Peter Wright’s first TV appearance as a two-time World Champion ended in defeat at the hands of Simon Whitlock in the second round of the Ladbrokes Masters on Saturday in Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n
Just 26 days on from winning his second World Championship, Wright was beaten 10-8 by Whitlock as the Australian continued to make the most of his late call-up to the event.<\/p>\n
Whitlock, who stepped in to replace Danny Noppert, will return to the Marshall Arena for Sunday’s final day of action, along with Saturday’s seven other winners – who include reigning champion Jonny Clayton, world number one Gerwyn Price and five-time Masters winner Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n
Whitlock produced a characteristically battling performance to spoil Wright’s return to action as he reached his first Masters quarter-final since 2013.<\/p>\n
Three consecutive legs saw the 52 year-old move within a leg of the match at 9-5, only for Wright to reply in kind to cut the gap to 9-8.<\/p>\n
Despite a 180 from Wright in the following leg, Whitlock produced a 15-darter to get over the line.
\n“Peter has just won the World Championship, so it’s obviously a big scalp to take,” said Whitlock. <\/p>\n
“I got a bit panicky and nervous towards the end but thankfully I got it done. <\/p>\n
“It’s more relaxing knowing you shouldn’t be in a tournament, I feel like there’s no pressure on me.”<\/p>\n
Whitlock’s quarter-final opponent will be Jose de Sousa, who enjoyed a return to form in Saturday’s opening tie as he defeated Rob Cross 10-7 to become the first player to reach the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
World number seven De Sousa bounced back from a disappointing early exit at the World Championship to secure his first Masters victory, which he sealed with a 122 checkout on the bull.<\/p>\n
Wales’ top two Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton will meet in a mouth-watering quarter-final after seeing off Ryan Searle and Dimitri Van den Bergh respectively.<\/p>\n
Price landed a 164 checkout in his 10-8 win in a match the world number one led throughout despite pressure from debutant Searle.<\/p>\n
“I was thinking too much in that game instead of just playing,” Price admitted. “I felt under enormous pressure today.<\/p>\n
“I’ve had a full month off and hardly practiced and I think that showed tonight, I was a bit rusty.
\n“I need to up my game if I want to beat Jonny, he’s a fantastic player who won a lot of titles last year.”<\/p>\n
Clayton’s passage through was less straight forward as he came through a 19-leg thriller to keep alive his hopes of retaining the title.<\/p>\n
With Clayton leading 9-6, Van den Bergh showed resilience to force a decider, only for the Welshman to land a timely 180 before wrapping up the win with an 88 checkout in the following visit.<\/p>\n
“Dimitri didn’t go away, he’s a class player and I’m so glad to get over that mark,” said Clayton.<\/p>\n
“I just could not pull away from him; it was good timing with the 180 in the last leg.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy with how I played considering we’re just coming back from a break.”<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen survived five match darts from Luke Humphries as he began his quest for a sixth Masters title in dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n
A stunning burst from Humphries saw him win four legs in a row to move within a famous win at 9-7, but the debutant’s five missed doubles in leg 18 proved costly.<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen took advantage of Humphries’ misses with a crucial last dart double ten for an 80 checkout to force a decider in which he outscored his opponent.<\/p>\n
“Games like this are always tough,” said Van Gerwen. “I was far from my best tonight, I struggled to get myself going.<\/p>\n
“I was trying too hard, I don’t know why. I made mistakes and you can only blame yourself. I have to do better tomorrow, simple as that.”<\/p>\n
The Dutchman will now face Joe Cullen, who produced one of his finest ever displays in a televised event in a 10-1 thrashing of Gary Anderson.<\/p>\n
A ruthless performance from Cullen saw him average 106.3, pinning three ton-plus checkouts in successive legs – including a 167 combination – and missing just three double attempts.<\/p>\n
The 2017 runner-up had no answer to the barrage from Cullen, who is into the quarter-finals for the second time in his career.<\/p>\n
“Everything I went for today I felt like I was going to hit,” said Cullen.<\/p>\n
“Normally my game is about scoring heavily to give myself time to hit a double but today my doubles were going in first or second time.<\/p>\n
“It’s a brilliant feeling to have, especially on a TV stage. I don’t want to be remembered as a nearly man so it’s time I won a big one, maybe it will be tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Michael Smith and Dave Chisnall will meet in an all-St Helens clash after victories over Krzysztof Ratajski and James Wade respectively.<\/p>\n
In his first outing since losing a second World Championship final, Smith averaged 105.49 in an impressive 10-6 win in which he fired in eight 180s and a 164 finish.<\/p>\n
“I thought I played well once I got going, I was maybe guilty of enjoying the crowd too much in the first couple of legs,” Smith admitted.<\/p>\n
“Fair play to Krzysztof, he never gave up and he showed what a classy player he is especially towards the end.<\/p>\n
“I’m pleased with my mind and where my game is at the moment. Ally Pally is gone now, it’s all about 2022.”<\/p>\n
Chisnall also averaged over a ton (100.19) and hit nine 180s in a dominant 10-4 defeat of 2014 champion Wade.<\/p>\n
After going 3-2 down, Chisnall reeled off the next seven legs without reply before finishing the job to book his place in the last eight for a fourth consecutive year.<\/p>\n
Sunday’s action on the decisive final day will begin at 1245 GMT with the quarter-finals, before the semi-finals and final take place from 1900 GMT.<\/p>\n
2022 Ladbrokes Masters Evening Session<\/strong> Sunday January 30 Evening Session (1900 GMT) Final<\/strong> Peter Wright’s first TV appearance as a two-time World Champion ended in defeat at the hands of Simon Whitlock in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSaturday January 29
\nSecond Round
\nAfternoon Session<\/strong>
\nJose de Sousa 10-7 Rob Cross
\nJoe Cullen 10-1 Gary Anderson
\nMichael Smith 10-6 Krzysztof Ratajski
\nDave Chisnall 10-4 James Wade<\/p>\n
\nJonny Clayton 10-9 Dimitri Van den Bergh
\nGerwyn Price 10-8 Ryan Searle
\nSimon Whitlock 10-8 Peter Wright
\nMichael van Gerwen 10-9 Luke Humphries<\/p>\n
\nAfternoon Session (1245 GMT)
\nQuarter-Finals<\/strong>
\nDave Chisnall v Michael Smith
\nGerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
\nSimon Whitlock v Jose de Sousa
\nMichael van Gerwen v Joe Cullen<\/p>\n
\nSemi-Finals<\/strong>
\nPrice\/Clayton v Chisnall\/Smith
\nWhitlock\/De Sousa v Van Gerwen\/Cullen<\/p>\n
\nPrice\/Clayton\/Chisnall\/Smith v Whitlock\/De Sousa\/Van Gerwen\/Cullen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"