Peter Wright

World darts results: Peter Wright survives Jeffrey de Zwaan's comeback as Gerwyn Price sets up Glen Durrant clash

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sun December 29, 2019 · 5y ago

A review of Saturday's action at the William Hill World Darts Championship as Peter Wright survived an incredible comeback from Jeffrey de Zwaan while Gerwyn Price set up a quarter-final with Glen Durrant.

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World Championship schedule and results
Scroll down for highlights and reports from both sessions

EVENING SESSION

Snakebite survives Cobra comeback

Peter Wright was almost a victim of one of the all-time Ally Pally comebacks but eventually scraped past Jeffrey de Zwaan in a deciding set to reach the quarter-finals.

Snakebite was well on course for a rare drama-free contest at this year's World Championship when blitzing through the first three sets for the loss of just three legs, with two of those coming in the opener.

Wright's finishing was simply outstanding by this point, missing only four darts at doubles and landing two 100+ checkouts including an absolute cracker from 149 to leave the young Dutchman stunned.

The 2014 runner-up, who has won four titles this season and reached two major finals, continued to blow de Zwaan away at the start of the fourth set too, with a 130 checkout completing a 12-darter before going 2-0 up.

The match then turned on its head out of the blue as de Zwaan ironically lifted his arms aloft after finally pinning a double to end an eight-leg losing streak and prevent Wright having an attempt at tops to win the match.

This sparked the Black Cobra, who produced a tournament high average of 106 in his barnstorming 4-3 victory over Dave Chisnall in the previous round, into life and he quickly reeled off eight of the next 11 legs to take the match into a seventh set.

One of the three legs Snakebite did manage in this spell was a fourth 100+ checkout, this time from 122, for a 12-darter but he was unable to carve out any match darts.

Wright was quickly running out of steam and looked in grave danger when his 23-year-old opponent broke his throw at the start of the decider.

The Scotsman found extra reserves to hit back and get the set back on throw before he eventually managed to fall over the finish line in a tense eighth leg.

Wright, who will now meet Luke Humphries, averaged 96.83 compared to de Zwaan's 94.8 and threw eight more 180s with 12 while he pinned 18 of his 35 attempts at doubles as the Dutchman spurned 16 of his 31.

Duzza's 'undisputed' dream still alive

Glen Durrant's quest to become the first ever 'undisputed' world darts champion is still firmly alive after battling his way through a north east derby with Chris Dobey.

Duzza hasn't lost a world championship match for 1,451 days if you include his dominant era in the BDO, where he won three successive Lakeside crowns before switching to the PDC back in January, although he was taken the full distance by Fallon Sherrock's conqueror.

It could have been a much shorter night's work for the Teessider after opening up a 3-1 lead in sets only for Dobey to take the next two and force a decider.

However, the 29-year-old was unable to make the most of his comeback and didn't even manage to get a shot at a double as Durrant closed it out 3-0 in style with a 146 checkout.

Duzza, who has won two titles and reached three major semi-finals at the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts during a dream maiden season on the PDC circuit, averaged a shade higher than Dobey with 94.16, fractionally better on his doubles with 15 pinned from 38 attempts and hit half as many 180s with four.

Hollywood started stronger and his only ton+ checkout of the match of 110 helped him take the opening set 3-1.

Durrant responded emphatically by racing through the next 3-0 and using 40 darts in the process as Dobey carved out just one opportunity to win a leg and that was on the bullseye.

The 49-year-old, who stated after his previous win that a quarter-final run might be good enough for Premier League selection, was fortunate to take the third 3-2, with Dobey missing set darts in three successive legs after opening up a 2-0 lead.

The Northumberland man blew the same advantage in the fourth only this time Duzza didn't allow him any set darts before sealing it with a brilliant checkout from 109.

Dobey upped his game with a pair of 14 darters followed by another in 13 to claw a set back while he also won the sixth by a 3-1 scoreline thanks to the kind of standard that helped him see off Sherrock 24 hours earlier.

However it was Durrant who finished stronger and booked a quarter-final meeting with Gerwyn Price on Sunday night.

Price just about right

Gerwyn Price was well below his best as he battled his way past Simon Whitlock 4-2 and into the World Championship quarter-finals for the first time in his career.

The two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion produced a breathtaking display 24 hours earlier when averaging 104.2 in a 4-0 rout of John Henderson but he could only record a mark of 92.47 during a laborious contest.

Even Price, who threw just three 180s and hit less than 38% of his doubles, admitted to Sky Sports as soon as he came off stage: "From the off I was rubbish and Simon wasn't any better. I think it was just a poor performance from both of us and I was lucky to win. The pace of the game wasn't suiting me and I think Simon did that on purpose. Some people just try and drag you down."

The Welshman will take some consolation from the fact his quarter-final opponent Glen Durrant didn't exactly get the pulses racing during his 4-3 victory over Chris Dobey and both will seek much improved displays on Sunday night.

Price's first two winning legs were a pair of mediocre 17-darters before nicking the set 3-2 after pinning his fifth attempt at a double in the decider after Whitlock blew four of his own.

The first high point of the match came when Price completed a 15-darter with a 108 checkout to double his set lead although he continued to struggle overall as Whitlock breezed through the third 3-0.

It took until Price trailed 1-0 in the fourth set for him to win a leg in less than 15 darts, and like London busses he managed another two in succession to take it 3-1.

