World Matchplay Darts: Nathan Aspinall survives scare as Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton win | Darts News

Defending World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall survived a big scare to stumble over the line in the first round in Blackpool.

Aspinall is struggling with an ongoing elbow injury, which he picked up two months ago in Premier League Darts, when he beat Luke Woodhouse 10-8 on Saturday night.

The 32-year-old will undergo surgery after the tournament and make an early break for his opponents, before going from 3-2 down to 6-3 up.

However, Woodhouse returned to 6-6 before the next four legs were shared and both players showed clear signs of nerves as the quality dipped.

Woodhouse failed to check 138 at 8-8 and Aspinall punished him with a D20 then held the throw to keep his title defence.

Asp will face either Danny Noppert or James Wade in the next round.

Humphries delivered a statement victory

After winning the Darts World Cup with Michael Smith, Luke Humphries showed why he is the player to beat with a sensational 10-4 win over Ricardo. Pietrecko.

The pair last met at the World Championships in December, where Humphries had to fight back to beat Germany.

But this time, the world No. 1 is at his best as he averages 108.76, his highest World Matchplay average in three years.

Pietreczko also averaged over a ton but could do nothing about the flying Humphries, who quickly raced to a 6-3 lead to win 10-4.

“Since the World Cup, my training is back to normal,” Humphries said.

“I finally have a training regime where I train more. The week so far, it feels great but it doesn’t always happen on stage when you feel good. Tonight was fantastic. I felt like a million dollars.

“The double will go in, the score is good but I have to (do well). Ricardo is fantastic. A lot of people have written him off before I played. If I didn’t play the way I did, I would have lost, so I’m very proud of the way I played. “

The price was impressive and Clayton saw Van Barneveld

Gerwyn Price scored an impressive 10-4 win over Daryl Gurney in his first televised match since withdrawing from the World Cup for medical reasons.

Price went up 4-1 but was pulled back to 5-4 by Gurney. However, the Welshman won six legs in a row and unleashed his traditional big roar to show that he will be a player to watch next week in Blackpool.

“It’s good to see the reaction of Price. We haven’t seen him like that for a while,” he said Sky Sports‘Wayne Mardle.

“I want to see him play like that and react like that.

“He’s really nice but he doesn’t look relaxed right now. However, the most I’ve seen him relax.”

Jonny Clayton defeated Raymond van Barneveld in another match on the opening night at the Winter Gardens.

Clayton led 7-3 as Van Barneveld couldn’t take the chance, but the Dutchman found his rhythm after the second interval and clawed his way back to 7-6.

Just when it looked like Van Barneveld might make a comeback, Clayton rediscovered his doubles form and won 10-7.

What happened on Sunday in World Matchplay?

Due to the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain, the Sunday session is over moved to 12.30pm and 4.30pm – live on Sky Sports Action

The first session features 2020 Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh as he takes on Germany’s Martin Schindler.

Danny Noppert and James Wade meet in their highly anticipated first round clash, with Stephen Bunting the evening’s favorite against Ryan Joyce.

After a short break, action resumes at 4.30pm with former world champion Rob Cross versus Gian van Veen.

Peter Wright faced Andrew Gilding and Dave Chisnall also played on a busy day of darts in Blackpool.

World Matchplay continues on Sunday with two sessions at 12pm and 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports Action. Get instant access to all World Matchplay for £26 with NOW.

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