PHIL TAYLOR agonizingly wired double 12 for a nine-darter as the Austrian Darts Open quarter-final line-up was decided at the Multiversum in Schwechat, Vienna on Sunday afternoon.
The 16-time World Champion held off a resilient Kim Huybrechts in a 6-3 thriller in the third round as he touched on perfection.
After Taylor took the opening three legs, Huybrechts showed great spirit to level things up at 3-3.
Fresh on confidence from winning the Betway World Cup of Darts last week, Taylor returned to claim the next leg before firing eight perfect darts and clipping the wire of double 12 in the pursuit of the perfect leg - settling instead for winning the leg in ten darts before sealing victory in leg nine.
Michael van Gerwen continued his bid to retain his Austrian Darts Open title with a dominant 6-1 victory over Steve Beaton.
After a shaky start, van Gerwen ramped up the power and fired home back-to-back 12-darters to establish a 4-0 lead.
There was a reprieve for Beaton as he took out 80 for 4-1, before the Dutchman rattled off the next two legs to claim his quarter-final spot.
Nigel Heydon’s incredible run got even better as he whitewashed Ian White to reach the quarter-finals and set up a clash with Michael Smith, who edged past Ron Meulenkamp 6-4.
In the game of the afternoon, Kyle Anderson squeezed past Jelle Klaasen 6-5, despite the Dutchman averaging 104.77 and hitting eight 180s.
Anderson was impressive himself, firing four maximums and averaging 103.61 as he set up a quarter-final clash with van Gerwen.
In an incredible moment, Peter Wright burst a 120 score in a deciding leg thriller against Alan Norris, who was unable to capitalise with 56 remaining as the Scot returned on tops to escape with a 6-5 victory.
Elsewhere, Terry Jenkins was impressive as he edged out the in-form Benito van de Pas 6-3, whilst back-to-back European Tour finalist Dave Chisnall crumbled to a 6-2 defeat to former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting.
Austrian Darts Open
Sunday June 12
Afternoon Session
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Steve Beaton
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Phil Taylor 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Peter Wright 6-5 Alan Norris
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Benito van de Pas
Nigel Heydon 6-0 Ian White
Michael Smith 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen v Kyle Anderson
Phil Taylor v Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright v Terry Jenkins
Nigel Heydon v Michael Smith
Semi-Finals
Final
All games are the best of 11 legs
Match Stats
| Average | 180s | Finishing | Average | 180s | Finishing | |||
| 101.36 | 3 | 6/16 | Michael van Gerwen | 6-1 | Steve Beaton | 91.28 | 0 | 1/3 |
| 104.77 | 8 | 5/19 | Jelle Klaasen | 5-6 | Kyle Anderson | 103.61 | 4 | 6/13 |
| 102.47 | 0 | 3/9 | Kim Huybrechts | 3-6 | Phil Taylor | 101.73 | 3 | 6/8 |
| 94.42 | 4 | 2/7 | Dave Chisnall | 2-6 | Stephen Bunting | 96.7 | 2 | 6/13 |
| 95.46 | 4 | 6/11 | Peter Wright | 6-5 | Alan Norris | 102.82 | 7 | 5/19 |
| 96.95 | 4 | 3/11 | Benito van de Pas | 3-6 | Terry Jenkins | 93.07 | 2 | 6/21 |
| 88.88 | 2 | 0/10 | Ian White | 0-6 | Nigel Heydon | 92.97 | 0 | 6/12 |
| 87.41 | 1 | 6/15 | Michael Smith | 6-4 | Ron Meulenkamp | 86.55 | 3 | 4/15 |