Stephen Bunting cruised into the fourth spherical of the World Darts Championship on a dramatic afternoon which noticed a nine-darter from Damon Heta.
Bunting is likely one of the darkish horses for the event, notably as half of the unique 32 seeds are already out, and he noticed off Latvia’s Madars Razma 4-1 regardless of being removed from his finest.
The previous Lakeside champion, whose finest run at Alexandra Palace got here in 2021 when he reached the semi-finals, will play Luke Woodhouse, who roared again to beat Heta 4-3.
“When you have this crowd behind you, you can win anything. They were unbelievable again. Thanks to each and every one of you!” Bunting advised Sky Sports activities Darts.
“I felt like I played quite well there but Razma never went away and you guys… Wow. Let’s go Bunting mental!”
Heta nine-darter sparks wild celebrations earlier than defeat
The primary match after the brief Christmas break noticed Heta produce the second excellent leg at this 12 months’s event earlier than he went on to lose 4-3 to Luke Woodhouse.
Heta was near a nine-darter in his first match however despatched the Ally Pally crowd into raptures in the course of the second set and Woodhouse additionally celebrated wildly in a particular second. Dutchman Christian Kist made the primary excellent leg within the opening spherical final week and in addition misplaced his match.
The file for essentially the most nine-darters on the World Championship is three in 2022, so yet one more would equal that feat.
Heta took a 3-1 lead however momentum immediately shifted to Woodhouse because the latter gained 9 legs on the spin to succeed in the final 16 for the primary time in his profession.
“Me and Damon are good friends – we play golf and practice together,” Woodhouse advised Sky Sports activities Darts.
“I know he was gutted when he missed double 12 in his first game so when he made that nine-darter against me and the crowd went wild. I couldn’t not celebrate with him.”
Heta does win £60,000 for his nine-darter although, as did a fortunate fan within the Ally Pally crowd, with event sponsors Paddy Energy additionally donating £60,000 to Prostate Most cancers to mark the second.
The opposite match of the afternoon was gained by Jonny Clayton as he held off a fightback from Northern Eire’s Daryl Gurney to win 4-3.
Clayton was 3-0 up however Gurney dug deep and despatched the match to a deciding set. Nevertheless, Clayton managed to search out the decisive break, and can face Gerwyn Worth or Joe Cullen within the subsequent spherical.
Worth performs Cullen within the opening match of Friday night’s session at 7pm, earlier than Peter Wright takes on Jermaine Wattimena and defending champion Luke Humphries rounds off the evening towards Nick Kenny.
Who will win the Paddy Energy World Darts Championship? Watch each match completely dwell till Friday, January 3 on Sky Sports activities’ devoted darts channel. Stream darts and extra high sport with NOW
