More Matchplay misery for Gerwyn Price

Gerwyn Price's miserable run at the Betfred World Matchplay continued with a 10-7 defeat to Danny Noppert on Monday night in Milton Keynes, as five more first round matches took place.

World number three Price struggled from the start, while Noppert took full advantage to inflict a fourth successive round one defeat on the Welshman at the summer's biggest tournament.

Rising Dutch talent Noppert landed five 180s on his way to round two in his second World Matchplay appearance, having made his debut in 2019.

"It is a big win, I'm a really happy man," said a delighted Noppert. "He didn't play his best game, and it wasn't my best game but I'm really happy to win.

"It was different at the beginning of the match, a little bit strange without a crowd, but I'm always happy to play on stage and I can look forward to the next match.

"I won and that's the most important thing - I can play better and I need to perform better. I believe that I can beat everyone if I play at my best level but you need to learn from every game."

Price produced checkouts of 114, 122 and 70 across the opening ten legs, compensating for his unusually low scoring, to stay in touch at 6-4 down at the second interval.

Noppert took three of the next four legs, including an 89 finish ending on the bullseye, as he reached the brink of victory at 9-5.

A 98 checkout from Price, followed by four missed match darts from Noppert in the following leg, offered the two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion a possible route to recovery.

However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed by Noppert, who kept his cool to take out 88, sealing a significant win in his PDC career.

Noppert will take on Adrian Lewis in round two, after the 2013 World Matchplay runner-up roared his way to an 11-9 victory over Steve Beaton.

Lewis, who hit six 180s and missed just eight darts at double as he recorded his highest TV average in 18 months of 97.27, opened up a two-leg advantage for the first time in the contest at 6-4.

The lead was maintained until Beaton, in his 21st World Matchplay appearance, struck a 111 checkout to level at 8-8, before successive holds of throw took the match to a tie-break.

A 104 finish saw Lewis hold throw before he took advantage of Beaton's low scoring in the following leg, booking his place in the last 16 with a 72 finish.

Joe Cullen avenged his 10-0 defeat to Ian White in the 2019 event, coming through the first sudden-death leg of this year's tournament to claim a hard-fought 13-12 victory.

Vincent van der Voort ended his nine-year wait for a World Matchplay win as he overcame five-time quarter-finalist Dave Chisnall 10-6 in the opening game of the night.

Daryl Gurney enjoyed a hot-streak of five consecutive legs to eventually run out a comfortable 10-5 winner against Ricky Evans