Betfred World Matchplay Day One Review – Luke Humphries steals the show
Betfred World Matchplay Day One Review – Luke Humphries steals the show
World Champion Luke Humphries fired in a 108.76 average to set his stall out for the rest of the week, while last years champion Nathan Aspinall battled through his opening round.
Humphries On Fire
Luke Humphries meant business from the off and opened up his campaign with 10-4 win over Ricardo Pietreczko averaging 108.76.
The current World Champion started as he meant to go on winning the first four legs while averaging close to 110 in the opening stages.
Ricardo Pietreczko was averaging 12-14 points above his season average himself averaging around the 102 himself for the majority of the game but, the power scoring and clinical finishing was too much for the German.
Cool Hand lead 7-3 at the break and an embrace on stage between the two players, didn’t help the German on the scoreboard and he was only able to get one more leg before Humphries sealed the victory and confirmed he would be returning on Tuesday night.
Aspinall Starts Defence With Victory
Nathan Aspinall battled through his first round tie in the 2024 Betfred World Matchplay to defeat Luke Woodhouse 10-
Woody started stronger out the two and had a double in all of the first five legs, but only lead 3-2 while Aspinall found a 128 checkout in that time.
The break is what Aspinall needed and it showed reeling off four straight legs to take control, however Woody on debut showed his fighting spirit and got four of his own to level up proceedings.
The trend continued with Aspinall taking two legs before Woodhouse responded with two of his own and it this stage we knew the game had to be won by two clear legs.
The experience of 2023 Betfred World Matchplay seemed to be the difference in the end, as he won the last two legs to book his place in the last 16
Clayton Defies a Mini Comeback
Last year’s Betfred World Matchplay runner up Jonny Clayton defeated Five Time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 10-7 to secure his place in the last 16.
It was The Ferret who came flying out the blocks and had a checkout of 108 in the opener.
A crucial moment came with a missed dart at bullseye for a 161 for Van Barneveld in the eighth leg, who missed the chance to level up for the first time in the game, and Clayton went up a gear and continue to punish to make it 7-3 at the second interval.
Van Barneveld revival came after this break and won the next three, however he couldn’t create a chance to break and Clayton hit two double 8s to take out 35, after hitting a big three.
That seemed to the final nail in the coffin for Van Barneveld, who is sent packing in round one.
Price Breezes Past Gurney
Gerwyn Price opened up his 2024 Betfred World Matchplay campaign with a 10-4 win over Daryl Gurney
The welcoming Price got to the stage wasn’t the most welcoming, however he won four of the first five legs including a wonderful 130 finish to get the Blackpool fans on side.
The crucial leg in the game came in the tenth with Price allowing Gurney an opportunity to level up however, two darts missed on the outside of double 16 allowed Price to keep the lead going into the break.
The Iceman reeled off the next four legs and he will take the next couple of days off before returning for a last 16 tie.
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2024 Betfred World Matchplay Day One Results
Saturday July 13
First Round x4
Gerwyn Price 10-4 Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries 10-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall 10-8 Luke Woodhouse
