ALAN WARRINER-LITTLE 4-2 ANDY SMITH
(3-1, 0-3, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2)
ALAN WARRINER-LITTLE booked his place in the last eight of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, coming from behind to win 4-2 against Andy Smith.
The Cumbrian had overcome Andree Welge and Gerry Convery to reach round three, but faced his toughest test yet against the world number 33.
Smith hit back from losing the opening set to win the next two and move 2-1 up in the match.
But the Warwickshire-based lumberjack could not maintain the momentum, with Warriner-Little winning the fourth set 3-1.
Smith landed a 116 finish to move 2-1 up in the fifth, but Warriner went even better with a brilliant 160 checkout - when his opponent needed just 40 - and then took the set by hitting double 16.
Smith also led in the sixth set and came back to level at 2-2, but Warriner-Little sealed victory with a stunning 138 finish, hitting two treble twenty's and double nine before leaping into the crowd to celebrate with wife Brenda.
"It was a fantastic game, nip and tuck all the way," said Warriner-Little.
"If Andy had gone on to win that set he could have gone on to win the game, so to to hit that finish was a massive release of emotion for me.
"The win is the most important thing, and the performance is secondary if you get that, but I'm happy and soldiering on.
"Nobody is talking about me, I've got a lot of experience and I'm playing well. I'm getting better with every game."
Smith said: "I'm disappointed because I know I can play better than I did today.
"I feel like I didn't turn up and missed too many doubles, but this week has been a great experience and I've had a superb year.
"It was my first time here at the Circus Tavern, I've won two games and will move into the top 32 now.
"I'm just annoyed with myself at the way I played today."
Match Stats
|
Andy Smith |
2-4 |
Alan Warriner-Little |
|
47 |
100+ |
28 |
|
8 |
140+ |
25 |
|
- |
180 |
2 |
|
28.48 |
Ave1 |
28.78 |
|
85.44 |
Ave3 |
86.34 |