Luke Littler won every available leg as he cruised to a 4-0 routing of James Wade to book his spot in the quarter-finals at the World Masters darts as Dimitri Van den Bergh hit a nine-darter on the way to victory over Michael van Gerwen.
The 18-year-old was at ease from the first dart in the contest with Wade and made it count as he rattled off the first four legs in a row, with three of the checkouts on his favourite D10, to breeze to a two-set advantage.
Reigning world champion Littler then kept the domination going without seemingly moving out of second gear but also averaging 105.47 and clinching 50 per cent on the doubles, his brutal efficiency leaving Wade with no answers.
There were just 14 minutes and four seconds of actual play in the contest, the final few moments seeing Littler make it four out of eight checkouts on D10 as he wrapped up a storming performance, leaving Wade without a single opportunity on the doubles at all.
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Luke Littler made light work of James Wade, wining every leg to secure his quarter-final spot at the 2025 PDC World Masters.
“I played very well there,” Littler told ITV 4.
“I just had to take my chances and win eight on the bounce.
“Any player will expect the best game out of James Wade but I am thankful he didn’t turn up tonight.
“But a 105 average would have been tough to beat and I had 50 per cent on the doubles which I am very happy with.
“I just wanted to get the job done. James can play very well but it was just not his day.”
The final match of the night then saw Van den Bergh clinch a victory over Van Gerwen for just the second time ever and for the first time in seven years, pinning a show-stopping nine-darter in the process.
The magical moment came in the first leg of the sixth set, the Belgian opting for back-to-back 180s then T20, T15, D18 to seal the perfect leg.
That helped him bring the match to 3-3 and as the Dutchman went bust on 87 in the crucial second leg of the deciding set, Van den Bergh clinched D8 to progress to the quarter-finals.
“Everybody knows the stats between me and MVG,” Van den Bergh told ITV 4.
“I think it was written in the sky for once that MVG didn’t have his night.
“We didn’t finish and score the way we normally do but I am stoked.
“I was 3-2 down and the focus was win the leg ( when I hit the nine-darter).”
Van den Bergh will come up against Nathan Aspinall after he battled to his spot in the quarter-finals with a scrappy 4-1 victory over Cameron Menzies.
It was an objectively poor contest between Aspinall and the last qualifier standing in Menzies, but the world no 11 managed to find an extra gear and struck with three legs on the spin then an 11-darter to move 3-1 up, a break of throw then helping him seal the deal.
Littler will now face Jonny Clayton, who fought back from 3-1 down against Ryan Searle to claim the victory 4-3 in a nervous deciding leg.
Clayton had got off to a sensational start as he broke in the opening leg with a sensational 144 checkout, but Searle grew into the encounter and with some superior doubling was 3-1 up.
However, the Welshman then showed his nerves of steel to keep battling and, after breaking Searle’s throw to bring the game level, nailed 62 on D16 to book his spot in Sunday’s action.
Humphries makes mark in afternoon with Bunting also in quarter-finals
Luke Humphries was at his clinical best against Josh Rock to book a spot in the quarter-finals
Luke Humphries laid down a marker in the afternoon session as he demolished Josh Rock 4-0 to book his spot in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The world no 1 clinched the win with a brilliant 104 checkout and is now hoping to keep bringing his clinical best as the tournament reaches crunch time.
He will face Damon Heta, who survived a fightback from Gerwyn Price to win in a dramatic deciding leg as the ‘Iceman’ undid his hard work of getting back into the match by struggling on the trebles when it mattered.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bunting and Danny Noppert also set up a quarter-final bout, ‘The Bullet’ beating Peter Wright 4-2 while the Dutchman was comprehensive in a 4-0 routing of William O’Connor.
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