The first four matches of the second round has been played, this evening the last four will be played.
My heart rate can not be the only one that has not yet fallen. Wow for a second round start. First, Dave Chisnall makes one of the wildest comebacks against Michael Smith. Down by 1-7 and still win by 11-8, it’s simply impressive.
Cullen continued the style and threw Gurney out of the tournament by 11-3, after which Dutch Jeffrey de Zwaan showed strength and beat Adrian Lewis in an extremely entertaining match, with the numbers 11-9. And last but not least, Gary Anderson was victorious when he beat Raymond van Barneveld with 11-9 in an even match.
Today there will be four new matches, and time will show, if the level of entertaining continues.
The first match is between Simon Whitlock and James Wade. Whitlock easily moved on from the first round when he met Richard North, who was not convincing at all. Wade had to fight a bit more for it when he beat Jermaine Wattimena by 12-10. The two have so far met twice in 2018 and James Wade has won both times, so Whitlock will probably want to end that streak.
The second match of the evening is between Mensur Suljovic and Ian White. Both players proceeded from the first round, where Ian White impressed with eight maximums. The two players have met each other a handful of times over the past few years, but we have to go back to 2016 to find Whites recent victory.
After that, Rob Cross will face Darren Webster. Both players comfortably moved on from the first round and are now meeting each other for the third time. Rob Cross has been the winner of the two previous showdowns.
The last match of the evening is between Peter Wright and Kim Huybrechts. The Belgian had some trouble moving on from the first round, where he met John Henderson. In fact, the game went to the 25th and deciding leg before Huybrechts could go away with a victory. Peter Wright, on the other hand, moved on easily when he won 10-5 over Jelle Klaasen, which certainly did not impress.
Wednesday July 24
Second Round
Simon Whitlock v James Wade
Mensur Suljovic v Ian White
Rob Cross v Darren Webster
Peter Wright v Kim Huybrechts