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Scott Williams dominated Michael van Gerwen on a memorable day at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, with Luke Humphries, Luke Littler and Rob Cross also progressing to the semi-finals on Monday.
The opening day of the 2024 darts competition featured four frenetic quarter-finals at London’s Alexandra Palace, with Van Gerwen’s bid for a fourth World Championship title thwarted by Williams.
The 33-year-old punished 27 dart errors with a double from the Dutch Supremo and sparked a seismic 5-3 win, sealing this year’s World Championships with a landslide win.
The feisty Brit overcame Van Gerwen’s lackluster start to win three consecutive legs on the opening day, but Van Gerwen equalized with 11 darters in a row.
Van Gerwen narrowly retreated to the third set, but this only provided a temporary reprieve as Williams won the next six legs without a reply and regained control.
The Dutchman stopped his slump in the sixth set and fought for the match, but Williams held on and won six of the next eight legs to defeat the three-time world champion.
Rob Cross (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Chris Dobie (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Chris Dobie (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Rob Cross (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Rob Cross (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Rob Cross (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Brendan Dolan (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Littler (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Littler (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Littler (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Scott Williams (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Michael Van Gerwen (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Scott Williams (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Michael Van Gerwen (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Scott Williams (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Humphries (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Humphries (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Dave Chisnall (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Luke Humphries (Taylor Lanning/PDC)
“I can’t explain it in words.” Williams averaged 96 points and admitted he celebrated the biggest win of his fledgling career with up to 12 crashes.
“Michael is the best player of our generation, so it would be crazy to beat him on this stage.
“That wasn’t the Michael van Gerwen we’ve seen in the last three games. You could see he was just a little bit off tonight.
“As soon as the crowd joined, I started playing darts in the second half of the match and I’m very happy to continue until tomorrow.” I’m just going to have fun. ”
Williams’ reward will be a semi-final showdown with world No. 3 Humphries. Humphries averaged 103.50 points and defeated 2021 semifinalist Dave Chisnall 5-1.
Humphries fought back from the brink to beat Ricardo Pietrico and Joe Cullen to reach the last eight, but he held off Chisnall to keep his hopes of winning the Sid Waddell Trophy alive.
The pair traded the first two sets, but Humphries quickly established the lead, scoring 12 maximum shots and three-plus ton finishes (including set-winning combinations of 121 and 117). The show concluded with a spectacular show.
“I made it to the quarterfinals three times. [at this event]So tonight I wanted to take the next step.” Humphries admitted that defeating Williams would make him the new world number one.
“Having a great performance tonight was important for my confidence and playing like that gives me confidence that I can go all the way now.
“The draw was a huge miss and now it’s a big chance for all four of us. It’s exciting!”
“If we can play like we did tonight, we have a great chance to become world champions.”
Earlier in the day, 16-year-old sensation Littler continued his breakthrough run with a 5-1 victory over Brendan Dolan to surpass his average ton for the third time this year and reach the semi-finals.
The World Youth Champion rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first set to claim first blood, then hit 11, 12 and 14 darts to double his lead in the second set, averaging 121.
Littler continued his march to extend his lead to 4-0, Dolan scoring a 118 checkout to open his account, but Littler was on his way to a clean sweep in the sixth set with a stunning 140 checkout. I responded.
“I can’t believe it. I never thought I would make it to the semifinals in my debut.” Littler averaged 101.93 points and had three finishes above the ton to earn the win.
“Brendan played really well and beat Gaethje.” [Gerwyn Price] and gary [Anderson]but he was another enemy in my way, and I managed to dispel him!
“Right now I’m really dreaming. I have two more fights and I want to win that title.
“I think it’s going to take something special to stop me given my performances so far, but it all depends on what Rob Cross and Luke Littler do tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Cross made a miraculous comeback from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Chris Dobie and become the first player in World Championship history to overturn a four-set deficit in the quarterfinals.
The 2018 champion found himself staring down the barrel after a blistering start from Doby, who posted a sensational 161 checkout midway through the fourth set.
Cross began his comeback by winning six of the next eight legs and cut through the match dirt in a thrilling conclusion to the seventh set before leveling the score and scoring a decisive 117 checkout and a 130 checkout. Started the set.
A dramatic finale sent the deciding set into a tiebreak, with Doby unable to tie the score with a 71 in the eighth leg, but Cross fired a 70 to keep his hopes of winning a second World Championship title alive.
“I really can’t express it in words.” Cross averaged 100.70 points and conceded that he ignored Doby’s maximum of 17 to win.
“Realistically, once we were 4-0 down I thought it was over, which is unusual for me. Chris settled in much better than me in the early stages. He’s an incredible player.
“No matter who I play in the world, I’ll never lose. I’ll never leave. As I got closer to Chris, I knew the best of me was still coming out in this match, so I said, ‘I can do this.’ thought.
“We need to improve and settle in faster if we want to win the tournament, but I believe we can win.”
Cross and Littler will clash in Tuesday’s semifinal opener, before Humphries faces Williams for a spot in Wednesday’s feature match.
Click here for match statistics and results.
2023/24 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Monday, January 1st
Afternoon session
2 quarterfinals
Rob Cross 5-4 Chris Dobie (1-3, 2-3, 0-3, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1, 5-3)
Luke Littler 5-1 Brendan Dolan (3-2, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1, 1-3, 3-0)
evening session
2 quarterfinals
Scott Williams 5-3 Michael van Gerwen (3-0, 1-3, 2-3, 3-0, 3-0, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1)
Luke Humphries 5-1 Dave Chisnall (3-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 3-0)
Tuesday, January 2nd (19:30 GMT)
Semi-final
Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Scott Williams v Luke Humphries
Wednesday, January 3 (2000 GMT)
Cross/Littler v Williams/Humphries
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