Luke Littler produced his best average to date at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship in his whitewash win over Mensur Suljovic, as James Hurrell stunned Stephen Bunting on Saturday.
Day Fourteen of the biggest event in the darting calendar saw round three commence after the Christmas break, as Littler conjured up an emphatic performance.
The World Champion averaged over 107 - the second best average of the tournament so far and Littler’s best at Alexandra Palace - and converted an incredible 71% of his checkout attempts in his demolition of Suljovic.
The world number one took the opening seven legs straight, and took out a set-deciding leg with a classy 124 checkout in the third set, before wrapping up proceedings in the final stanza to maintain his flawless record and not drop a set in advancing to round four.
“Tonight felt like a free hit, I had no nerves whatsoever and I let my darts do the talking,” said Littler, who will face either Damon Heta or Rob Cross in round four.
“I was on a 109 average after the first set, so I dropped two points in the end, but 71% on the doubling, I’m very happy with it.
“No matter how you win a game, you want to win it in style. Not losing a set at all is a good thing.
“People can say whoever plays Littler next will lose, but this is darts, anyone can win or lose. I just have to show up for my next game and hopefully put in another performance like that.”
Elsewhere, Hurrell knocked out the highest seed of the tournament thus far by defeating Bunting 4-3 with an excellent performance.
Fourth seed Bunting took a 2-1 lead after winning the second and third sets with fabulous checkouts of 161 and 121, but Hurrell battled back, winning 18 of the 30 legs in the contest and averaging over 98 to stun his opponent and secure a memorable victory.
“I feel amazing, it’s the biggest win of my career,” asserted Hurrell, who will play Martin Schindler or Ryan Searle for a spot in the quarter-finals.
“I knew where my game was coming into this, I just needed to sort my doubles out. I’m not going anywhere.
“I’ve just beaten the number four in the world. I’m not bothered who I face next.”
Jonny Clayton emerged the victor of a thrilling 4-3 contest against Niels Zonneveld, with both players averaging above 98 in a game of high-quality finishing.
The Welsh number one went ahead on three occasions, with Zonneveld levelling each time, before Clayton won the final set in straight legs to secure his spot in round four for the fifth year in a row.
“I had to do my job and I’ve done it today. I kept the nerves quite calm and I got over the line in the end,” said Clayton, who will face Andreas Harrysson in round four.
“Niels is a great darts player, he’s got a good future in the game.
“My doubles were good, thank God! I’ve struggled with my doubles for a long time, so that was great.
“I’d like to go and lift that trophy, that’s my aim."
Harrysson’s dream debut continued with a 4-2 victory over German number two Ricardo Pietreczko, as the Swede averaged a tournament-best of over 96 during the contest.
Harrysson never trailed during the match, and despite a whopping 158 from his opponent, took six of the final seven legs to earn his spot in the last 16.
Luke Woodhouse stormed to a 4-1 win to condemn Andrew Gilding to a fourth straight Round Three defeat at Alexandra Palace.
Despite a slow start to the game, Woodhouse averaged over 103 in the last three sets to cruise into the last 16 for the second consecutive year and set up a clash with Krzysztof Ratajski.
Ratajski himself came back from 3-1 down to defeat Wesley Plaisier 4-3 in a thrilling contest, where both players averaged above 95.
Plaisier missed three match darts to win the game 4-2, but the Polish number one recovered and took out four ton-plus finishes including a match-winning 116 to advance to round four for just the second time in his career.
The round three action continues on Sunday with another bumper double-session, as former World Champions Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen steal the headlines in their ties against Gabriel Clemens and Arno Merk respectively.
Two more former World Champions feature in the afternoon, as Rob Cross takes on Damon Heta, and Gary Anderson plays Jermaine Wattimena in a tantalising Sunday schedule.
The Paddy Power World Darts Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
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2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Saturday December 27
Afternoon Session
Round Three
Krzysztof Ratajski 4-3 Wesley Plaisier (0-3, 3-0, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2, 3-1)
Luke Woodhouse 4-1 Andrew Gilding (3-1, 1-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2)
Jonny Clayton 4-3 Niels Zonneveld (3-2, 1-3, 3-0, 0-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-0)
Evening Session
Round Three
Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko (3-2, 2-3, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1)
James Hurrell 4-3 Stephen Bunting (3-1, 2-3, 2-3, 3-0, 3-1, 2-3, 3-1)
Luke Littler 4-0 Mensur Suljovic (3-0, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1)
Sunday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Round Three
Martin Schindler v Ryan Searle
Damon Heta v Rob Cross
Gary Anderson v Jermaine Wattimena
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Round Three
Gian van Veen v Madars Razma
Luke Humphries v Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen v Arno Merk
Best of Seven Sets