Image source, Getty Images
- author, Sam Drury
- role, BBC Sports Reporter
Former champion Peter Wright continued to struggle in 2024, losing to Andrew Gilding in the first round of the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
The two-time world champions struggled in the Premier League, finishing bottom of the table and their struggles continued with a 10-5 defeat to Gilding.
Wright, who won the 2021 Match Play, was down a break early but rallied back to win at 4-4.
But a poor finish saw him broken again and Gilding, ranked 20th in the world, continued to press on, sending Wright to his first first-round defeat in match play since 2014.
Wright was not the only big name player to fall at the first hurdle, with seventh seed Dave Chisnall suffering a heavy 2-10 defeat to Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski.
Ratajski led 7–0 and handed Chisnall his biggest defeat in match play.
The speed of Ratajski’s victory also delighted the Blackpool crowd, who finished in time to watch England v Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Meanwhile, Rob Cross overcame a major crisis to beat Jan van Veen in the final shootout.
Dutchman Van Veen threw three match darts and missed six, but Kross won 13-12 to progress to the second round.
Cross, the sixth seed, had only made it past the first round twice in the past four years and was considered certain to be eliminated early despite having a 100.42 average.
But the 22-year-old Van Veen, making his match play debut, repeatedly let him slip away and Cross displayed a dominant leg throw in the deciding match.
Former BDO World Champion and Masters winner Stephen Bunting also struggled to qualify for the next round.
The Liverpool native scored seven 180s but needed more to beat Ryan Joyce, ranked 35th in the world, 12-10.
There was no such drama for 2007 champion James Wade, who beat Dutchman Danny Noppert, ranked 12th in the world, 10-5.
Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh beat Germany’s Martin Schindler 10-6 with a total of 15 maximums – van den Bergh also hit a nine-dart – while Ross Smith followed up his Players Championship victory with a 10-4 win over Josh Lock.
Joe Cullen also progressed to the second round with a 10-4 win over Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan.