Reigning champion Peter Wright has been dumped out of the PDC World Championship by Kim Huybrechts on a staggering night at Ally Pally.
The Belgian came from one set down against a completely off colour Snakebite, who completely lost his way on the stage, as he failed to find the trebles he usually does so easily. The world number two took the first set with ease but to his credit, Kim Huybrechts came back in style in the second. With three successive legs and a 100 finish saw him make it 1-1 on the night and all of a sudden, he was right back in the tie.
An average of 107 in that second set was remarkable from the Belgian, and Wright’s head seemed to have gone. He was soon 2-1 down having not been able to find any sort of consistency and even changing his darts didn’t help.
As the shock unfolded, we entered the fourth set. Snakebite missed his chances at D8 as Huybrechts made it six legs out of seven without even breaking a sweat. There was only so long Wright could underperform, so we thought. Without getting completely back on track, he won back-to-back legs, hitting D20 for the second.
He missed the bull to win the set and the Belgian made it 2-2, before the reigning champion held the darts to throw for the fourth set. However, Huybrechts put the pressure on and then nailed the D8 he needed to go three sets to one up.
Three sets in a row, nine legs to three, had swung this tie in his favour and the world number 31 had put himself on the brink of history. In the fifth set, the Belgian began with two 180s in the first leg to go 1-0 up. Still, Wright missed the doubles before landing D12 to level things.
The world champion has only failed to reach the last 16 on four occasions at the PDC World Championship, but Wright just wasn’t on his game at all and Huybrechts made it 2-1 relatively comfortably. Snakebite hit back to make it 2-2 as Huybrechts was left to throw for the match.
Wright completely lost his rhythm in the final leg and it was left to the Belgian to clean up, after Snakebite missed D18 to take the set. There was never a moment that he could get back into the match, and he was never able to inspire himself.
For Huybrechts, this goes down as the greatest win of his career. For Wright, it is back to the drawing board, and there will be a new name on the trophy in January.
Kim Huybrechts has knocked out the reigning World Champion! 😱
Gerwyn Price 4-0 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price smashed Raymond van Barneveld 4-0 in a phenomenal showing of dominance on the Ally Pally stage. Price knew the crowd would be behind his opponent, but he stepped up to plate in style. He nailed the first set with an 87 finish when the Dutchman was trying to get back into the set.
The Iceman seems to love performing under pressure and took the first leg with ease. Then he hit another double to go 2-0 up before missing three darts at D8 to take the set. Barney came back with one leg but it wasn’t enough as the Iceman took the set to silence the crowd.
In the third, it looked like more of the same before Barney came back into things, however in the decider he missed three darts at D20 before Price came in to clean things up and put himself in total control of one of the most highly-anticipated matches.
Then, he made it a clean sweep by finishing off 128 in sensational style to leave even the crowd in amazement. This clash was meant to be a tight encounter, but finally, the world number one won in sensational fashion on the big stage.
"I can say I have beat Raymond on TV right? Come on!
"In the Grand Slam I let Raymond off numerous times, but today I was critical.
"One leg I let him off and he wins it and then the crowd are back with Raymond so it is really tough but come on!"
Safe to say, Gerwyn Price is happy with that win 😅
Jim Williams 3-4 Gabriel Clemens
In one of the most epic games of the tournament so far, Gabriel Clemens survived a match dart and then won six of the final seven legs to secure one of the greatest wins of his entire career. Jim Williams more than played his part, and will be replaying that effort on D6 for the rest of the year, but in the end, the German Giant came out on top.
Clemens roared out of the blocks to take the first set with a D5 finish, but Jim Williams responded in style. The Welshman flew through the second set as he raised his average to above a ton and then took advantage of some sloppy finishing from Clemens.
The German then went back in front as the pair went toe-to-toe and took each other on dart for dart. His third set was impressive as he held off Williams, who by then had got the crowd on side. When he was 2-1 down however, the Quiff produced his best darts of the entire tournament.
In a fabulous deciding leg in the fourth saw both players trade 180s before Williams came back to secure the D16 needed to level the score. Then he went on a run that took him clear. Williams won six out of seven legs to put himself 3-2 up and then give himself the darts to throw for the win.
However, Clemens broke back, not willing to go down without a fight. He levelled the set at 2-2 and then began the decider with a 180 to put Williams under pressure. However, he missed a key D6 as the German Giant romped back to level the scores.
After that missed match dart from Williams, Clemens came back from the dead to secure a famous win. In one of the games of the tournament, he nailed the bull with his first match dart to provide a fitting finish.
