Stephen Bunting prevails in tie-break thriller against Gary Anderson as Jonny Clayton excels at World Matchplay

The first few Quarter-Finals are set at the World Matchplay with Stephen Bunting facing off against Jonny Clayton, while James Wade faces Gian van Veen after another night of action in Blackpool.

The big tie of the night saw Bunting face Gary Anderson. The People’s Champion facing the two-time World Champion and we saw a tie-break as ‘The Bullet’ was taken all the way but as his walk-on says he’s bulletproof. He certainly was as he dodged the late Anderson surge to move through.

Anderson pinned double eight for a break to open the tie. With Bunting not firing at all yet, he went 2-0 up.

He pinned double 20 to go 3-1 up. Anderson missed two darts to make it 4-1 but Bunting missed three for 3-2 and Anderson returned only to miss three at double five and Bunting went one behind.

Bunting hit double three to make it 3-3 and seal parity. But Anderson broke straight back on double 10 after Bunting missed darts to hold.

Anderson went 6-4 up pinning double 10. Bunting hit double two to hold and make it 6-5 down. He broke for 6-6 and suddenly surged into an 8-6 lead breaking again. He hit double 10 for it and seemed to have cracked the code.

He hit double three to go 9-6 up. But Anderson pinned double five for 9-7 down and just when it looked like he was down and out he broke for 10-9 down. Bunting was stranded one away from the finishing line and was forced into extra time. He kept composed though.

He went one away hitting double 18 to make it 11-10 and completed the win in style with a 112 checkout after Anderson spurned darts to remain in contention.

2023 runner-up Jonny Clayton also continued his excellent form with ‘The Ferret’ taking down Mike de Decker in an 11-8 win to emerge once again as one of the real outsiders becoming a forerunner for the title.

He did so with the aid of nine 180’s to book his spot in the Quarter-Finals in Blackpool. It was a pretty pedestrian start with Clayton thinking he had the lead at 4-2 when he broke on double 18. But De Decker was straight back at him hitting double nine for 4-3. He held from there but Clayton surged away.

He hit a 13-darter on double 16 to break and go 6-4 up before holding for 7-4 on double two. He then broke again with an epic 11-darter hitting double 16 for 8-4. Albeit De Decker hit straight back with a 130 checkout for 8-5. He held for 8-6 to cancel out that break.

Clayton hit double 16 to hold for 9-6 and De Decker was needing a spark and another break to stay in touch. Clayton was on the cusp and then pinned 81 on the bull to seal the win.

Wade excels in mixed night for Dutch stars

It was mixed success for the Dutch players as Gian van Veen moved through at the expense of Danny Noppert in a Double Dutch affair. He moved into the Quarter-Finals first and now plays James Wade who also sealed victory. He ended the run of Wessel Nijman.

In the Van Veen-Noppert clash, the former hit a 150 checkout before landing double eight to hit the front despite averaging only 89 to Noppert’s 98. He was leading 3-2. But he started to hit the front in a major way from there.

He won seven legs on the spin before Noppert stopped the rot at the interval. He broke for 8-5 with a 112 checkout but that was very much all he wrote for Noppert as Van Veen broke back with a 100 checkout.

He followed that up pinning double eight for 10-5 before completing the win hitting double eight to seal the win.

While Wade following that saw off Wessel Nijman in a superb win that Wade as ever wasn’t too enamoured with in his post match press conference. He averaged 102, hit five 180’s and had a 64.7% doubling percentage.

Wade led early with a 107 average going 3-2 up narrowly but he extended it from there with Nijman only winning one more leg up to an 8-4 lead for Wade. He crashed in a 126 checkout on the bull for 8-4 down.

He broke with a 76 checkout for 9-4 before he held on double 10 what else for 10-4. Nijman managed to get a consolation hold but Wade held on double 20 for a 13-darter and the win. He now faces Van Veen in the Quarter-Finals.