World Darts Championship: Luke Humphries sets up Peter Wright's last-16 clash as Gerwyn Price beats Joe Cullen in sudden-death thriller | Darts News

Luke Humphries went into the fourth round of the World Darts Championship with a straight-sets victory over Nick Kenny, on the same night Gerwyn Price triumphed in an exciting final leg decider against Joe Cullen.

World No 1 Humphries won nine of the last 10 legs and averaged 98.59 in a 4-0 win over Kenny, setting up a last-16 clash between the defending champion and two-time winner Peter Wright.

Wright, despite an apparent illness, produced arguably his best performance of 2024 when he beat Jermaine Wattimena 4-2.

Price overcomes Cullen despite 'Big Fish' in a big finish

Earlier, Price came through a stunning opening match against Cullen in which he coughed up a 3-0 lead in sets and rattled off three match points while being broken three times when serving for his game.

Two of the lost match runs came ahead of an 'incredible' 170Big Fish' finish from Cullen – just a second into the contest – which leveled the final set at 5-5 and forced a sudden death leg.

It was the 2021 winner, Price, however, who would gain the final spot in the fourth round with a seventh straight break of throws as he finally found tops with his fourth dart, setting up a meeting with fellow Welshman Jonny Clayton next.

“The crowd was really behind him, and I thought I was going to lose that game,” Price said afterward.

“I put myself in that position, but I got out of it. I held on right to the end and thankfully got the win.

“I've got a lot more in the tank and I'll play a lot better than I did tonight. I did enough to win – and I'm just happy with that.”

In the second game of the evening, Wright put on a performance that belied his health problems, 'Snakebite' with an excuse denying the crowd his walk-on dance moves before coughing through it. His influence on Wattimena.

The 2020 and 2022 champion averaged 96.19, and although Wattimena himself was up at 96.50, it was Wright who delivered in the key moments to keep the Dutchman at bay.

He will now face Humphries in the next round who, although he did not make his best shots, made light work of Kenny in the final competition on Friday night.

The reigning champion stole the first set with a last leg break after Kenny missed a costly dart at double 16, while he was broken to start the second but any thoughts of a tightly contested battle were dashed. put to bed quickly while Humphries reeled. off nine of the next 10 legs – including a 145 checkout in the fourth set.

Humphries likes the shock of Wright | 'So much more to give'

“It was one of those games where I didn't want to take it for granted,” Humphries said.

“I wasn't firing. I felt there was a lot more to give, it just wasn't coming out of me, but a solid performance. As long as I can keep winning a every set, no lost sets, that's all that matters.

“I'm not going to give up this world title without a fight. It's not my best, but when someone pushes me I know I can deliver the goods.”

Looking ahead to his meeting with Wright, Humphries said: “He said a couple of things in the last round. He said that Barney (Raymond van Barneveld) was going to break me and that he was going to break Jermaine (Wattimena).

“He said me and Luke Littler are not scared, so we'll see when we play again.”

Bunting cruises into the fourth round after Heta hit a nine darter in defeat

In the afternoon session, Stephen Bunting went into the fourth round with a victory over Madars Razma from Latvia, while Damon Heta put in an interesting performance. nine-darter in a loss to Luke Woodhouse.

Bunting is one of the dark horses for the tournament, especially as half of the original 32 seeds are already out, and he saw off Razma 4-1 despite not being top seeded. better.

The former Lakeside champion – whose previous best run at Alexandra Palace came in 2021 when he reached the semi-finals – plays Woodhouse next after moving back from 3- 1, swinging nine legs on the turn to beat Heta 4-3 and reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.

In the first match after the short Christmas break, Heta produced the perfect second step at this year's tournament, sending the Ally Pally crowd into raptures in the second set – Woodhouse also celebrating wildly in one moment.

Dutchman Christian Kist made a perfect first leg in the opening round last week and also lost a match. Three in 2022 holds the record for most nine darters at a World Championship, so one more would equal that feat.

Heta wins £60,000 for his nine-darter though, as does one lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer for his to mark a moment.

Clayton won the other match of the evening, holding off Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney for a 4-3 win.

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