Watch: Dimitri van den Bergh hits a nine-darter at the Grand Slam of Darts

The Belgian fired in his sensational perfect leg to move 9-6 up and he kept his composure amid all the excitement to win the next and book his place in the quarter-finals at a bouncing Aldersley Leisure Village.

The shocked World Youth champion, who had never hit a televised nine-darter in his career, said after the match: "Did I just do that?! What's happening to me? This is insane."

"I still don't know what happened, it's unbelievable. Watching the nine-darter back it feels surreal to see myself hitting it on stage, I can't believe it's me doing it!

"I'm over the moon to hit my first perfect leg on such a magnificent stage and I also have to thank the crowd because they helped me hit the double 12."

It's just the fourth perfect leg in Grand Slam of Darts history, following on from the efforts of James Wade (2008), fellow Belgian Kim Huybrechts (2014) and Dave Chisnall in 2015.

Van den Bergh's maiden nine-darter also helps him reach the last eight of this prestigious Sky Sports televised major, which features players from both the PDC and BDO, for the first time.

The 24-year-old, who defends his world youth title later this month against Martin Schindler, also hit six 180s in the match and averaged 90 as Bunting struggled to perform as well as he did during his impressive 100% group campaign.

World champion Rob Cross bowed out as he was beaten 10-7 in a hard-fought battle with Mensur Suljovic, who advances to face van den Bergh.

Neither player really got going in an intense affair, with the Austrian progressing without hitting a single 180s in any of the 17 legs played.

Nevertheless Suljovic, who has won two titles this season as well as reaching the World Matchplay final and the World Grand Prix semi-finals, threw no shortage of 100+ scores, averaged 94 and managed a high finish of 116 during his victory.

Cross got off to a slow start and found himself 5-1 down before clawing his way back to 5-4 and 7-6 but ultimately it was his poor finishing which proved costly.

Voltage hit six 180s and made a high checkout of 130 in the second leg to cap off a 12-darter but missed 19 attempts at doubles overall.

Gerwyn Price also reached the last eight of this event for the first time in his career with a comfortable 10-5 victory over Josh Payne.

The Iceman wasn't at his best but he didn't need to be against his young opponent, who fell away after going leg for leg for the first half of the match.

Neither player had been more than one leg ahead when the scores were level at 5-5 but Price, who averaged 93, hit two 180s and 39% of his doubles, upped his game slightly to take the next five in succession.

Payne had done brilliantly well to get out of a group including Peter Wright and Max Hopp on his tournament debut, but he ran out of steam in the longer format of the knockout stages.

Simon Whitlock will meet Price in the quarter-finals after a 10-6 victory over a last year's runner-up Peter Wright, who disappointed with a lacklustre performance.

Two nights on from hitting two 170 checkouts to reach the knockout stages, the Wizard maintained his momentum by leading from the front after going 3-2 up and looked home and dry at 8-4 as Snakebite faltered particularly on his doubles.

Wright did pull a couple of legs back without reply but it was only a stay of execution as the recent European Championship runner-up , who finished with an average of 95, three 180s and a high checkout of 108, completed the job.

The second-round is completed on Thursday night when the players who qualified from Groups A-D return to the oche, including a crunch clash between Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.

WINNING DARTS TIPS

Whitlock's win was good news for followers of Chris Hammer's daily darts tips as he rolled up the Aussie with Price and Suljovic in an 8/1 treble while he also had Whitlock at 2/1 in a single and a 5/4 special in the Bunting v van den Bergh match which came in. CLICK HERE FOR HIS PREDICTIONS FOR THURSDAY'S GAMES!

Grand Slam of Darts: Results & Schedule

Click here for full tournament results

Wednesday November 14 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Stephen Bunting 6-10 Dimitri Van den Bergh
• Gerwyn Price 10-5 Josh Payne
• Rob Cross 7-10 Mensur Suljovic
• Peter Wright 6-10 Simon Whitlock

Thursday November 15 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

• James Wade v Michael Unterbuchner
• Gary Anderson v Wesley Harms
• Jonny Clayton v Krzysztof Ratajski
• Michael Smith v Michael van Gerwen

CLICK HERE FOR THURSDAY NIGHT'S PREDICTIONS, STATS & BEST BETS

Friday November 16 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Two matches

Saturday November 17 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Two matches

Sunday November 17
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Two matches

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

Grand Slam of Darts: Final Group standings

• Click for Sky Bet's darts odds
• PDC players unless stated
• Click here for full tournament results

Group A

1. Jonny Clayton P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +6 Pts 6
2. (1) Michael van Gerwen P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff +7 Pts 4
3. Gary Robson (BDO) P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 2
4. Joe Murnan P 3 W 0 L 3 LegDiff -8 Pts 0

Group B

1. (8) Michael Smith P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +8 Pts 6
2. Krzysztof Ratajski P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff +5 Pts 4
3. Raymond van Barneveld P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -6 Pts 2
4. Adam Smith-Neale (BDO) P 3 W 0 L 3 LegDiff -7 Pts 0

Group C

1. (5) James Wade P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +11 Pts 6
2. Wesley Harms (BDO) P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff -2 Pts 4
3. Keegan Brown P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -2 Pts 2
4. Mark Webster P 3 W 0 L 3 LegDiff -7 Pts 0

Group D

1. (4) Gary Anderson P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +11 Pts 6
2. Michael Unterbuchner (BDO) P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff +2 Pts 4
3. Ian White P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -2 Pts 2
4. Steve Hine P 3 W 0 L 3 LegDiff -11 Pts 0

Group E

1. (2) Peter Wright P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +5 Pts 6
2. Josh Payne P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff 0 Pts 2
3. Max Hopp P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -2 Pts 2
4. Jim Williams (BDO) P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -3 Pts 2

Group F

1. Gerwyn Price P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff +3 Pts 4
2. (7) Simon Whitlock P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff 0 Pts 4
3. Glen Durrant (BDO) P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff +2 Pts 2
4. Andrew Gilding P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 2

Group G

1. Stephen Bunting P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +8 Pts 6
2. (6) Mensur Suljovic P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff 0 Pts 2
3. Scott Mitchell (BDO) P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -3 Pts 2
4. Martin Schindler P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 2

Group H

1. (3) Rob Cross P 3 W 3 L 0 LegDiff +7 Pts 6
2. Dimitri Van den Bergh P 3 W 2 L 1 LegDiff +5 Pts 4
3. Mark McGeeney (BDO) P 3 W 1 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 2
4. Ryan Searle P 3 W 0 L 3 LegDiff -7 Pts 0

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