Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall treated the World Matchplay audience to an absolute classic on Night 4, as Littler hit a nine-darter and missed the double for a second with a record-breaking performance.

Ando into the Quarters

Gary Anderson was on fire in his opening round match against Ryan Joyce, posting a magnificent 109.96 average to set up this intriguing encounter against the Number 5 seed Jonny Clayton.

It was the Welshman who dominated the early proceedings, leading 4-1 at the opening break, but it was plain sailing for Anderson once they returned. “The Flying Scotsman” won 10 of the next 13 legs to reach the quarter-final stage for the first time since 2020. Can Gary Anderson go all the way?

Dutch delight for Dirk

It was a dramatic double Dutch affair between Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode, which was the only match of the evening to go all the way to a tiebreak

Dirk made it clear during the week that he was not a fan of the ‘boring’ World Matchplay format, but he dominated throughout, leading Van Gerwen from leg seven until leg twenty-one, with MvG finally nudging ahead 11-10 in the tiebreak. That ignited the fire in Van Duijvenbode’s belly, breaking the throw with an 11 darter in the penultimate leg, and then winning the game 14-12 on throw in the next leg.

Littler hits the perfect leg

It was always going to be a high-quality matchup, but few would have seen what was coming from two former World Matchplay Champions, Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall.

The opening leg saw Luke Littler hit his second World Matchplay nine-darter, just 12 months after he struck perfection against Josh Rock in the semi-finals. It didn’t stop there for ‘The Nuke’, who is looking to defend his World Matchplay title, as he missed the bullseye for a 170 finish the very next leg, before narrowly wiring the D15 to strike perfection once more in leg four.

The power scoring was relentless from Littler, who produced the second highest average ever at the World Matchplay, averaging a whopping 113.68 to knock out a defiant Nathan Aspinall 11-8.

Rock romps Bunting

The final game of the evening failed to match the previous game on the famous Winter Gardens stage, with both Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting playing below their usual standards.

It was a very slow start for the pair at the start, but Josh Rock got better and better as the match went on, easily dismantling a very below-par Bunting, who averaged just 82.9, by 11 legs to 6.

That win for Josh Rock sets up a rematch of last year’s semi-final against 9-dart king Luke Littler.

2026 Betfred World Matchplay

Tuesday July 21 (1900 BST)

Round Two Results x4

Gary Anderson 11-7 Jonny Clayton

Dirk van Duijvenbode 14-12* Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler 11-8 Nathan Aspinall

Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting

Best of 21 legs 

*Tiebreak

Wednesday July 22 (1900 BST)

Round Two Fixtures x4

Cameron Menzies vs Ross Smith

Gian van Veen vs Wessel Nijman

James Wade vs Ryan Searle

Gerwyn Price vs Rob Cross

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