Brendan Dolan completed one of the greatest upsets in PDC World Matchplay history this weekend, defeating defending Champion Michael Van Gerwen 10-7 on Sunday night at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool!
The History Maker, who has been performing consistently well on the pro circuit and in ranking events over the past few weeks, stunned Van Gerwen and the Blackpool crowd by racing to a 4-1 lead at the first break, before surviving a short lived comeback from MVG to win their first round tie.
Van Gerwen wasn’t the only other seed to fall at the first hurdle: Rob Cross was edged out in sudden death by Daryl Gurney, and Dave Chisnall was soundly beaten by a resurgent Gary Anderson.
‘Hollywood’ Chris Dobey continued his impressive 2023 by knocking out former Champion James Wade, whilst the rest of the seeds progressed through to the second round.
New tournament favourite Gerwyn Price looked as dominant as ever, coming close to hitting another 9 darter at the Winter Gardens in his demolition job of Stephen Bunting.
Looking equally as impressive was Luke Humphries, who recorded an 101.78 average in his 10-2 win over Jose De Sousa. The World Number 6 is looking like the firm favourite to progress from his half of the field.
Also joining the big names in the next round were the no.1 and 2 seeds in Michael Smith and Peter Wright, who each looked far from their best but did enough to get past Steve Beaton and Andrew Gilding respectively.
The second round, set to commence tonight, will host a number of exciting and unpredictable fixtures that will have darts fans around the world salivating.
Luke Humphries vs Dirk Van Duijvenbode looks set to be the tie of the round, with the Aubergenius scraping past Kim Huybrechts in the previous round, and will be looking to enact a measure of revenge on the man who recently beat him at a European Darts Matchplay event.
Should Chris Dobey take his majestic performance and form into the next round, then Michael Smith may just be the next seeded casualty when the two play on Tuesday night.
Perhaps the quiet outsider of the competition, Ryan Searle will fancy his chances of getting past Peter Wright in the last 16, with the 35-year-old quickly dispatching of the beloved Raymond Van Barneveld in ruthless fashion.
Who do you think will make it through to the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Matchplay in Blackpool? Let us know your thoughts today!
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