Luke Humphries has advanced to the fourth round for the fourth consecutive year.
Former champion Luke Humphries survived a scare to progress to the fourth round of the PDC World Championship as four previous winners secured victories on Sunday.
Humphries, the 2024 titleholder after defeating Luke Littler, overcame Germany’s Gabriel Clemens with a 4-2 result.
The 30-year-old initially surged to a 3-0 lead but saw Clemens close the gap to 3-2. Clemens then missed opportunities to level the match before Humphries clinched a fourth-round encounter against either Nathan Aspinall or Kevin Doets.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen also advanced, securing a 4-1 victory over German debutant Arno Merk.
After leading 2-0 and being pegged back, Van Gerwen found another gear to set up a last-16 clash with two-time winner Gary Anderson.
Anderson emerged victorious from a final-set thriller against Jermaine Wattimena earlier in the day, progressing alongside 2018 champion Rob Cross.
Cross comfortably defeated Australian 16th seed Damon Heta with a 4-0 win and will now face defending champion Luke Littler in the next round.
Netherlands’ 10th seed Gian van Veen also progressed, overcoming Latvia’s Madars Razma with a 4-1 victory, while 20th seed Ryan Searle reached the fourth round for the first time since 2021 with a dominant 4-0 win over Germany’s Martin Schindler.
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Luke Humphries is currently ranked second in the world, while Gabriel Clemens is ranked 47th.
Humphries secured the first set against Clemens despite averaging only 89.82, but he displayed greater purpose in establishing a 2-0 lead with a second-set average of 108.59.
He also claimed the third set, but there were signs of Clemens finding his rhythm.
The German reached the semi-finals in 2023 but had failed to progress past round three in the previous two years.
He won the fourth set without dropping a leg, and took out 121 and 116 finishes.
Clemens also claimed set five and at this stage he was on a roll, winning eight of 11 legs across sets three to five.
This was not a case of Humphries’ level dropping – he took out 170 in set five and averaged 103.25 and 110.25 in the two that Clemens won.
Clemens had three darts at double 20 to earn a deciding set but went inside on 20 and 10 before going high on the double five.
Humphries needed 81 to secure his passage and, after nailing double 13 with his final dart, wheeled off in celebration and jumped around the stage fist-pumping in a rare showing of emotion and relief for the world number two.
“I don’t think I really dropped off but Gabriel got a lot better,” Humphries, who averaged 100.14 to Clemens’ 101.49, told Sky Sports.
“If that double 13 doesn’t go in, it is 3-3 and I’m panicking.
“That could be the difference between being world champion again or not.
“I just found another level there when I needed it.”
Gary Anderson was the last back-to-back winner of PDC World Championship in 2015 and 2016
The tie between Scotland’s Anderson and Dutchman Wattimena was undoubtedly the headline act of the afternoon.
Anderson went 3-1 up in a game played at a ferocious pace, and was impressive in averaging 121 in set three.
He missed three match darts in the fifth set, hitting double eight with his first dart with 32 required, before missing the same target twice.
Wattimena powered back and forced a final set, despite Anderson missing more match darts at tops in set six.
Anderson went eight darts into the nine-darter in the final set, before going high on the double 12, and eventually claimed the set 5-3 to continue his quest to be the tournament’s oldest winner at 55.
He averaged 102.24 – the eighth-highest average in this year’s tournament – and was at 37.5% on the checkouts.
“It’s no good for my age. It’s hard, especially with Jermaine on you. What a game,” Anderson told Sky Sports.
“The last two games, 4-0, 4-0. I hope that’s made up for it. I’m going to lie down now.
“I bottled the nine-darter, like I bottled a lot of doubles. I was getting excited, I don’t often do that up there. But I got it done.”
Afternoon session
Martin Schindler (13) 0-4 Ryan Searle (20)
Damon Heta (16) 0-4 Rob Cross (17)
Gary Anderson (14) 4-3 Jermaine Wattimena (19)
Evening session (19:00)
Gian van Veen (10) 4-1 Madars Razma
Luke Humphries (2) 4-2 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen (3) v Arno Merk
Afternoon session (12:30 GMT – all third round)
Justin Hood v Ryan Meikle
Ricky Evans v Charlie Manby
Nathan Aspinall (15) v Kevin Doets
Evening session (19:00 GMT)
Josh Rock (11) v Callan Rydz (third round)
Fourth round
James Hurrell v Ryan Searle (20)
Luke Littler (1) v Rob Cross (17)
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