Reigning Champion Michael van Gerwen will clash with Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Jack’s World Series of Darts Finals, with both producing dazzling displays on Saturday at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam.
In an all-Dutch clash with Danny Noppert, Van Gerwen looked imperious as he fired an 106.17 average in a 6-3 victory.
Humphries was equally impressive in his victory - averaging 106.09 - despite being taken to a last-leg decider in a 6-5 win over Damon Heta.
In front of a sell out crowd at AFAS Live, Van Gerwen fired seven maximums and landed 60 per cent of his double attempts to brush aside Noppert.
It was a vast improvement from his laboured first round performance which saw him average just 86 against Jonny Clayton
“It was a hard battle against Danny, he is a phenomenal player,” said Van Gerwen.
“Yesterday I underperformed big time but tonight was a different Michael
“To win in front of my kids and my wife means a lot to me, it gives me a lot of energy and it’s important for them to see what I do sometimes.”
“My record against Luke is poor, but I feel good and think I can do a lot of damage tomorrow.”
Humphries was made to work a lot harder for his victory over Heta.
It was looking routine as he moved into a 5-3 lead with the darts in hand.
Heta dug deep, however, and dragged himself level at 5-5 with legs of 14 and 13 darts.
But a stunning 10-darter from Humphries pushed him over the line and into the last eight.
“Damon said he wanted a bit of fight from me and that's what I gave him,” said the world number one.
“Sometimes the emotion comes out of me and he fired me up tonight.
“It was a fantastic game of darts and to hit a ten-dart leg under pressure in the decider shows the resolve I’ve got."
Rob Cross, a winner at June’s New York Darts Masters, ended the home hopes of Kevin Doets as he fought back from 5-3 down.
A stunning 161 checkout from Cross, with Doets having missed four darts for the match, levelled things at 5-5, before sneaking over the line in a last leg decider.
There was more Dutch disappointment in the second game of the night as Raymond van Barneveld crashed out to Luke Littler in a 6-4 defeat.
The reigning Bahrain and Poland Darts Master, who idolised Van Barneveld as a youngster, was rarely troubled as he set up a quarter-final clash with Chris Dobey.
It was another impressive display from Dobey in the night opener - seeing off Croatia’s Boris Krcmar 6-4 with a 103 average.
More disappointment for the home crowd came in the final game of the night, as Wessel Nijman suffered a similar fate to Doets - letting a 5-3 lead slip to Michael Smith who snuck into the last four.
Elsewhere, Daryl Gurney reached his second TV quarter-final of the year as he beat a lacklustre Gerwyn Price 6-3.
Peter Wright also continued his resurgence as he breezed past Canada’s Jeff Smith 6-2.
Sunday will see the quarter-finals take place in the afternoon ahead of the semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
A limited number of tickets for the Jack's World Series of Darts Finals are available via SeeTickets.
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Saturday September 14
Afternoon Session
First Round x8
Kevin Doets 6-0 Keane Barry
Jeff Smith 6-4 Rhys Griffin
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Peter Wright 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Andrew Gildnig
Michael Smith 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Evening Session
Second Round x8
Chris Dobey 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Luke Littler 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries 6-5 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Danny Noppert
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 6-2 Jeff Smith
Rob Cross 6-5 Kevin Doets
Michael Smith 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Sunday September 15
Afternoon Session (1245 CEST, 1145 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Chris Dobey
Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen
Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright
Rob Cross v Michael Smith
Evening Session (1900 CEST, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals
Littler/Dobey v Humphries/Van Gerwen
Gurney/Wright v Cross/Smith
Final
Littler/Dobey/Humphries/Van Gerwen v Gurney/Wright v Cross/Smith