The last 16 have been whittled down to just eight of the top darts players in the world. With big upsets, quality finishes and high drama, the second round of the 2024 PDC World Matchplay did not disappoint.
Arguably the best performance of the last 16 came in the first match, courtesy of Ross Smith. In his match against Gerwyn Price, 'Smudger' held his own throughout the match, before a late, 'smash and grab' break of throw at the death, to go through 11-9.
Defending champion, Nathan Aspinall bowed out of the tournament at the expense of James Wade. 'The machine' rolled back the years, showing the same ruthless finishing that won him his first and only Matchplay title, back in 2007.
World Champion, Luke Humphries looked as impressive as ever against Stephen Bunting. It was a valiant effort from 'The Bullet', who kept up with the world number one for the majority of the match. At 8-7 the match was still on throw, however 'Cool Hand Luke' showed his class to win three legs on the spin to close out the match.
It was eighth seed against ninth seed as Dimitri van den Bergh and Jonny Clayton closed out Tuesday's proceedings. On paper, it should've been a close match, yet it was 'The Dream-maker' who cruised to a relatively routine victory.
Two very experienced customers in Andrew Gilding and Krzysztof Ratajski kicked off day two of the last 16. Gilding won five legs in a row early on in the match and never looked back, booking his place at the quarter final stage in Blackpool for the first time.
Rob Cross looked back to his old self against an uncharacteristically, visibly frustrated Ryan Searle. 'Voltage' averaged just shy of 107, in what was an impressive display. Meanwhile, Michael van Gerwen looked to be defeating Joe Cullen with relative ease before a mini-revival from 'The Rockstar'. However, the Dutchman just managed to scrape through in the end.
The final bout of the last 16 was an all-english affair between Michael Smith and Chris Dobey. In a match with two such high scoring arrow-smiths, this one was expected to be a barrage of 180s, however it turned into a scrappy affair at times. 'Bully Boy' emerged victorious in the end but Dobey did manage to register the second 'big fish' 170 finish of this year's Matchplay.
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