Michael van Gerwen sealed his spot in the fourth round following a convincing 4-1 win over Max Hopp at Alexandra Palace.
Van Gerwen - who experienced some unsavoury scenes before his 3-0 win over Alan Tabern in the second round - put that behind him as he breezed to a comfortable victory.
‘Mighty Mike’ blitzed the opening set as he whitewashed a below-par Max Hopp with an average of over 110. All three legs were won on a different double for the Dutchman but all had the same effect as two 13 darters and a 14-dart leg handed him a 1-0 lead.
German number one, Hopp, got off the mark, but it proved to be a meaningless leg as van Gerwen won three consecutive legs to double his advantage.
It was a second set whitewash for ‘Mighty Mike’ in set three as he pinned finishes of 122 and 170 to open up a 3-0 lead and move on the verge of easing into round four. The 170 outshot for van Gerwen was the fifth he’d hit at the World Championship in five years.
Hopp got the German predominant crowd roaring once again with a 148 checkout to get his first set on the board. It was a terrific leg of darts for the ‘Maximiser’ as he finished it up in just 43 darts.
The Idstein-based ace continued his winning streak as he opened up a 2-0 lead, only for van Gerwen to send the set to a decider due to a missed dart at double 14 from Hopp - for yet another 148 outshot. Van Gerwen punished the German; hitting double ten to close out a comfortable 4-1 victory.
Two-time world champion, van Gerwen, will face either Adrian Lewis or Darius Labanauskas - who will take to the stage on Sunday evening.
Click here for more information about the PDC World Darts Championship, including schedules and the prize fund breakdown.
Evening session schedule
Ryan Searle (89.40) 3-1 (89.76) William O’Connor (R3, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0)
Gary Anderson (97.33) 4-3 (95.16) Jermaine Wattimena (2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 5-3)
Michael van Gerwen (101.51) 4-1 (96.68) Max Hopp (3-0, 3-1, 3-0, 0-3, 3-2)
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