Luke Humphries returned to winning ways against Luke Littler in a extraordinary day of action at the NEO.bet European Grand Prix of Darts, while Damon Heta produced one of the best performances in the history of the European Tour.
It was the eighth clash between the world champion and “the Nuke” since Humphries won the world title, and the 17-year-old pushed his opponent to the brink in Saturday’s match.
Humphries came out on top, surviving a final match dart and enjoying an 11-dart break in the decider to advance to the round of 16 where he will face Stephen Bunting, who survived five match darts to beat Ryan Searle 6-5 in the afternoon. session.
“That record wasn’t something I was concerned about,” insisted Humphries, who had lost his previous six matches to Littler before averaging 101 and crashing out in five 180s to complete his comeback. “Luke is a fantastic player and in elite level sport these streaks can happen, but of course I’m relieved this streak is over!”
Rob Cross stayed on track to defend his 2023 title with a 6-5 victory over Martin Schindler – who averaged 106.08 to 102.64 – and will face Danny Noppert on Sunday, who beat Daryl Gurney on the same score during the afternoon session.
Josh Rock and world number three Michael Smith will open Sunday’s first session after the former triumphed 6-2 over Jeffrey Sparidaans and Smith spoiled Raymond Van Barneveld’s 57th birthday party after the Dutchman bounced back after a 5-2 deficit to be beaten in a decisive showdown.
Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson will meet in what should be a mouth-watering encounter after ‘The Iceman’ claimed a comfortable 6-1 triumph over Brendan Dolan after Anderson beat Christian Perez 6-3.
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World number 2 Michael Van Gerwen quickly beat his Swedish opponent Johan Engstrom with a 6-1 victory to set up a round of 16 clash with Jonny Clayton, who edged out Chris Dobey 6-5.
Ross Smith and Ritchie Edhouse will meet after comfortably picking up wins against Luke Woodhouse (6-2) and Dirk Van Duijvenbode (6-1) respectively.
Damon Heta’s 117.48 average in his 6-2 win over Mickey Mansell was good enough for the third highest ever on the Euro Tour. The Australian will now face Scott Williams, who beat Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 in the afternoon session,
Dave Chisnall will face Gabriel Clemens, who is the last German remaining after his 6-2 victory over compatriot Ricardo Pietreczko to bring the curtain down on an epic Saturday night.
Where does the Premier League go next?
The Premier League continues with Night 13 at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Thursday April 25, as Littler and Price face off in the opening match of the evening. Humphries will face Nathan Aspinall and Van Gerwen will take on Peter Wright for a place in the semi-final, while Smith and Cross are also in action on Merseyside.
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Check out the best action from Week 12 of the Rotterdam Darts Premier League.
Watch Premier League Darts Night 13, Liverpool, live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm on Thursday April 25 or stream with NOW.
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