Tungsten lovers across the globe enjoyed another evening of high-quality and dramatic darts as round two of the 2026 Betfred World Matchplay came to a close.

What began with thirty-two hopefuls arriving in Blackpool armed with their darts, dreams, buckets full of sand and lofty ambitions has now been reduced to just eight players, each still chasing the opportunity to lift the famous Phil Taylor Trophy.

Before moving on to the action, it is important to take a moment to acknowledge a far more significant matter.

As we all know, Cameron Menzies was forced to withdraw from his match against Ross Smith after only a few legs on medical advice. The Scot suffered a severe bout of dizziness and, thanks to the attentiveness of the officials and Smudger himself, was quickly assisted from the stage and taken backstage for assessment.

Once there, Cameron received immediate care from the outstanding team at St John Ambulance and, much to everyone’s relief, was later deemed well enough to return to his hotel.

Enormous credit must go to everyone involved for the speed, professionalism and care shown throughout the incident. Their swift response ensured Cameron received the attention he needed as quickly as possible.

Naturally, this is not how Ross Smith would have wanted to progress to the quarter-finals. However, moments such as these serve as an important reminder that there are things far more important than darts, and health will always be at the very top of that list.

Thankfully, Cameron is now recovering well. While it is undoubtedly disappointing that he was unable to complete what promised to be an intriguing contest against Ross, the most important outcome is that he is safe, receiving the care he needs and on the road to recovery.

From everyone in the darts community, we send our very best wishes to Cammy. Take care of yourself, mate. We are all delighted to hear you are doing well, and we look forward to seeing you back where you belong when the time is right.

Right, onto the action. And with the above contest only lasting a few legs – many probably wish other games including, let’s say more methodical players was a similar duration, the next cab off the rank which happened to be an all Dutch one was giving an early heads up.

Effectively, kicking off the night – two Netherland boys who are certain to be involved in the business end of major PDC TV tournaments for many a year to come – Gian van Veen and Wessel Nijman.

Also, a great advert for darting stereotypes of the past. If Wessel popped up in the mid-80s, you’d be hard pressed to guess what he does for a living. Tall and slim didn’t exactly scream dart player back then – and it barely does now.

Back in those days, if you turned up at a darts venue looking like Nijman, people would probably assume you had delivered the barrels, fixed the heating system or were there to collect glasses. Yet Wes is one of the best around. And Gian is far from rotund either. Between them they have done more damage to the traditional darts body shape than a decade of gym memberships and sugar-free energy drinks.

Wessel, very much a man in form, raking in EIGHT Pro Tour titles to his name this season and making enough to feed a small island for a year or buy everyone in the Winter Gardens a pint. In fairness, buying everyone in any darts venue a pint these days probably requires a second mortgage, a small business loan and written permission from the Bank of England.

He was facing compatriot Van Veen who, now has thankfully put his own medical issues to bed, is looking like a Harry Potter who is plotting an evil spell on someone. Every time the cameras zoom in, he has the expression of a man who has just discovered someone has parked in his space and is quietly planning revenge involving dark arts and mild inconvenience.

It was Gian who took the early advantage to lead 4-1. Wessel then got back on track and from that point, it was like a Dutch featherweight bout with the lads whacking one another with pillow cases almost leg for leg.

Neither seemed remotely interested in missing. It became one of those matches where every dart looked destined for its intended destination, much like Amazon Prime drivers finding your house at 9:58pm after claiming all day they couldn’t locate the street.

Prior to the start, the smart money was it would eventually go into overtime. And that it did. A magnificent 148 checkout by GVV at 11-10 down saved his skin. Whether his countryman would have taken out 64 for the match, we will never know. But the smart money would have been in Nijman pinning it.

The pair were playing so well that any missed double felt less like a mistake and more like a software glitch. Somewhere backstage, a technician was probably checking whether both players had accidentally been plugged directly into the mains electricity supply.

After an absorbing battle, it was Gian who edged to the line first. Both boys managed to accurately pin exactly 50% of their attempts at doubles. So it was a contest where generally speaking, blink and you lose the leg. Go and make a cup of tea and there was a decent chance you’d return to find three more legs had disappeared and somebody was already being interviewed on stage.

The next tungsten tussle between Gerwyn Price and Rob Cross was far less dramatic with the Welshman securing a relatively drama free victory.

This one came down to doubling. Both had almost identical attempts at the outer ring, but it was the Iceman who pinned twice as many as his electricity monikered opponent. Once the chaps returned after the second interval, there only looked like one winner. The bloke with the chippy and now apparently, a good few sheep.

At this point Price is collecting side hustles at a faster rate than he collects legs. Former rugby player, darts star, chip shop owner and unofficial mayor of every Welsh village containing livestock.

Cross never really got the surge going. Which, for a man nicknamed Voltage, feels a little unfortunate. There were occasional sparks, a flicker here and there, but this was less National Grid and more a television remote whose batteries desperately need replacing. Meanwhile Price was stomping about the stage with all the subtlety of a rhinoceros trying to parallel park.

Wrapping up round two, James Wade overcoming Ryan Searle with perhaps more wiggle room than the 11-8 scoreline suggests.

The Aldershot Ace has made a living out simply being consistently effective. Pick someone who, without being flamboyant, will do the right things breath-takingly brilliant, and James Wade is your man.

He is the darts equivalent of that annoyingly competent colleague who never appears stressed, never seems rushed, never makes a fuss and somehow still gets promoted ahead of everyone else. You spend years trying to work out how they do it before eventually accepting they are simply better at life than the rest of us.

In the match against Ryan Searle, we witnessed a perfect execution where Wadey took control early on over Searle and never really looked like relinquishing his strong grip on proceedings. With an average a tad below the ton mark and some clinical finishing – it’s what the decorated leftie does well. There was no drama, no panic, no unnecessary excitement. James Wade treats chaos the way a vampire treats sunlight. He wants absolutely nothing to do with it.

In the end, he basically ‘Wadied’ Heavy Metal and marched onto what feels like his one hundredth World Matchplay quarter-final. At this stage, seeing James Wade in the latter rounds of the Matchplay feels as inevitable as British summer rain arriving five minutes after you’ve decided not to take a coat.

You half expect him to retire, disappear for ten years, return aged 55 and somehow still be standing in a quarter-final averaging 98 while looking mildly irritated by the whole experience.

Going to end this by once again sending all our best wishes to Cammy and applaud Ross and the officials on stage for their great work.