Ruthless Humphries marches on at UK Open as Littler edges through
World No 1 Luke Humphries dropped just two legs all day as he stormed into the quarter-finals of the UK Open, where a final versus Luke Littler remains a possibility.
Humphries had to rally from 7-5 down to beat women’s world No 1 Beau Greaves in the fourth round on Friday night but was ruthless on Saturday, sweeping good friend Ryan Searle 10-0 before trouncing Ryan Joyce 10-2 in a pair of statement performances.
‘Cool Hand’ – pipped 11-10 by Dimitri Van den Bergh in last year’s final – has won 25 of his last 27 legs in Minehead and appears the man to beat ahead of Sunday’s final day, where he will take on three-time UK Open champion James Wade in the last eight.
“My finishing has been fantastic,” said Humphries, who has won 25 of his last 27 legs in this year’s event.
“You’re in the real business end of a big tournament now, and it’s going to be tough because there are so many contenders left.
“It’s been a great couple of days for me, but now I’ve got to turn up tomorrow, have a good night’s rest and make sure that I’m really at my best to try and lift this trophy.
“If I keep playing like I can then I stand a great chance, and it would be an amazing achievement, because it’s such a prestigious tournament to win.”
Littler edges Ratajski to reach quarters
Reigning world champion Littler has been drawn against Gian van Veen after a dominant 10-4 victory over Jermaine Wattimena in the last 32 was followed by a hard-fought 10-8 success over Krzysztof Ratajski in the round of 16.
Littler led the Pole 6-2 but was then pegged back to 6-6 before Ratajski missed a dart at D20 to set up a last-leg shoot-out as a relieved ‘Nuke’ clinched victory on double two.
“I made it hard for myself, but I had to just stick in there and get the win,” said Littler.
“Krzysztof came back well, so I’m happy to get over the line and I’m looking forward to coming back tomorrow afternoon.
“I’m enjoying it, and if my darts are going well – which they are – then I enjoy myself even more. I am just taking it game by game, and hopefully I can go all the way.”
In the other quarter-finals, 2019 UK Open winner Nathan Aspinall will take on Josh Rock and 2023 world champion Michael Smith will meet Jonny Clayton.
Michael van Gerwen was the biggest name to be dumped out on Saturday, falling in the fifth round to Rob Owen as he missed his first 15 attempts at a double and hit only eight of 34 overall as he saw his hopes of a fourth title in this event extinguished.
Defending champion Van den Bergh also suffered a shocker, trounced 10-3 by Smith in the last 16 after recording an average of 71 and a highest checkout of 40.
The main-stage action on Saturday night was rounded off by Rock’s 10-6 defeat of Rob Cross, with the Northern Irishman rallying from 4-0 down after winning 10 of the final 12 legs.
Van Veen saw off Damon Heta 10-9 on stage two after the latter had recovered from 9-6 down, while Wade defeated Van Gerwen’s conqueror Owen 10-8 on the same board.
Sunday’s afternoon session starts at 12.45pm, with the quarter-finals followed by the semi-final draw. The last-four ties – a best of 21 legs – commence from 7pm, with the subsequent final also a best of 21 legs.
UK Open – sixth-round results
- Luke Littler 10-8 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Jonny Clayton 10-4 Martin Schindler
- Nathan Aspinall 10-8 William O’Connor
- James Wade 10-8 Rob Owen
- Luke Humphries 10-2 Ryan Joyce
- Gian van Veen 10-9 Damon Heta
- Michael Smith 10-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Josh Rock 10-6 Rob Cross
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