Phil Taylor beat Darren Johnson 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Seniors Darts Championship at the Circus Tavern.
In an inconsistent display, Taylor mixed moments of trademark brilliance with more of the humdrum darts that had almost seen him dumped out in round one to ensure that he'll be a part of the final day's play.
After pinching a tight opening set only to lose the second, Taylor took out 161 midway through the third before beginning the following leg with a 180 to the delight of a hyped crowd.
From there he was able to dictate terms to secure a meeting with Richie Howson on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier, Robert Thornton underlined his title credentials with a 3-0 victory over Scott Mitchell in the World Seniors.
The defending champion signed off another impressive display with bullseye to take out 88 and sweep aside Mitchell in what had been billed as a potential title decider despite taking place at the last-16 stage.
A 180 in the first leg of the match set the tone for Thornton, who hit double six for a break of throw to take the set in a deciding leg.
Double 10 did the trick as the second set also went the distance in a match decided by the barest of margins, with the leg score reading 9-5 in Thornton's favour after he sealed the third with a little more room to breathe.
Thornton surely remains the man to beat but the performance of the day came from Leonard Gates, who averaged a championship record 96.90 to thump Martin Adams 3-0.
That earned him a showdown with Darryl Fitton, a 3-2 winner over John Part in the day's final match.
No Duff display
Next for Thornton meanwhile is a clash with Neil Duff after he saw off Keith Deller 3-0.
Duff hit back-to-back 180s in the opening set, eventually sealing it on double three, before a 58 finish sealed the second.
With Deller struggling to make a game of it, Duff broke through one final time to seal a quarter-final clash with the player many consider to be favourite for the title he captured 12 months ago.
Mark Dudbridge may have something to say about that after an impressive 3-1 defeat of Terry Jenkins.
Dudbridge had seen off Glen Durrant on Friday and added another memorable scalp in the for of Jenkins, who looked like he'd turned the tide when levelling at 1-1 despite a 118 finish for Dudbridge.
That wasn't the case, however, as Dudbridge took set three before a pair of 180s set the tone in the fourth set, which proved to be the final one as he pinned double four to complete the win.
Dudbridge will face 12th seed Kevin Painter, who beat Dennis Harbour 3-0.
Painter's victory was sparked by a 120 finish to take the first set from two legs down and after Harbour missed darts for the second set, Painter again proved just too ruthless as he wrapped up a convincing win.
Howson also impressed again on the Circus Tavern stage in a 3-1 success over Andy Jenkins and will face Taylor next.
World Seniors results
Saturday February 11
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport 2
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Richie Howson 3-1 Andy Jenkins
- Neil Duff 3-0 Keith Deller
- Dennis Harbour 0-3 Kevin Painter
- Mark Dudbridge 3-1 Terry Jenkins
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport 2
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Robert Thornton 3-0 Scott Mitchell
- Martin Adams 0-3 Leonard Gates
- Phil Taylor 3-1 Darren Johnson
- John Part v Darryl Fitton
Fast Results
Scores
