Joe Cullen secured one of the biggest wins of his career at the UK Open to move into the last 16 in Bolton.
And in another eventful session, Unicorn ace Wes Newton beat World Champion Adrian Lewis, Phil Taylor beat Colin Osborne and in the other two all Unicorn clashes, there were wins for Raymond van Barneveld and Paul Nicholson.
Jamie Caven and Terry Jenkins also booked their tickets into round five at the Reebok, but Gary Anderson is out!
Cullen and Caven will clash head on in the 5th Round, Barney plays Peter Wright, Taylor takes on Ronnie Baxter, Newton plays Kim Huybrechts, Jenkins faces Michael van Gerwen and Nicholson will play Denis Ovens.
But Joe Cullen deserved all the plaudits at the Reebok on Saturday afternoon.
He produced a fabulous display to beat Colin Lloyd in a dramatic last leg decider...Cullen had led 5-3 with the help of three 180s, before Lloyd went on a run to go ahead 7-6.....two legs for the Unicorn youngster took him to the brink.
Leading 8-7 though, he proceeded to miss five darts for the match (four of them at D10) and Lloyd managed to level.
It was Lloyd throwing first in the decider, but Cullen kicked off superbly with 140 and 180 and finally secured the win with his 7th match dart!
“I should have made it easier for myself,” he said. “But that is a great win for me and there is no reason why I can’t go on from here!”
Barney looked imperious in beating ‘The Hammer’ with an impressive 102.16 average.....Hamilton actually averaged 100 but missed far too many doubles.
“It is always tough to play Andy,” said the Dutchman. “But I felt good up on the stage and hopefully I can keep this going....if I can, I have a good chance!”
Back-to-back 109 finishes and two 11 dart legs saw Barneveld race into a 6-1 lead as Hamilton missed a stack of doubles in the early stages....but he hit back – banging in six perfect darts in one leg and a 170 check-out in the next.
Incredibly, the last six legs were all won against the throw, but Barney stayed in control, hitting three more 180s and he won it in style with a fantastic 126 finish on the bull.
Colin Osborne had chance after chance against Phil Taylor, but in the end, could muster only one leg....we saw ‘The Power’ race into a 5-0 lead, but Osborne had darts to win all five of those legs!
He couldn’t come back from that disappointment, but did manage to win the ninth leg to avoid the whitewash.
Taylor was comfortable with an average of 101.18
But he revealed: “I still didn’t feel that comfortable up there. Colin missed a lot of doubles but I know I will get better and I want this title back!”
Arron Monk’s UK Open journey was ended emphatically as Paul Nicholson found some fine form on board two at the Reebok.
Nicholson looked smooth and relaxed and very much put himself in contention for the title, sweeping aside Monk 9-3.
‘The Asset’ raced into a 5-2 advantage and never looked back.....the highlight for Monk was a 129 check-out in the penultimate leg, but Nicholson didn’t waste any time in wrapping up a comfortable victory.
And what about Team Unicorn’s Jamie Caven, who is again doing the business and going under the radar as he claimed his place in the 5th Round.
Caven, who just missed a 9-darter on Friday held his nerve to beat Mark Hylton 9-7.
And Terry Jenkins impressive form continued.....most experts had tipped a close match against Dean Winstanley, but not a bit of it......Jenkins was 5-1 up in the blink of an eye with some terrific scoring and he completed an easy 9-3 victory.
And Jenkins put his return to form down to him changing back to his old style barrels....whatever, he is certainly in the mix.
But it turned into a hugely disappointing day for Gary Anderson – and certainly a case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’ after his nine darter on Friday.
He crashed out of the tournament, losing the all Scottish battle 9-7 to Robert Thornton, as the old problem of missed doubles came back to haunt the Unicorn man.
He led 5-3 but crucially missed darts to go 6-3 and then 6-4 in front and Thornton won four legs on the spin......Anderson was his own worst enemy, and after missing five match darts to win 9-6, Thornton finally nailed D4 to seal his 9-7 victory.
4th Round – results:
Vincent van der Voort 7-9 Kim Huybrechts
Andy Hamilton 5-9 Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Osborne 1-9 Phil Taylor
Wes Newton 9-7 Adrian Lewis
Colin Lloyd 8-9 Joe Cullen
Robert Thornton 9-7 Gary Anderson
Paul Nicholson 9-3 Arron Monk
Terry Jenkins 9-3 Dean Winstanley
Justin Pipe 5-9 Simon Whitlock
Richie Burnett 4-9 Peter Wright
Mark Hylton 7-9 Jamie Caven
Dennis Priestley 9-8 Andy Smith
Dennis Smith 5-9 Dave Chisnall
Brendan Dolan 8-9 Denis Ovens
Darren Webster 6-9 Ronnie Baxter
Michael van Gerwen 9-7 Mervyn King
5th Round Order of Play – Board one:
Michael van Gerwen v Terry Jenkins
Dave Chisnall v Simon Whitlock
Phil Taylor v Ronnie Baxter
Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Wright
Board Two:
Robert Thornton v Dennis Priestley
Joe Cullen v Jamie Caven
Denis Ovens v Paul Nicholson
Kim Huybechts v Wes Newton
By STUART PYKE at the Speedy Services UK Open
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC