Darts
PA Sport 7y

Michael van Gerwen hits form to reach Ally Pally last eight

Darts

Michael van Gerwen showed some of his sparkling best form as he reached the quarterfinals of the William Hill World Darts Championship with a 4-1 victory over Darren Webster at Alexandra Palace.

Starting at a frantic pace, Webster hit 100 and 68 finishes to match his formidable opponent to go 2-2 and by doing so nearly took the opening set with two darts at doubles, but he failed to convert. The Dutchman duly obliged by taking the first and then the second set.

It was one-way traffic, with 'Mighty Mike' van Gerwen rattling off the next three legs with finishes of 74, eight and 32 to go 3-0 up before a dazzling 170 checkout broke Webster in the first leg of the fourth set.

'Demolition Man' Webster fought back with checkouts of 96 and 84 helping him get on the board with a deserved set to trail 3-1 to Van Gerwen, and he continued into the fifth set with Webster taking the first two legs.

But Van Gerwen by responded hitting 88, double 20 and 62 to seal the last three legs, thus confirming his place in the last eight.

Phil Taylor fought off a mini revival from Kim Huybrechts to secure a 4-2 success over the 13th seed.

The Belgian hit a 106 checkout to start the match before going up a break in the next but Taylor reeled off the next three to take the first set.

The two traded breaks to start the second set, with Taylor hitting 101, before securing the next two legs to go 2-0 before the third followed suit to earn the 56-year-old his three-set lead.

Taylor needed just one leg to secure a whitewash victory but Huybrechts stormed back with a 106 checkout followed by a scrappy final leg to win the fourth set and stay in the match.

The 31-year-old maintained the momentum to earn two breaks alongside a 109 finish to reduce the deficit to three sets to two but 'The Power' Taylor took three of the last four legs to scrape into the next round.

Peter Wright averaged over 103 on his way to a comfortable 4-1 win over Ian White to set up a quarter-final clash with James Wade, who recovered to beat Michael Smith 4-3, while earlier in the day Daryl Gurney reached the quarterfinals for the first time after overcoming Mark Webster in a topsy-turvy 4-3 win.

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall held off Jelle Klaasen to earn a 4-2 victory and advance to the next round.

^ Back to Top ^