price, just one of the players eyeing a Premier League spot next season, only averaged 88.68 and struggled badly on his doubles despite his 170 heroics.

Barney had lost in the opening round in the past two years in Blackpool but was cruising towards an easy win when leading The Rockstar 8-3.

Cullen, who had hit a 150 checkout in the third leg to go 2-1 up, then suddenly sparked into life by taking five of the next six legs, helped by two more ton+ checkouts from 120 and 100, to give the veteran Dutchman a real scare.

The 28-year-old then missed a shot at double 10 to complete another stunning checkout from 140 and level the tie, as Barney returned to take out 52 for an 10-8 triumph.

Barney said: "The first round is always tough and you know what you have to do. I know how well Joe can play and I'm very happy to win this. Being 8-3 doesn't mean you're going to win the game, and Joe played out of his skin in the last few legs.

"Now I can focus on Phil because I wasn't looking that far ahead after the draw came out because I've been pretty vulnerable World Matchplay so I had to make sure I won my first game.

"Phil's been the greatest player in the world for the last two decades. I'm going to work hard for the next two days to prepare for it because Phil never plays badly against me, but I'm better when I know what I have to do."

Earlier in the night, Dave Chisnall survived a minor scare as he avoided becoming the sixth seeded player to crash out with a 10-7 victory over Mervyn King.

Earlier in the day Jelle Klaasen, Robert Thornton and Benito van de Pas (details below) had joined Michael Smith and James Wade as first-round casualties at the Winter Gardens - and it looked like Premier League star Chizzy could suffer the same fate at 6-6.

But the St Helens thrower broke the King throw with a superb 12-dart leg before checking out from 103 to move 8-6 up.

Chisnall took the next and although missed three match darts allowed King back in briefly, he then got the job done by taking out 76 in two darts.

"Mervyn's been playing well so I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't think it was going to be that tough," said Chisnall.

"We weren't at our best and we both played some sloppy darts, and in the next game I've got to play better. The first round is always my hardest game, so now I can kick on and relax." 

There was another seed to fall, however, as Kim Huybrechts was on the wrong end of an Alan Norris blitz in the final match of the night.

The Belgian 12th seed was searching for his first ever win on the Winter Gardens stage following five previous attempts and it was all looking good when he stormed into a 3-0 lead.

Having pulled one back, 'Chuck' then exploded into life when he took out 155 with a treble 19, treble 16 and bullseye combination after Huybrechts had busted 16.

Another fine finish from 85 after the first mini interval levelled the match before a checkout from 127 put him ahead for the first time, sparking pumped-up celebrations from the 45-year-old.

More clinical finishing, including checkouts from 78 and 75, saw him move 8-3 up before Huybrechts got his act together with back-to-back legs to restore some home.

The next two legs went with throw before Chuck finished from 56 to claim a 10-6 win and set up a second-round meeting with Chisnall.

Afternoon session round-up

The seeded players continued to fall at the World Matchplay as an out-of-sorts Jelle Klaasen was dumped out 10-5 by Justin Pipe in Sunday's first game in Blackpool. 

After Michael Smith and James Wade bowed out on Saturday night, 10th seed Klaasen followed them out after a disappointing display on the Winter Gardens stage.

The Dutchman, back after a wrist operation, never found his stride at any stage as Pipe roared into a 5-0 lead at the interval and did not really look in any serious danger.

Klaasen, who averaged 89.34 and hit just 26.32% of his doubles, managed to rally a little to avoid a thrashing but Pipe always had him at arms length and closed out the victory as he followed a his sixth 180 with a double 16. 

The Englishman, who has never been beyond the quarter-finals here, only averaged 90.04 and hit 31.25% of his doubles and while he did manage a checkout of 120 in the fifth leg, the most entertaining aspect of his performance was his trademark break-dance to celebrate the win.

He'll now play Mensur Suljovic, who crushed John Henderson 10-4 in a one-sided clash despite not being at his best.

The seventh seed from Austria, who averaged94.42 and hit just 28.57% of his doubles, stormed into a 5-0 lead before Henderson pulled three legs back to prevent an absolute battering.

The Scotsman would only win one more leg as Suljovic eased to victory, finishing things off with a superb 148 checkout.

Spain's Cristo Reyes was making his debut at the Winter Gardens but settled in with little problem as he swept 14th seed Robert Thornton aside with the minimum of a fuss 10-3. 

Reyes, whose most memorable display on the TV stage came back at the 2017 World Championship when he averaged over 106 in a thrilling defeat to Michael van Gerwen, further underlined his potential in the second biggest tournament in darts.

He sets up a second-round clash with Peter Wright and would not be without a serious chance judged on this display as he scored heavily - averaging 101.29 - and repeatedly finished with deadly accuracy. Snakebite, by contrast, really struggled against James Wilson on Saturday night.

This has never been a happy hunting ground for Thornton and he suffered a seventh first-round exit from eight attempts. 

Two missed darts for the Scot at double top in the 13th leg sealed his fate as Reyes stepped up to polish off 32 with one dart in an extremely convincing performance. 

The first two games may have lacked some drama but the third of the afternoon session was full of it as Daryl Gurney ousted 15th seed Benito van de Pas 11-9.

There was very little between the pair in terms of the scoreline as the match ebbed and flowed, both showing signs of tension with a clash against Gary Anderson in the second round on the line.

The Northern Irishman, tipped by our expert Chris Hammer at 80/1 each-way and at 10/1 to win his quarter of the draw, consistently outscored his opponent with six 180s and an average of 96.98 but his wasteful finishing allowed the young Dutchman to edge into a 9-7 lead.

Van de Pas, who earlier raised the roof with the first 170 checkout of this year's tournament to level the match at 5-5, then proceeded to miss three match darts at double 16 and this allowed Gurney to pull one back.

Gurney took the next by hitting double six under pressure at the first attempt, with van de Pas waiting on 24, and then broke again when the Dutchman missed another five darts at a double.

Needing to win by two clear legs, Gurney then showed signs of nerves when missing three darts of his own for the match but this wasn't to prove costly as van de Pas again fluffed his lines on a finish and the Northern Irishman then hit double nine for an exhausting victory.

Gurney said: "Benito's finishing got him back into the game and his 170 was great. We were both a bit nervous at the end but I'm happy with my performance.

"I'm not out there to make up the numbers, it doesn't matter who I'm playing I want to beat everybody that's in front of me and I believe I'm throwing well enough to put a good challenge on in this tournament.

"I've dedicated myself this year, my results show that so hopefully that can continue." 

Click here for the full World Matchplay draw, daily schedule & results

Sunday's World Matchplay Schedule & Results


Afternoon Session
First Round (Best of 19 - win by two clear legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports Action
(10) Jelle Klaasen 5-10 Justin Pipe
(14) Robert Thornton 3-10 Cristo Reyes
(15) Benito van de Pas 9-11 Daryl Gurney  
(7) Mensur Suljovic  10-4 John Henderson

Evening Session
(5) Dave Chisnall 10-7 Mervyn King
(8) Phil Taylor 10-5 Gerwyn Price
(9) Raymond van Barneveld 10-8 Joe Cullen
(12) Kim Huybrechts 6-10 Alan Norris

Click here for the Monday's World Matchplay schedule

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