Bunting defies another nine-darter against him & Van Gerwen gets revenge on Clemens, before Josh Rock completes quarter-final lineup at Hungarian Darts Trophy

Stephen Bunting, Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock have completed the quarter-final lineup at the 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest. Later this Sunday evening, they are going return to the big stage, to battle it out for European Tour glory.

Stephen Bunting defied a nine-darter from his opponent Cor Dekker in the last round, meaning confidence was high for 'The Bullet' in Budapest. Incredibly though, for the second match in a row, Bunting had to stand at the back of the stage and watch as his opponent fired in a perfect leg. The Englishman led 5-3, just one away from the victory, when Martin Schindler came out firing in an attempt to keep his tournament alive. Kicking off the leg with back to back maximums, the German then opted for the traditional route of treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to send the Hungarian audience into a frenzy.

In the end, it didn't kick start a comeback as Bunting held on to triumph, despite not playing anywhere near his best level against Schindler and eventually, the reigning Masters champion managed to bag himself a 6-4 victory, moving through to the quarter-finals as a result.

Last time out on the European Tour in Flanders, Gabriel Clemens took a first career victory over Michael van Gerwen. This time around however, revenge was in the air and the mighty Dutchman was in no mood to be forgiving. Averaging well over 100 for the majority of the match, Van Gerwen limited Clemens to just four darts at a double in the entire contest. In the end, his average dipped slightly to 'only' 100.46, but with three 180s and a high finish of 128, it was another very accomplished display by the three-time champion of the world.

Finally, completing the quarter-final lineup in Budapest, Josh Rock took victory over Rob Cross. In a battle of mentor and mentee, things were kept on throw in the early stages. Although Rock was scoring the better of the pair, some ruthless finishing, including a 135 checkout, meant Cross was very much keeping himself in contact. As a break of throw continued to prove illusive, a deciding leg was looking likely to find a winner. In leg 10 though, Rock timed his break to perfection, sealing a 6-4 victory on double 16.