Luke Littler survived a real scare before fighting back to beat Jermaine Wattimena 13-11 in a thriller to reach the World Matchplay quarter-finals in Blackpool, but three-time champion Michael van Gerwen is out after defeat to Josh Rock.
World champion Littler looked out of sorts at Winter Gardens as he slipped 4-0 and then 7-2 behind against Dutchman Wattimena.
After pulling one leg back immediately before the second break, a clearly fired up Littler let out a roar of delight and gestured to the crowd that he was not going home just yet.
Littler returned from the break reinvigorated, winning six legs in a row, but Wattimena rediscovered his composure and the two players traded blows to send the game to a tie break
Littler missed two match darts as the nerves began to show, but after making the third he once again roared in celebration and pointed to the star on his shirt, which signifies his World Championship victory.
“When I pointed to the star on my shirt, I’m a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it,” Littler told Sky Sports.
“I’ve not felt pressure like that since the first round of the World Championship. I was a bit nervous and it’s on to my third game here, I’ve won two of them.
“I want to get back on stage and right now I can’t wait to be in the quarter-final.”
Van Gerwen made a flying start against Northern Ireland’s Rock, taking the opening leg with a 150 checkout before surging into a 5-1 lead.
Rock narrowed the game to 6-4 at the second break only for Van Gerwen to move into a 9-6 lead and seemingly on the brink of victory.
But Rock fought back again and the momentum to swung in his favour when a superb 152 checkout cut Van Gerwen’s lead down to one, before winning the next two legs to take the lead for the first time.
Van Gerwen needed a 138 checkout to stay in the game and make it 10-10, but Rock held his nerve in a tense tie break.
“I kept my emotions, I think, throughout the game. I don’t know what was going on but I got into the game at the end,” he told Sky Sports.
“One of the most dramatic, my heart was pumping throughout the whole game. The stress has finally gone. What a game.”
Gerwyn Price stormed into the quarter-finals with an 11-3 thrashing of England’s Chris Dobey,
Welshman Price, who was involved in an angry confrontation with Daryl Gurney in the previous round, averaged 108.7, hit eight 180s and had a 146 checkout in a dominant performance.
“It was fantastic. In the middle part of the game I felt like I couldn’t miss,” he told Sky Sports. “I put Chris under a lot of pressure. I think he still played pretty decent in patches.
“I think early on we were both flying and I was just pipping him on a couple of legs, probably disheartened him a little bit. It’s a good game for me.”
Andrew Gilding set up a meeting with Littler after the former UK Open champion beat Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-5 to reach the last eight of the World Matchplay for the second successive year.
