Gerwyn Price beats Dave Chisnall to reach the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay, while Jose de Sousa, Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode make the last eight for the first time; watch every session at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool - live on Sky Sports
Thursday 21 July 2022 06:52, UK
Gerwyn Price continued his bid for a maiden World Matchplay title by reaching the quarter-finals while Dirk van Duijvenbode reeled in 'The Big Fish' to stun Michael Smith, who came agonisingly close to landing a nine-dart finish.
Price came from behind to defeat Dave Chisnall 11-8 and reach his third World Matchplay quarter-final, while Jose de Sousa broke down in tears after defeating Rob Cross by the same scoreline to reach the last eight for the first time.
Danny Noppert laid down a marker to the rest of the field with an impressive display to blow away two-time semi-finalist Daryl Gurney 11-4 and in the final match of the night, Dirk van Duijvenbode reeled in a magnificent 170 finish in defeating Michael Smith 11-7 with 'Bully Boy' coming a width of a wire away from landing a magical nine-darter.
Price landed checkouts of 164 and 161 on his way to come through a stern test against Chisnall, who was seeking a sixth quarter-final appearance.
Chisnall held the advantage at 6-4, but two legs later the scores were level as 'The Iceman' struck with a 124 checkout on the bullseye.
That passage of play proved pivotal, as the following leg saw Price go in front; a lead which the Welshman never relinquished despite checkouts of 142 and 111 from Chisnall who kept the pressure on to the end.
"I knew I was playing well but I let Dave off a few times at the start, just like I did in my first round game," said Price.
"I was trying too hard to break Dave's throw and I got a bit frustrated.
"The big checkouts were nice, they go in about two or three times in 10; I needed them tonight.
"I'm really confident in my game, just sometimes I overthink it when I'm trying to break people down.
"I'm getting back to where I should be and I fancy myself against anyone."
Price will now take on a rejuvenated De Sousa, who fired in nine trademark 180s as well as hitting 11 of his 23 double attempts in his defeat of Cross.
A 120 checkout saw De Sousa break throw to go 8-4 up, but a missed single 14 in a 108 checkout attempt from the Portuguese, which would have put him 10-4 in front, proved the catalyst for a Cross fightback.
Cross, the 2019 champion, had already fought back from 8-2 down to beat Chris Dobey 11-9 in round one, and he hit a 106 finish to make it 9-5 before winning three of the next four legs to trail 10-8.
But De Sousa quelled any fears of a second Cross comeback in as many rounds with back-to-back 180s before sealing victory with a last dart double four.
"It has been a difficult year for me, so this win means the world to me," said an emotional De Sousa.
"Nobody can imagine how happy I am to be playing well again.
"I just take it game-by-game, but right now I feel great. I'm hitting 180s and 140s again, and when I hit my doubles as well I am a danger for everybody."
Van Duijvenbode landed the tournament's first 170 checkout to continue his winning run over one of the title favourites Smith.
An explosive start from Van Duijvenbode saw him go 4-0 up, a deficit Smith was never able to recover from.
It was a tale of woe on the doubles for Smith, who saw 23 of his outer ring attempts go wide of the target, including a dart at double 12 for a nine-darter.
Smith threatened a comeback as he closed the gap from 9-5 to 9-7, but an 86 checkout from Van Duijvenbode saw him strike a crucial break of throw before finishing the job in the following leg.
"I feel lucky tonight that the best version of Michael didn't turn up," Van Duijvenbode admitted.
"I felt nervous tonight. I kept waiting for Michael to play his usual game and because I was thinking about that, I started to play badly as well.
"The 170 was a nice moment; I didn't need to go for it but I felt so great at that point, I thought I would go for it anyway."
Van Duijvenbode will play his World Cup team-mate Noppert next as 'The Freeze' averaged 102.36 in a comfortable win over two-time semi-finalist Gurney.
The Dutchman, who won his first TV title in March at the UK Open, hit a no-look 180 in response to Gurney's attempt at the same feat but Noppert eventually sealed the leg to lead 7-3.
Gurney was unable to turn the tide, winning just one of the next five legs as the 31-year-old made it through to the quarter-finals for the first time.
Thursday will see the first two quarter-final ties take place, as Peter Wright and Dimitri Van den Bergh meet in a repeat of last year's final, before two-time champion Michael van Gerwen takes on a resurgent Nathan Aspinall.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. You can watch the World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool all the way through to Sunday's climax - live on Sky Sports.
