In the final day of PDC World Darts Championship action in 2021, the betting favourites won out to set up a tantalising New Year’s Day quarter-finals line-up. TIBS News reviews the action.
AFTERNOON SESSION
Mervyn King reigns supreme
The darting day starting off with a cracker. Mervyn King looked down and out at 3-1 down to Australian Raymond Smith, but a complete drop off in form from Smith allowed the 21st seed to come back and take the match 4-3.
‘The King’ endured an absolute nightmare on the doubles, especially early on in the game, missing 25 darts at the outer ring. But Smith’s stats ended up poorer and the experienced King won out, with a 124-bullseye checkout in the deciding set putting the nail in the coffin.
Callum Rydz the last non-seeded player standing
The next match was the battle of the final two non-seeded competitors left in the tournament as Callum Rydz continued his surprising run by running through Scotland’s Alan Soutar.
Soutar, a fireman by trade, ended Rydz’s perfect record by taking advantage of missed doubles and nailing a double 18 to win the first set.
But that was the end of Soutar’s success as Rydz came back from the break and dominated proceedings. He took out 81 to level the match at one set a piece and then started the third set with a monster 122 checkout.
Rydz closed out set four with a 113-finish and cruised through the fifth, making it 10-successive legs to close out the match and reach his first World Championship quarter-final.
Luke Humphries beats Chris Dobey
The final match of the afternoon was another Ally Pally classic as Luke Humphries came back from being 3-1 down to defeat Chris Dobey 4-3.
Unlike in King vs Smith, Humphries never looked down and out. In the first set, ‘Cool Hand’ averaged 112 but Dobey hit clinical doubles to clinch the set.
Dobey finally did blink in the third set, missing darts for a 3-0 lead, but responded to go 3-1 up and with the throw in set five.
Humphries broke at the start of fifth set with a 90-checkout and went on to win that set. Another clinical finish of 68 in set six helped him to level the match and take it all the way.
There was time for more drama as he missed six match darts before finally hitting double one to end a last-16 encounter which one day might be the final itself.
EVENING SESSION
James Wade breezes through to the quarter-finals
James Wade cruised through to a ninth quarter-final following a dominant 4-0 win over Martijn Kleermaker in the opening match of the evening.
Wade, who was given a bye due to Vincent van der Voort’s positive Covid test, picked up where he left off in round two by knocking off another Dutchman, despite not hitting a 180.
Kleermaker was unable to reproduce the goods that saw him shock Joe Cullen in round three as Wade nailed three ton-plus finishes in an uneventful rout.
Gary Anderson edges past Rob Cross in a thriller
However, it wasn’t an uneventful evening for long as the next match between two-time world champion Gary Anderson and one-time winner Rob Cross produced another classic.
Anderson raced out to a 2-1 set lead after a brilliant 170-checkout secured a break of throw in the third set, and extended his advantage with finishes of 102, 116 and 60 in the fourth set.
Cross though refused to give in, first throwing a 144-finish to win the fifth set and reduce the gap to one, and then fighting back from 2-0 down in set six to take the match the distance.
Cross had the darts in set seven until another 12-dart leg from Anderson gave him a chance to throw for the win. It took five match darts, but the Scotsman nailed tops to win 4-3.
All Wright on the night for Peter
In the final last-16 tie, 2020 champion Peter Wright cruised to 4-1 victory over 15th seed Ryan Searle.
Wright landed seven maximums and averaged 98.91 in a game that didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Searle squandered five darts at double in the opening leg, setting the tone for a scrappy first set which went the way of Wright.
Wright then followed up a 111-finish with a brilliant 11-darter to double his lead with a 108-set average.
Searle halved the deficit with a sublime 151-finish but his success was short-lived when Wright dominated set four with a sweep in legs.
The fifth set followed a similar pattern and having nailed a 132-checkout in the penultimate leg, Wright sank double 18 with his sixth match dart to remain on course for a second world crown.
By Charlie Parker
