Luke Littler produced another brilliant display at the Winmau World Masters in Milton Keynes to whitewash James Wade 4-0 and cruise into the quarter-finals.
Teenager Littler, who blitzed Andy Baetens 3-0 in his first-round match on Friday, demolished former world number two Wade, winning eight straight legs and averaging 105.47.
The world champion, who wrapped up the first set with a superb bull finish and averaged 107 in the third, will play Jonny Clayton in the last eight on Saturday.
Littler said: “I think I played very well there. It wasn’t James’ night tonight, but 105 average and 50 per cent on the doubles – I’m really happy with that.
“I just wanted to get the job done, because I know what James can do, and I’m happy to get another win.”
Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh completed a nine-dart finish on his way to a thrilling 4-3 win against third seed Michael van Gerwen.
Van den Bergh pulled off his nine-darter while trailing 3-2, nailing it with a 131-finish to level the match and holding his nerve in the decider for his first victory over the Dutchman in seven years.
The Belgian said: “I think it was written in the stars for once. Everybody knows the head-to-head record between me and Michael, so I am stoked with that.
“I was 3-2 down [in sets] when I hit the nine-darter, so my focus was just on winning the leg.
“I have seen so many people hit nine-darters, and they are amazing, but you need to win games, you need to win matches.”
The world number 18 next faces Nathan Aspinall, who won four straight sets after trailing to Cameron Menzies in his comfortable 4-1 win.
Littler’s next opponent Clayton maintained his fine form – he averaged 112.77 in his first-round win against Germany’s Martin Schindler – by overturning a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 against Ryan Searle, who had earlier missed double 19 to win the match.
World number one Luke Humphries was in dominant form as he produced a whitewash of his own to beat Josh Rock 4-0 and set up a last-eight clash with Australia’s Damon Heta, who edged out Gerwyn Price 4-3.
Danny Noppert will play Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals after thrashing William O’Connor 4-0. World number five Bunting overcame two-time world champion Peter Wright in his second-round match.
