Luke Humphries fired a stunning nine-darter during a dramatic victory over Luke Woodhouse at the Winmau World Masters, as Luke Littler stormed into the quarter-finals.
Humphries delivered the first 'perfect leg' of this year's contest to wrap up the second set of an absorbing contest against Woodhouse, who battled back from 3-1 down to take their second-round clash to a decider in Milton Keynes.
The defending champion missed a match dart in the fifth set and wasted three more in a tense last set, forcing the match to a final leg, where Humphries held throw to secure a narrow win and set up a meeting with Danny Noppert in the last eight.
Noppert thrashed Stephen Bunting in straight sets and Josh Rock brushed aside former world champion Rob Cross 4-1, while Littler breezed into the quarter finals by beating Ross Smith by the same margin in a high-scoring contest.
Littler fired a 107.88 average and eight maximums in a match where he was described as 'unplayable' during the opening sets, with 'The Nuke' moving another step closer to securing one of two PDC ranked TV majors missing from his glittering darts CV.
Humphries raced ahead by winning each of the first four legs, including the 141 checkout on D12 to complete his nine-darter - a third on TV in the past 12 months, with both players averaging over 105 as they exchanged the next two sets.
Woodhouse fired a 114 finish, survived a match dart on D19 and broke twice during the fifth set before winning the next to threaten a famous victory, as Humphries overcame more missed darts to stutter through with a 54 checkout and 14-darter.
"When I hit those two 180s, I just felt like it [the nine-darter] was going to go," Humphries said. "It was a great moment but if I don't win the match it means nothing, so I'm really glad I got the win to go with it.
"Luke put me under pressure every single set. He's definitely hit that next peak in his career. I think he knows he's got the game to beat anybody and that's what I said to him: 'The world is your oyster now.'"
, with 'The Nuke' following that narrow victory with a statement display of power scoring against 16th seed Smith.
The world No 1 took just 49 darts to race through the first four legs, with Littler threatening a tournament record when he opened a three-set cushion with a 116 average.
Smith - who averaged over 102 and posted six maximums in his loss - battled back to claim the fourth set but missed opportunities to break early in the next, where Littler held throw with 120 and 92 finishes to progress.
"I played very well tonight, far better than Friday," said Littler. "That's what I had to do against Ross. We always have brilliant games, so I'm just glad to get through. Me and Josh [Rock] have had some really good games in the past, and hopefully we can have another one."
Rock is through to the last eight after closing his 4-1 win over Cross by winning each of the last five legs, while Noppert will face Humphries on Sunday afternoon after dropping just one leg in a dominant victory over an out-of-sorts Bunting.
The afternoon session saw Gerwyn Price produce some spectacular finishing as he fought back from two sets down to beat last year's runner-up Jonny Clayton in a seven-set thriller.
A stunning 161 in the third set - one for four ton-plus checkouts from Price - moved the match back in his favour, and he missed five match darts in the deciding set before closing out victory with a 14-darter.
Price will next face Chris Dobey, who blew a 3-1 lead against Damon Heta before winning by the same margin, with the Englishman producing a crucial 127 checkout on the bullseye to break throw in the final set.
Debutant Gian van Veen capitalised on some poor finishing from Nathan Aspinall in a 4-2 victory, with Aspinall outscoring the Dutchman but only converting 19 per cent of his darts at double - missing eight in the final leg.
Van Veen's reward is a quarter-final showdown with James Wade, who fought back from 2-0 down to beat Gary Anderson 4-3 and reach the last eight in Milton Keynes for the first time since 2021.
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Quarter-Finals (Order to be confirmed)
Best of seven sets
Chris Dobey v Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler v Josh Rock
Gian van Veen v James Wade
Luke Humphries v Danny Noppert
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Best of nine sets
Luke Littler/Josh Rock v Chris Dobey/Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries/Danny Noppert v Gian van Veen/James Wade
Final
Best of 11 sets
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