By Harry Eddolls, in Blackpool
There was plenty of action across day 2 of the World Matchplay, with plenty of reaction coming from the players involved.
Read on below, for the best quotes from the darts players, as they reacted to their performances today.
We will start with Andrew Gilding, who came out on the right end of a mammoth battle against Damon Heta, winning 12-10.
When Goldfinger was asked about the mental strength he had to display to get the job done, he said: “That is a development. A few years ago, I would’ve crumbled, I reckon. Now, I’m getting so much experience under my belt that those sort of things I can handle now.”
The Englishman was also asked about how he felt going for the nine darter, to which he replied: “My heart was beating. I so badly want that gold nine dart pin. I’ve got a few silver ones, but I want the gold one so badly. Next time I won’t be quite so nervous, hopefully.”
Moving on, we come to Mike De Decker, who came past a seed in Dave Chisnall. When asked to reflect on his performance, he gave a very brief response, saying: “Ups and downs, good spells bad spells, that’s kind of how the game went.”
Later on, he was asked about his inclusion in World Series events in Australia and New Zealand, to which he said: “It’s always nice to get recognised for what you do and me getting an invite to Australia and New Zealand shows the PDC recognise what I did last year.”
In keeping with this, he was asked whether he stood by comments he made criticising selection for the Premier League and previous World Series events. To this, De Decker said: “I still stand by those comments, but no added pressure though. I’m going to enjoy the experience and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Next, it was Gary Anderson who took to the mic after beating Luke Woodhouse. When asked why he was struggling to convert his form the floor onto the stage, he was very open about how he now struggles with darts due to his age. He said: “I’m too old for it, I really am. I’m trying. People say ‘get on with it’, but I’m struggling, it is hard work.”
Later on, he talked about how darts isn’t what it used to be due to the young players coming in. Anderson said: “The youngsters are boring. You talk to them and they’re too busy looking at their phones. You’ve got to have a laugh haven’t you, if you don’t have a laugh life is boring, and that’s that. If you don’t have a laugh it’s one of these things. You’ve got to enjoy what you do, if you don’t like you don’t do it. You’ve got to enjoy it and have a laugh.”
The sensation that is Luke Littler spoke to media after his demolition job of Ryan Searle. When he was asked about how he felt being up on the Winter Gardens stage, he said: “I settled in so quick. Even the first leg with the break of throw on the bullseye that was massive for myself, to obviously break the throw and then kick on and go on to win the match and get that winning feeling back.”
When he was asked about whether his five month trophy drought makes him more eager to get back in the winners enclosure, Littler said: “It definitely makes me hungry, obviously I want to pick up a title, whenever it may be. But to play like I did tonight, with the double percentage being there, just got to look forward to round two.”
Finally, it was Stephen Bunting’s turn to face the press, after his victory against Ryan Joyce. Once again he was asked to sum up how he felt about the game, to which he replied: “The start of the game was very weird, just could not get going I don’t know why, I was playing so well in the practice room. But towards the end of the game I found my best form, obviously almost hit the 9 darter.
“The feelings of confidence were showing towards the end, I was hitting a lot more trebles towards the end, which gave me the confidence to go on and win the game.”
When he was asked how he was feeling to face the legendary Gary Anderson in the second round, Bunting said: “Really excited. Gary Anderson is a fantastic player. He’s won the Matchplay before, couple of times world champion, he’s a stalwart in PDC history, in the BDO as well when I used to play there.
“He’s a tough opponent, but probably not as good as he was 3-5 years ago, but he’s still very dangerous, and I need to make sure I play the best I can or I’ll be going home.”
Towards the end of the press conference, he was asked how important the crowd was in helping him get over the line yesterday. In response to this, he said: “The stage was fantastic, the walk on was great. I could feel the support as soon as I walked on the stage, and it’s so important now the brand that I’ve built, the support I’ve built, the YouTube, the TikTok, everything about what we’ve done is genuine.
“It means a lot, not just to me but to the fans, you can see the support that I’ve got. Just turning up at the venue there was 50-60 people running down the street after me trying to get autographs, so it makes me feel extra special, and I love the support and the fans are why I play.”