Simon Whitlock suffered a shock exit at the PDC World Darts Championship while Raymond van Barneveld struggled through.
Van der Voort through to quarter-finals after shock victory, Barney struggles
Simon Whitlock suffered a shock exit in the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship after a 4-2 defeat to Vincent van der Voort.
Last year's runner-up had no answer for van der Voort's scoring in the middle sets as the Dutchman surged into a 3-1 lead before overcoming some nervy moments to take victory.
Both players made a steady start as the first three legs went with throw before Whitlock struck in the fourth by taking out 80 to clinch the opening set.
Van der Voort hit back to win the second set and level the match, although the Dutchman was let off the hook by Whitlock, who gave him a second chance after he missed three darts at double top in the deciding leg.
The third set also went to a deciding leg, where Whitlock narrowly missed a maximum 170 checkout before van der Voort hit double 16 to win it against the throw.
Van der Voort's relentless scoring continued in the next set as he moved to the brink of victory by taking the three legs without reply as Whitlock continued to falter.
But the Australian returned the favour in the next set, reeling off three legs in a row as his opponent started to struggle with doubles.
Whitlock's fightback was ended in the sixth set as van der Voort finally sealed the victory after squandering numerous chances in a nervy finish.
Barney unconvincing
There was almost a second huge shock as
Raymond van Barneveld struggled against Colin Osborne before eventually booking his place in the last eight with a 4-3 win.
Van Barneveld made a slow start as his average lagged well below 100 but he still managed to win the first set after a 104 finish in the fourth leg.
But Osborne levelled things up in the next set as he hit double eight against the throw to clinch the deciding leg.
Van Barneveld changed his flights before the third set but his scrappy play continued, with Osborne moving into the lead after hitting double six in another deciding leg.
A 156 finish in the first leg of the next set seemed to spark the Dutchman into life and he levelled the contest at 2-2 but Osborne hit back again in the next set to retake the lead.
Osborne could not close out victory in the sixth set however and a decider was needed after van Barneveld upped his game at the crucial time.
Van Barneveld opened with an 11-dart finish in the deciding set and kept the momentum rolling to take the set 3-0, clinching the match on double 16 to set up a clash with in-form Gary Anderson.
"I won that first set with a 104 finish. The second set I missed double 18 on the finish and then another two darts missed on double nine," van Barneveld told
Sky Sports.
"From there I lost it. In the last break I was 3-2 down and I said to myself, 'This is going to be a fight for your life now'. At the end I've seen now a 97 average - it wasn't that bad. I was thinking it was a lot worse than that."
Whitewash
Wes Newton also progressed to the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace as he eased to a 4-0 victory over Mensur Suljovic.
The Austrian failed to recreate the form that saw him stun James Wade in the previous round as Newton controlled the contest from the off to move into a 2-0 lead.
The third set continued in much the same vein as Newton hit double top in the fourth leg to move to the brink of victory.
The contest was well and truly killed off when Newton won the first leg of the fourth set against the throw by taking out 90 before going on to complete the whitewash.
