Stephen Ponting cruised into the fourth round of the World Darts Championship on a thrilling afternoon that saw a nine-quarter shot from Damon Hita.
Ponting is one of the dark horses of the tournament, especially with half of the original 32 seeds already out, and he beat Madras Razma of Latvia 4-1 despite being far from his best.
The former Lakeside champion, whose best form came at Alexandra Palace in 2021 when he reached the semi-finals, will take on Luke Woodhouse, who came back to beat Heita 4-3.
“When you have this crowd behind you, you can win anything. They were incredible again. Thank you to each and every one of you!” Banners said Sky Sports Darts.
“I felt like I played well there but Razma never left and you guys… wow. Let's think hard!”
The nine-quarter Heita sparks wild celebrations before defeat
The first match after the short Christmas break saw Hita produce the perfect first leg of this year's tournament before losing 4-3 to Luke Woodhouse.
Hita was close to A Nine quarters In his first match but he sent the Ally Pally crowd into delight during the second set and Woodhouse also celebrated big in a special moment. Dutchman Christian Keast played a perfect first match in the opening round last week and lost his match as well.
The record for the most back nines in a World Series is three in 2022, so one more would equal that feat.
Hita led 3-1 but the momentum suddenly shifted to Woodhouse as the latter won nine games to reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.
“Damon and I are good friends, we play golf and train together,” Woodhouse said. Sky Sports Darts.
“I know he was frustrated when he missed two 12-pointers in his first game, so when he shot a nine-pointer at me and the crowd got mad, I couldn't help but celebrate with him.”
Hita won £60,000 for his four-nine, as did one lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to mark the moment.
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Luke Woodhouse shares his reaction after beating Damon Hita 4-3 and why he celebrated when Hita shot a nine-dart against him
The other match in the afternoon was won by Johnny Clayton, who saw off Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney to win 4-3.
Clayton was leading 3-0 but Gurney dug deep and sent the match to a decider. However, Clayton managed to achieve the decisive break, and will face either Gerwyn Price or Joe Cullen in the next round.
Price takes on Cullen in the opening bout of Friday evening's session at 7pm, before Peter Wright takes on Jermaine Watimena and defending champion Luke Humphries closes out the night against Nick Kenny.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live until Friday 3 January on the dedicated darts channel Sky Sports. Stream darts and more of the best sports with NOW
