By Harry Eddolls, in Blackpool
Yesterday saw the conclusion of the first round of the World Matchplay, with four more matches taking place. There was plenty of reaction from the players involved after they had taken to the oche.
Read on below, for the best quotes from the Match Day 3 at the Winter Gardens.
First to face the media was Chris Dobey, who beat the German Ricardo Pietreczko. When he was asked about his expectations for the tournament, he said: “It was just dig in. I’ve come in in some good form, playing alright. I feel like I can go all the way. If I bring my A-game then it will take an A-game to beat it, but it’s about bringing it on the night. I didn’t need to do that tonight, tonight was good enough.”
Later on, he was asked about whether he’s looking to find a top four spot in the rankings. Dobey replied:
“You want to be in the top four no matter what, it guarantees yourself Premier League. That’s the goal, you want to be amongst the elite and playing there every year, it’s just about digging in in these major competitions and going as far as possible. I’m due a win in a major.
“The last one I won was unranked, and that feels like a lifetime ago, so you want to be back in the mix and I want to start competing for these titles.” Dobey was then asked whether seeing some of the big names crash out early put more pressure on himself, to which he replied:
“No it puts more pressure on Luke Littler. It’s got nothing to do with me I’ll just keep plodding along, just do my job, and hopefully keep winning.”
Next in front of the microphones was Welshman Gerwyn Price, who overcame Daryl Gurney in a feisty encounter. When asked to sum up his performance, he said:
“To be honest, I thought I was struggling, but I came off and saw the stats and I averaged around 100 which is decent. I felt like I was pretty poor in patches and didn’t play particularly well, there’s a lot more in the tank.”
Price responded to how he felt that crowds were starting to get behind him.
Price said: “You do get the odd boos here and there, but over the last 12-18 months, especially in Germany, a lot more in England now, the crowd’s on my side which is nice. It does help, rather than people booing and putting you off, when they’re right behind you in key points of matches it definitely helps and gets you over the winning line sometimes, and I think it did today.”
Michael Van Gerwen was the next name to face the press, after he came past fellow Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld. When he asked if he made the victory more difficult than it should have been, he said:
“Maybe, but we all know where I’m coming from, it’s no rocket science. Not enough match rhythm, but my head is there that’s a good thing. Raymond played quite poorly, it was making me think ‘Come on Mike, if you can’t beat him you can’t beat anyone’.”
When he was asked how he was feeling to play someone like ‘Barney’, MVG said: “They want to hype it. If you look to the facts it’s not a hype, they want to make it a clash. I understand that, what Raymond did for the sport is incredible, but darts moves on, and darts doesn’t stop for anyone, not even for me, for Phil Taylor, for no one, simple as that.”
The final name in front of the media was Josh Rock, who became the last name to book his place in the second round by beating Ross Smith. Like everyone he was asked to sum up his performance, to which he said:
“I didn’t actually think I’d played that well, quite a few stray darts, and looked up at the stats, and thought ‘ok actually played quite decent’, and was like ‘wow’.”
Rocky was then asked about how he was feeling to play the legendary Michael Van Gerwen in the second round. “It’s a real opportunity, but we all know Michael Van Gerwen is a 3-time world champion, he’s won the Matchplay 5-6 times, he knows how to win.
“I’m looking forward to playing one of the best players in the world, and I’ve played him before, hit 9-darters, but I’m up there to try my best to win a trophy.”
Towards the end of the press conference, Rock was asked about whether he thinks he could be included in the Premier League, to which he replied:
“That’s up to Matt Porter, that’s not up to me. Fingers crossed, touch wood. I’ll take it if I get it, but I’m here to win trophies, I’m not here to just expect to get Premier League next year whatsoever. I haven’t proven myself yet so I need to prove myself.”