Luke Littler dumps out reigning champion Mike De Decker as Gerwyn Price prevails in dominant performance against Josh Rock

Luke Littler produced another mesmerising display to knock out reigning World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker 3-0, capping off a flawless performance with a 170 checkout to clinch victory.

Littler was not wasting any time in striding ahead in the premature stages of the tie, taking out 80 in two darts. He wired the bull for a 130 checkout to break as De Decker got on the board. Littler stole the lead back before wrapping up the first set with De Decker miles back.

The Real Deal spurned the chance to nick the first leg after missing the big number, allowing Littler to checkout 95 before holding with ease. De Decker was severely struggling with the doubles at the start of legs, with Littler enjoying a head start in most legs. When walking up to oche on 50, Littler went for a show-stopping bull to close out the set but could not find the small red circle, finding the double 10 bed to extend his lead.

Littler continued the routing, pinning double three before taking out 91 with De Decker in a dangerous position to go one away from the quarter-finals. He sealed triumph with a phenomenal 170 checkout, dumping out the reigning champion in true world champion style.

Gerwyn Price dropped just one leg and won eight legs on the bounce in a marvellous 3-0 win over Josh Rock. Price bemused everyone by starting legs on double 13 regularly. It worked for him as he regularly got off in his first visit. He took the lead but Rocky quickly levelled up with a fine 106 checkout. He was unable to keep up with The Iceman for the rest of the first set, who found himself with a one set advantage over the World Cup winner.

The Welshman improved as the game went on, keeping Rock at arm’s length in the second set as he swept all the legs up to put Rock under the kosh. The Northern Irishman had the chance to stay in the set, but he wired the bull for the second 170 of the night, with Price finding double 12 for the second time in the set as he closed in on glory.

Price’s impeccable form would continue, as he won his sixth leg on the bounce to commence the third set. He followed that with an 11 darter on tops amid a host of 180’s from the pair, before clinching victory with his third match dart to set up a highly anticipated quarter-final tie against Littler.

Jonny Clayton produced a commendable performance to defeat the inform Luke Woodhouse 3-1 It was a solid start for The Ferret, who took out 90 in two. He should have extended his lead after missing a brace of darts at tops but regained his lead on the target after cleaning up a wayward 92 attempt. Woody went on to miss three darts to force a decider, with Clayton pinning double eight to go ahead.

Woodhouse upped his game in the second set, with Clayton’s level falling off a cliff. The Englishman comfortably wins three legs on the spin to level the tie. The 2021 champion then took command in the third set, earning a two-leg cushion. Woodhouse survived a missed set dart to get a foot hold, but Clayton managed to wrap it up the next time of asking to go 2-1 in front.

Once more Clayton found himself 2-0 ahead, brilliantly taking out 72 in two. Woodhouse repeated this checkout in the next leg, before narrowly missing the bull for a 126 checkout to stay in the match. The Welshman pinned double 16 to confirm his place in a third World Grand Prix quarter-final.

Dirk van Duijvenbode showed his class in a 3-0 win over Daryl Gurney, with the World Cup winner never getting going, especially on the outer ring. Van Duijvenbode raced into a one-set lead, consistently the first one to hit a double while his opponent struggled. The 2017 champion could have been 2-0 ahead but missed double 16 for a 112 and a 108 checkout, allowing van Duijvenbode to steal the legs, before pinning double 18 to secure set one.

It was deja-vu for Gurney in the second set, this time missing darts for a 101 and 109 outshot. Van Duijvenbode was much more reliable on the outer ring, as he once again found double 18 to go one set away.

It was van Duijvenbode’s turn to miss a ton+ checkout, but this for a 153 checkout. He cleans up with no bother before finding a clinical 11 darter to accelerate to one leg from victory. Gurney avoided the whitewash, but just before missed another ton+ outshot, this time for a 140 checkout with two tops. He went on to double his leg tally by taking out 84 in two, but was inevitably dumped out of the event in style, as The Titan finally pined a ton+ checkout, finding the 158 to cap off a fine display.