A strangely lethargic Iceman saw his levels promptly drop as quickly as they rose, with the Wizard whitewashing him in another set but the thought of being dragged further into dogfight finally seemed to kick him into life.

Price found a match high 112 checkout at the start of the sixth before back-to-back legs in 13 and 14 darts sealed his place in the last eight.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Jackpot won't pay out again

Dimitri Van den Bergh's inspired comeback from 3-1 down knocked Adrian Lewis out of the World Darts Championship as the young Belgian booked a quarter-final clash with Nathan Aspinall.

Jackpot recovered from two-set deficits in his last two thrillers that also went the distance but this time his opponent gave him a taste of his own medicine and deny him the chance to continue his bid for a third world title.

Whereas Lewis defied slow starts against Cristo Reyes and Darren Webster thanks largely to some superb high finishing, he seemed to run out of steam when leading from the front and only managed to win three of the last 12 legs played.

That's to take nothing away from the former two-time World Youth champion, who produced nerveless and high-quality darts to take three successive sets 3-1 - not least in the sixth that he sealed by completing a fine 11-darter with a 76 checkout.

Van den Bergh averaged 96.06 compared to his opponent's 93.7 while he hit one more maximum with six although his finishing wasn't quite as clinical, hitting 16 of his 36 attempts as Lewis made 50% of his 26.

Jackpot flew out of the blocks with a 123 checkout in the very first leg as he went on to take the set 3-1 while a 10-darter in the next helped him win the next by the same scoreline.

As in his previous two matches, Lewis' passion was fuelled by the Ally Pally crowd and despite coming out second best in a scrappy third set, he brought the fans to their feet again with a 113 checkout en route to edging the fourth 3-2.

But that would be managing a match high 136 to complete a 12-darter in set five, he couldn't maintain his momentum as Van den Bergh's surged into the last eight for the second time in his short career.

Beaton's dream ended by Labanauskas

Steve Beaton's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship for the first time in his long career were ended by the history-making Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas.

The Bronzed Adonis, who hadn't gone as far as the last 16 since 2005, was unable to recapture the kind of form that helped him shock James Wade in the previous round, especially over the final two sets of a 4-2 defeat in which he managed just one leg.

Beaton was appearing in his 29th successive world championship - and 19th in the PDC version - after yet another solid season on the tour kept him in the top 32 on the Order of Merit and his earnings this week will stand him in good stead to be here again in 12 months.

But that will come as little consolation for the 55-year-old right now having missed a golden opportunity against an unseeded opponent to venture further than ever before.

Not that the 1996 Lakeside champion would have taken Labanauskas lightly considering the first Lithuanian to play on the Alexandra Palace stage had already upset the odds to beat both Ian White and Max Hopp by two clear sets while he'd also won their previous meeting on the Pro Tour en route to his maiden PDC final, which he lost to Glen Durrant.

The 43-year-old, featuring in his second world championship having stunned Raymond van Barneveld 12 months ago before losing to Adrian Lewis, won the opening set 3-2 in style as a 114 checkout finished off a 15-darter.

Beaton did get the crowd on their feet with a classy bullseye to complete a superb comeback from 2-0 down in the second set which also featured 12 and 14 darters.

Clinical finishes from 71, 99 and 74 helped Labanauskas take the next set 3-1 only for Beaton to storm back by whitewashing his opponent in the fourth.

The Lithuanian responded in kind to take the fifth 3-0 as the wheels came off the crowd favourite's challenge and it wasn't long before he set up a quarter-final meeting with Michael van Gerwen on Sunday.

Humphries stays Cool on the big stage

Luke Humphries continued his love affair with the PDC World Darts Championship as he reached the quarter-finals as an unseeded player for the second year running thanks to another imperious display at the Alexandra Palace.

Cool Hand, who beat both Dimitri van den Bergh and Rob Cross 12 months ago, followed up his fine victories over Devon Petersen, Jermaine Wattimena and Nico Kruz with a rather one-sided 4-1 triumph against Kim Huybrechts.

The World Youth champion, ranked 46 in the world, averaged 95 and fired in 10 maximums but the most pivotal moment came in the deciding leg of the third set when he produced an incredible 146 checkout when the Belgian turned down the chance to go for the bullseye.

Humphries' crowd-pleasing finish had also followed 11 and 13 dart legs to wipe out his opponent's 2-0 lead in the set while he'd previously won the second 3-0 after Huybrechts edged the first 3-2 with the help of a 110 checkout.

The Hurricane, who had shocked Cross 3-0 in the second round before a higher-quality 4-2 victory over Danny Noppert sparked belief that he was on the brink of a career resurgence after an alarming slide down to 41 in the rankings, then unravelled after that costly error of judgement.

Huybrechts managed to win just one more leg, which meant Humphries took nine of the last 10 played, and ended up with an average of 89.11 that wasn't helped by 19 missed doubles out of 26.

World Darts Championship: Saturday results & Sunday schedule

Saturday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

Steve Beaton 2-4 Darius Labanauskas
Kim Huybrechts 1-4 Luke Humphries
Dimitri Van den Bergh 4-3 Adrian Lewis

Evening Session (1900)
Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

Peter Wright 4-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Glen Durrant 4-3 Chris Dobey
Gerwyn Price 4-2 Simon Whitlock

Sunday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

Nathan Aspinall v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries v Peter Wright

Evening Session (1900)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

Michael Van Gerwen v Darius Labanauskas
Glen Durrant v Gerwyn Price

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