Luke Humphries got here by an actual battle with Beau Greaves to wrap up a tricky 10-7 victory and transfer into the final 32 on the UK Open in Minehead.
Greaves had already created historical past on her UK Open debut by successful her first three matches on the opening day towards Stefan Bellmont, Rhys Griffin and Mickey Mansell to maneuver into the fourth spherical, and was trying to find much more when she took on the 2024 world champion.
The world No 1 girls’s participant obtained off to a sensational begin with checkouts of 126 and 124 serving to her right into a 3-2 lead on the first break, earlier than Humphries fought again to carry the competition all sq. at 5-5.
Greaves then managed to maneuver 7-5 in entrance with a break of throw, however the pivotal second got here within the fifteenth leg when Humphries discovered his personal break to maneuver 8-7 forward and main for the primary time.
From there, some superior scoring from ‘Cool Hand’ helped him over the road, Humphries bringing Greaves again onto the stage for some much-deserved appreciation from the Butlin’s crowd.
“I really enjoyed the game. It was great fun and Beau played amazing,” Humphries advised ITV Sport.
“She is a improbable participant and he or she actually needed to carry out one of the best in me. The women’ recreation has grown massively and it’s due to her.
“If it had been a Premier League game she would have beaten me. She is probably a top-64 player in the world, but you don’t want to put too much pressure on her.”
Greaves herself admitted her recreation dropped off within the ultimate couple of legs however her debut on the UK Open will solely be a optimistic expertise for her profession.
“I set off well and I knew at the end of the match I dropped off a bit. That is what I am working towards in my game,” she mentioned.
“What an experience. Playing someone like Luke will only help my game. I enjoyed just watching him throw.
“It’s a studying curve, I’m blissful, and I’ve had a superb recreation.”
Humphries will now face shut pal Ryan Searle within the fifth spherical.
Luke Littler held off fairly the efficiency from Peter Wright to wrap up a 10-9 victory in a deciding leg to maneuver into the final 32 the place he’ll face Jermaine Wattimena.
Wright, the 2017 UK Open champion, gained three legs on the spin with back-to-back 14-darters to maneuver 3-2 in entrance after which discovered one other spell with three ton-plus finishes in a row, adopted by a 12-dart break of throw to take the match all the best way.
Nonetheless, the 18-year-old world champion stood agency towards the throw and laid up tops from 170, taking it out first dart to progress.
Michael van Gerwen held off a late fightback from Dirk van Duijvenbode to guide his spot within the fifth spherical towards Robert Owen.
Averaging over 107 within the first session, Van Duijvenbode managed to get simply in entrance with a 3-2 benefit however persistently let Van Gerwen off the hook together with his doubling, which noticed the world No 3 take six legs in a row to maneuver 7-3 up.
Regardless of battling again to 8-7, Van Duijvenbode left himself an excessive amount of to do and Van Gerwen managed to grind out the 10-8 win.
Jonny Clayton was in imperious kind as he demolished Gary Anderson on the principle stage in Minehead to arrange a conflict with Alan Soutar.
Clayton raced right into a 4-1 lead, a break of throw plus a silky 121 checkout giving ‘The Ferret’ the benefit in a fast-paced encounter.
From there, the Welshman romped into an 8-2 benefit, wrapping up the match on tops for an eventual 10-3 victory.
Elsewhere, Gerwyn Value was shocked by Connor Scutt in a last-leg decider, Chris Dobey beat Stephen Bunting, and reigning champion Dimitri Van den Bergh got here away with a 10-6 win over two-time UK Open champion Raymond van Barneveld.
Different outcomes noticed Wattimena battle previous Ritchie Edhouse, Danny Noppert race previous Daryl Gurney, Michael Smith avenge his World Championship loss to Kevin Doets and Dave Chisnall come by a last-leg decider towards Ricky Evans.
Fourth-round outcomes:
Jonny Clayton 10-3 Gary Anderson
Luke Littler 10-9 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 10-7 Beau Greaves
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dave Chisnall 10-9 Ricky Evans
Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Chris Dobey 10-6 Stephen Bunting
Connor Scutt 10-9 Gerwyn Value
Stephen Burton 10-6 Radek Szaganski
Ryan Searle 10-7 Adam Hunt
Martin Schindler 10-7 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Michael Smith 10-6 Kevin Doets
Danny Noppert 10-2 Daryl Gurney
William O’Connor 10-7 Scott Williams
Alan Soutar 10-7 Matt Campbell
Cameron Menzies 10-4 Mike De Decker
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Joe Cullen
Nathan Aspinall 10-5 Martin Lukeman
Dylan Slevin 10-7 Haupai Puha
James Wade 10-3 William Borland
Mensur Suljovic 10-6 Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith 10-7 Jose de Sousa
Jurjen van der Velde 10-6 Adam Lipscombe
Josh Rock 10-5 Justin Hood
Danny Lauby 10-9 Brendan Dolan
Madars Razma 10-9 Ricardo Pietreczko
Damon Heta 10-2 Kim Huybrechts
Rob Cross 10-4 Thomas Beautiful
Jermaine Wattimena 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Gian van Veen 10-4 Nick Kenny
Ryan Joyce 10-8 Andrew Gilding
Rob Owen 10-7 George Killington
Fifth-round draw:
Ryan Searle vs Luke Humphries
Dave Chisnall vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Mensur Suljovic vs William O’Connor
Rob Cross vs Danny Noppert
Josh Rock vs Ross Smith
Madars Razma vs Michael Smith
Alan Soutar vs Jonny Clayton
Gian van Veen vs Stephen Burton
Jurjen van der Velde vs Nathan Aspinall
Cameron Menzies vs James Wade
Rob Owen vs Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler vs Jermaine Wattimena
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Chris Dobey
Martin Schindler vs Dylan Slevin
Danny Lauby vs Ryan Joyce
Connor Scutt vs Damon Heta
The place does the Premier League head subsequent?
The Premier League continues with Evening 5 in Brighton on Thursday March 6 as Gerwyn Value and Michael van Gerwen lock horns in a repeat of the 2023 Premier League ultimate, with Luke Littler or Chris Dobey awaiting the winner within the final 4. Watch Evening 5 of Premier League Darts, The Brighton Centre, reside on Sky Sports activities Essential Occasion and Sky Sports activities+ stream with NOW.
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