Gian van Veen and Danny Noppert will meet in an all-Dutch affair in the second round of the World Matchplay on Tuesday night. World youth champion van Veen pulled off the biggest upset of this year’s tournament so far by dethroning Luke Humphries with a well-deserved 10-8 victory on the opening night at Blackpool.

That triumph will do wonders for van Veen’s confidence and self-belief moving forward, and he can build on that victory by getting the better of compatriot Noppert. ‘The manner of ‘The Giant’s’ win over Humphries was what impressed me the most, averaging just under 99 and winning the 180 battle 8-3. It was no flash in the pan either - only Humphries, Luke Litler, Josh Rock, and Gary Anderson have averaged more than van Veen (97.98) across the PDC this year.

While Noppert also impressed with a landslide victory over Cameron Menzies on Saturday night, ‘The Freeze’ was never put under any pressure by the Scotsman, who struggled all game long. A clash with van Veen will represent an entirely different kettle of fish, with The Giant looking well placed to march on in Blackpool at the expense of his World Cup partner.

Wessel Nijman and James Wade will face off in an intriguing-looking second-round tie at the World Matchplay. Both players were among the standout performers across the weekend’s action, with Nijman sending Nathan Aspinall packing, while Wade was ruthlessly efficient with a dominant win over Joe Cullen.

The young Dutch ace is the odds-on favourite to triumph here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one go all the way. So instead, I’ll look to Nijman to deliver the most 180s during this contest.

Nijman recorded the second highest average (101.72) ever by a debutant at the World Matchplay in his win over Aspinall on Saturday night. That tally can be attributed to the fact that Nijman crashed in eight 180s on his way to what was a mighty impressive victory. The Uitgeest native has been filling up the treble 20 bed frequently throughout the year, hitting 265 thus far - a tally bettered by only 15 other players.

Wade, in contrast, could only muster up three maximums when overcoming Cullen. ‘The Machine’ tends to do his best work on other areas of the board, so outmaxing heavy-hitter Nijman should prove to be beyond the experienced campaigner.

Wayne Mardle described Jonny Clayton's showing against Martin Schindler on Sunday night as the "best performance of the tournament so far,” and it would have been hard to disagree with that statement until Luke Littler took to the stage. Nevertheless, Clayton continues to look like a player who is back to his best, and I suspect that he will prove too hot to handle for Mike De Decker.

Not only is ‘The Ferret’ consistently producing the goods on the oche, but he also looks to have the demeanour and confidence of a man who believes he can go all the way in Blackpool. The Welshman outmaxed Schindler 8-6 on Sunday night, not to mention he also defied a 103 average to stamp his ticket to the second round.

While there is no denying the De Decker will represent another stern test, the Belgian was solid rather than spectacular when seeing off Dave Chisnall. ‘The Real Deal’ will have to raise his level of performance if he is to keep pace with Clayton, given his current form. Moreover, Clayton has won three of the overall five meetings between the pair, including a 6-0 whitewash on the Euro Tour just last month.