Luke Humphries sets up Peter Wright last-16 clash as Gerwyn Price beats Joe Cullen in sudden death thriller

Luke Humphries stormed into the fourth round of the World Darts Championship with a straight sets victory over Nick Kenny, the same evening Gerwyn Price triumphed in a thrilling final against Joe Cullen.

World number 1 Humphries won nine of the last 10 rounds and averaged 98.59 to claim a 4-0 victory over Kenny, setting up a round of 16 clash between the defending champion and two-time winner Peter Wright .

Wright, despite visible illness, produced arguably his best performance of a difficult 2024 by beating Jermaine Wattimena 4-2.

Price defeats Cullen despite “Big Fish” in epic finale

Earlier, Price had a remarkable opening match against Cullen in which he coughed up a 3-0 lead in sets and repelled three match darts while being broken three times when throwing for the match.

Two of those missed darts preceded an incredible 170 ‘Big Fish’ from Cullen – just one second for the tournament – ​​which leveled the final set at 5-5 and forced a sudden death stage.

However, it was 2021 winner Price who finally secured his place in the fourth round with a seventh consecutive throwing break as he finally found the top with his fourth match dart, subsequently setting up a meeting with his fellow Welshman Jonny Clayton.

“The crowd was way behind him and I actually thought I was going to lose that match,” Price said afterward.

“I put myself in this position, but I got out of it. I held on until the end and luckily got the victory.

“I have a lot more in the tank and I will play a lot better than I did tonight.” I did enough to win – and I’m just happy with that.

In the second match of the evening, Wright produced a performance that belied his health issues, with “Snakebite” apologetically denying the crowd his signature dance moves before coughing throughout his victory over Wattimena.

The 2020 and 2022 champion had an impressive average of 96.19, and while Wattimena himself was up at 96.50, it was Wright who delivered in key moments to keep the Dutchman at bay.

He will now face Humphries in the next round who, despite not producing his best darts, made easy work of Kenny in Friday night’s final contest.

The defending champion stole the first set with a throwing break in the final stage after a costly missed dart by Kenny at double 16, when he was broken to start the second, but any thoughts of a closely contested battle have was quickly put to bed as Humphries staggered. on nine of the next 10 rounds – including a check-out of 145 in the fourth set.

Humphries relishes Wright shock | “There is so much more to give”

“It was one of those games where I didn’t want to take it for granted,” Humphries said.

“I wasn’t shooting. I felt there was so much more to give, it wasn’t from me, but from a strong performance. As long as I can continue to win every set, no sets lost, that’s all that matters.

“I’m not going to give up this world title without a fight. It’s not my best, but when someone pushes me, I know I can deliver the goods.

Looking ahead to his meeting with Wright, Humphries added: “He said a few things in the last round. He said Barney [Raymond van Barneveld] was going to crush me and he was going to crush Jermaine [Wattimena].

“He said he’s not afraid of me and Luke Littler, so we’ll see when we play again.”

Bunting advances to fourth round after Heta hits nine darts in defeat

In the afternoon session, Stephen Bunting advanced to the fourth round by defeating Latvia’s Madars Razma, while Damon Heta launched a sensational nine-darter in defeat to Luke Woodhouse.

Bunting is one of the dark horses of the tournament, especially since half of the initial 32 seeds are already eliminated, and he beat Razma 4-1 despite not being at his best.

The former Lakeside champion – whose previous best run at Alexandra Palace came in 2021 when reaching the semi-finals – will next face Woodhouse after coming back strongly from 3-1 down, stringing together nine legs on the rotation to beat Heta 4 -3 and reach the round of 16 for the first time in his career.

The first match after the short Christmas break saw Heta produce the perfect second leg of this year’s tournament, sending the Ally Pally crowd into ecstasy during the second set – Woodhouse also celebrated in a special moment.

Dutchman Christian Kist had the perfect first leg in the first round last week and also lost his match. The record for most nine darts at the World Championship is three in 2022, so one more would equal that feat.

Heta however wins £60,000 for her nine dart, as does one lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to mark the moment.

The other match of the afternoon was won by Clayton who held off a fightback from Northern Irishman Daryl Gurney to win 4-3.

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