Defending champion Luke Humphries produced a perfect leg of darts on his way to a hard-fought win over Luke Woodhouse in the last 16 of the World Masters – after world champion Luke Littler also progressed to the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Humphries, 30, delighted the Milton Keynes crowd by hitting a nine-darter to take a 2-0 lead, but fellow Englishman Woodhouse battled back to level the tie at 3-3.
The world number two then missed three darts for the match, allowing 37-year-old Woodhouse to force a last-leg shootout. Humphries finally sealed his 4-3 victory by taking out double 10.
“It was a really close game,” said Humphries, who faces Dutchman Danny Noppert next.
“I would rather win the game and not hit a nine-darter than hit a nine-darter and lose, so I am just glad I did both.”
