Michael Smith has trumped Joe Cullen in a blistering duel for a place in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship. Last year’s finalist gave ‘The Rockstar’ hardly any breathing space with a high scoring average and put a result of 4-1 on the scoreboard in no time.
Smith struggled to beat Martin Schindler (4-3) in the third round and knew he had to show a higher level against Cullen. From the start of the duel he wasted no time. With an average of over 100, he won the first set in no time. Cullen came to the same level, but set 3 went to Smith again with an average of 125.25 (!)
The turning point of the match was set number 4. Both English darts players started to miss a lot of doubles and gave each other chances to break. In the end, Smith missed just a little less and doubled his lead: 3-1. In the fifth and final set, Smith left no room for Cullen to put pressure in his own legs and thus won the victory.
Clement writes history
Gabriel Clemens has become the first German ever to reach the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship. The German Giant was 4-1 too strong for the Scotsman Alan Soutar in the fourth round.
Clemens seemed to waltz over Soutar for a moment. In the first set, the 39-year-old German was amply better than his Scottish opponent and seemed to gain momentum with nerves of steel. But out of nowhere, Soutar, who surprisingly eliminated Danny Noppert a round earlier, came back in the second set with a great 104 finish. He continued that level in the third set, but without result, because Clemens had raised his level again: 2-1 in sets.
The fourth set came to a fifth leg that Soutar was allowed to start, but Clemens was just a bit sharper at the decisive moment. The German also remained calm and focused in the fifth and final leg: the set went to him 3-2, thanks in part to a 148 finish. And so he wrote history as the first German in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Gerwyn Price is waiting there.
Van den Bergh humiliates fellow countryman
Dimitri van den Bergh joined the quarterfinalists earlier this afternoon by beating Kim Huybrechts by a large margin. Dimitri van den Bergh was a lot better than his compatriot Kim Huybrechts in a short race from start to finish. The latter Belgian defeated defending champion Peter Wright a round earlier, but today averaged only 87.13 Dancing Dimi came close to 100 with his three arrow average and therefore also 4-0 in sets too strong for Huybrechts.
Last night, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton already qualified for the quarterfinals.
world darts
View the full schedule and all results of the World Cup darts at Alexandra Palace in London here. The final is on January 3.
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