The first day of the World Matchplay immediately caused a resounding surprise. Jonny Clayton was surprised by Matchplay debutant Rowby John Rodriguez from Austria (10-7). Title holder Peter Wright easily won against the Let Madar Razma and Krzysztof Ratajski and Dimitri van den Bergh also recorded easy victories.
Wright, last year’s winner of the World Matchplay, hardly got any resistance from Razma. In a very sloppy match, the Scot won 10-4. With that, he has cleared the first hurdle to another tournament win. The Scot is convinced that he will also win the tournament this year: ,,I believe I’m back in shape at exactly the right time. But it can be even better. My form has been dramatic this year, but in my head everything is in order now and I’m going to win the tournament again,” he said beforehand.
The Belgian Van den Bergh, who lost the final to Wright last year and won the tournament two years ago, beat Callan Rydz with even bigger numbers: 10-2. In the last game of the evening, Clayton, number eight in the world, was surprised. The Welshman went down against Rodriguez. Ratajski won 10-6 against Stephen Bunting in the first match of the evening.
On Sunday, all Dutchmen will be in action. Then Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode play. In total there is a prize pool of about 954 thousand euros, while the winner can take home not only the Phil Taylor Trophy, but also 236 thousand euros. View the program below:
Sunday 17 July
Afternoon session (from 2 pm)
Dirk van Duijvenbode – Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert – Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson – Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith – Andrew Gilding
Evening session (from 8.30 pm)
Joe Cullen – Damon Heta
James Wade – Martin Lukeman
Michael van Gerwen – Adrian Lewis
Luke Humphries – Nathan Aspinall
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