Michael van Gerwen won through another last-leg epic at the World Series of Darts Finals on Saturday to set up a blockbuster quarter-final clash against Luke Humphries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roared on by a partisan home crowd in Amsterdam, Van Gerwen continued his bid for a record-extending sixth World Series of Darts Finals crown with a dramatic victory over Rob Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman followed up a skin-saving 122 finish on the bull in leg ten with a nerveless 111 finish on tops in the decider, after Cross missed a match dart at the same target in the previous visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s always tough playing Rob because you know what he’s capable of,” reflected Van Gerwen, who also survived a match dart in his tie against Wessel Nijman on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Rob is one of the best players in the world and I made it difficult for myself, but I’m really glad to win this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There are signs that I’m coming back, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m only in the quarter-finals, so I need to put my head on for tomorrow afternoon.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen will now renew his rivalry with world number one Humphries in the last eight, after Humphries ended the hopes of home favourite Kevin Doets in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries averaged 101.87 and crashed in seven 180s to close out a 6-4 success, after Doets had produced a mid-match burst to restore parity at four apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I had a lot of support tonight which was great, and I’m looking forward to playing Michael tomorrow,”\u00a0claimed the 2023\/24 World Champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Michael is a great friend of mine. I love him to bits and he thrives in these environments, so it will be a really tough game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve played in these situations many times, and I beat Michael in Rotterdam in the Premier League last year, so hopefully I won’t let the atmosphere affect me too much.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerwyn Price also impressed on a marathon day of action in the Dutch capital, defying a valiant display from Raymond van Barneveld to book his place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a comprehensive opening round win over Danny Lauby, Price fought back from 3-1 down to deny the Dutch icon, who edged out Cor Dekker earlier in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Barneveld was relentless in the opening exchanges, but a ruthless Price converted six of his nine attempts at double to triumph with a 102.97 average to Van Barneveld’s 100.73.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That was a great win for me, I had to keep focused until the very end,” said the Welshman, who is chasing a third World Series of Darts Finals title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Raymond was fantastic and he had the support of the crowd which he deserves, because he’s a legend of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was right up against it at 3-1 down, but I think my finishing won me the game tonight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price will take on Chris Dobey in the last eight, after the former Masters champion conceded just three legs in resounding wins over Luke Woodhouse and Cameron Menzies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reigning champion Luke Littler will also take centre stage on Finals Day, after kicking off his title defence with back-to-back 6-4 victories against Simon Whitlock and Jonny Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler overturned a 3-0 deficit to dump out 2021 champion Clayton, who squandered eight darts at double to force a last-leg shoot-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The teenage sensation will now lock horns with former European Champion Ross Smith, who followed up a hard-fought victory over New Zealand’s Jonny Tata with an excellent 6-4 win against Dave Chisnall in Saturday’s finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Josh Rock produced the performance of the tournament in his six-leg demolition of Danny Noppert, averaging 107.36 to whitewash the Dutch number two in ten minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock’s reward is a quarter-final showdown against World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, who put in a clinical display of doubling to record a third successive victory over Damon Heta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Second Round<\/strong>: Mike De Decker 6-4 Damon Heta; Josh Rock 6-0 Danny Noppert; Luke Humphries 6-4 Kevin Doets; Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Rob Cross; Gerwyn Price 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld; Chris Dobey 6-1 Cameron Menzies; Luke Littler 6-4 Jonny Clayton; Ross Smith 6-4 Dave Chisnall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael van Gerwen won through another last-leg epic at the World Series of Darts Finals on Saturday to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-3222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
First Round: <\/strong>Chris Dobey 6-2 Luke Woodhouse; Cameron Menzies 6-3 Peter Wright; Ross Smith 6-4 Jonny Tata;
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Cor Dekker; Gerwyn Price 6-1 Danny Lauby; Luke Littler 6-4 Simon Whitlock; Jonny Clayton 6-0 Jason Brandon; Dave Chisnall 6-2 Nathan Aspinall<\/p>\n\n\n\n