Luke Littler delivered a brace of superb performances to maintain his title tilt at the Players Championship Finals, as top seed Gerwyn Price also progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Champion overcame fourth seed Ross Smith in a sensational contest, averaging 107 on his way to a 6-3 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler then produced a blistering mid-match spell to eliminate Ricardo Pietreczko in the last 16, winning seven of the last eight legs to topple Germany’s number two 10-6 with an average of almost 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I wasn’t at my best on the doubles but hopefully I can sharpen up on those tomorrow afternoon,”\u00a0declared Littler, who landed an eye-catching 121 finish with the aid of two bullseyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is a title I haven’t won and everyone knows that, so I’m definitely chasing it and hopefully I can come back tomorrow and get another win.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler’s reward is a last eight clash with fifth seed Dobey, who defeated Cam Crabtree and James Hurrell in advancing to his second televised ranking quarter-final of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey swept aside Hurrell to confirm his spot at Finals Day, having withstood a stirring fightback from Crabtree to escape in a compelling last-leg decider in Round Two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Price will take on 2018 champion Daryl Gurney in Sunday’s opening quarter-final, after the Welshman continued his charge with victories over Sebastian Bialecki and Martin Schindler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following an average of 105 in his 6-1 drubbing of Bialecki, Price converted 127 and 161 combinations to complete a 10-6 success against Schindler, winning six of the last seven legs to book his place in the last eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I haven’t been doing it on the TV, but I think I’m due,”\u00a0insisted Price, who is eyeing his first televised ranking title since November 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m feeling good, I’m confident in my ability and the way I’m playing darts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m feeling good mentally, and that’s what I want when I’m on stage, to be enjoying the game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gurney, meanwhile, is the only former champion left standing in Minehead, although the Northern Irishman enjoyed a huge slice of fortune in his Round Three victory over debutant Adam Lipscombe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 39-year-old began the day with a hard-fought 6-4 success against world number four Stephen Bunting, before surviving ten match darts to deny a crestfallen Lipscombe, who led 8-4 and 9-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gurney’s World Cup partner Josh Rock was one of Saturday’s stand-out performers, following up a whitewash win over Scott Williams with a gruelling 10-8 triumph against Krzysztof Ratajski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Cup winner converted four ton-plus finishes in his demolition of Williams, before crashing in ten maximums to fend off a spirited Ratajski, who fought back from 8-2 down to threaten a remarkable turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock’s next assignment pits him against Nathan Aspinall, who recorded contrasting wins over Dutch duo Richard Veenstra and Danny Noppert to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having whitewashed Veenstra in ruthless style, the Stockport star defied a ton-plus average from Noppert to prevail 10-8 in a battle of the former UK Open champions, aided by a superb 67% checkout success rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Wade and Jermaine Wattimena will also go head-to-head for a place in the semi-finals, as the Dutchman eyes a fourth successive win over the world number six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wade accounted for 2021 champion Wright in a heavyweight Round Two tie, which he backed up with an attritional 10-6 win at the expense of 2023 UK Open winner Andrew Gilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wattimena produced the performance of the tournament to dispatch Ryan Joyce, averaging 108.94 and registering winning legs of 14, 15, 12, 13, 12 and 12 darts to cap off a virtuoso display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 37-year-old then came out on top in a taxing affair against Ryan Searle, punishing 27 missed darts at double from the 2021 runner-up to complete a 10-8 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former champions Gary Anderson and Wright were amongst the high-profile casualties in Round Two, while European Champion Gian van Veen relinquished a 5-3 lead against Ratajski at the same stage of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remaining eight players will battle it out for the \u00a3120,000 top prize on Finals Day, which begins with the quarter-finals later today, followed by the semi-finals and final in a bumper evening session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Winmau World Youth Championship final will also be held between the semi-finals and final, as reigning champion Van Veen faces Women’s Series winner Beau Greaves in a blockbuster showdown. Luke Littler delivered a brace of superb performances to maintain his title tilt at the Players Championship Finals,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6385,"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],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-6384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","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
<\/strong>
RESULTS
Round Two: <\/strong>Daryl Gurney 6-4 Stephen Bunting; James Wade 6-4 Peter Wright; Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Richard Veenstra; Gerwyn Price 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki; Luke Littler 6-3 Ross Smith; Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Gian van Veen; Josh Rock 6-0 Scott Williams; Danny Noppert 6-1 Madars Razma; James Hurrell 6-1 Luke Woodhouse; Adam Lipscombe 6-2 Bradley Brooks; Ryan Searle 6-5 Callan Rydz; Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Ryan Joyce; Martin Schindler 6-4 Nick Kenny; Ricardo Pietreczko6-5\u00a0Gary Anderson; Andrew Gilding 6-5 Justin Hood; Chris Dobey 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Round Three: <\/strong>Gerwyn Price 10-6 Martin Schindler; Nathan Aspinall 10-8 Danny Noppert; Luke Littler 10-6 Ricardo Pietreczko; Josh Rock 10-8 Krzysztof Ratajski; Daryl Gurney 10-9 Adam Lipscombe; James Wade 10-6 Andrew Gilding; Jermaine Wattimena 10-8 Ryan Searle; Chris Dobey 10-5 James Hurrell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"