VAN GERWEN & HUMPHRIES TO MEET IN QUARTER-FINALS IN AMSTERDAM
Reigning Champion Michael van Gerwen will clash with Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Jack’s World Series of Darts Finals, with both producing dazzling displays on Saturday at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam.
In an all-Dutch clash with Danny Noppert, Van Gerwen looked imperious as he fired an 106.17 average in a 6-3 victory.
Humphries was equally impressive in his victory – averaging 106.09 – despite being taken to a last-leg decider in a 6-5 win over Damon Heta.
In front of a sell out crowd at AFAS Live, Van Gerwen fired seven maximums and landed 60 per cent of his double attempts to brush aside Noppert.
It was a vast improvement from his laboured first round performance which saw him average just 86 against Jonny Clayton.
“It was a hard battle against Danny, he is a phenomenal player,” said Van Gerwen.
“Yesterday I underperformed big time but tonight was a different Michael.
“To win in front of my kids and my wife means a lot to me, it gives me a lot of energy and it’s important for them to see what I do sometimes.”
“My record against Luke is poor, but I feel good and think I can do a lot of damage tomorrow.”
Humphries was made to work a lot harder for his victory over Heta.
It was looking routine as he moved into a 5-3 lead with the darts in hand.
Heta dug deep, however, and dragged himself level at 5-5 with legs of 14 and 13 darts.
But a stunning 10-darter from Humphries pushed him over the line and into the last eight.
“Damon said he wanted a bit of fight from me and that’s what I gave him,” said the world number one.
“Sometimes the emotion comes out of me and he fired me up tonight.
“It was a fantastic game of darts and to hit a ten-dart leg under pressure in the decider shows the resolve I’ve got.”
Rob Cross, a winner at June’s New York Darts Masters, ended the home hopes of Kevin Doets as he fought back from 5-3 down.
A stunning 161 checkout from Cross, with Doets having missed four darts for the match, levelled things at 5-5, before sneaking over the line in a last leg decider.
There was more Dutch disappointment in the second game of the night as Raymond van Barneveld crashed out to Luke Littler in a 6-4 defeat.
The reigning Bahrain and Poland Darts Master, who idolised Van Barneveld as a youngster, was rarely troubled as he set up a quarter-final clash with Chris Dobey.
It was another impressive display from Dobey in the night opener – seeing off Croatia’s Boris Krcmar 6-4 with a 103 average.
More disappointment for the home crowd came in the final game of the night, as Wessel Nijman suffered a similar fate to Doets – letting a 5-3 lead slip to Michael Smith who snuck into the last four.
Elsewhere, Daryl Gurney reached his second TV quarter-final of the year as he beat a lacklustre Gerwyn Price 6-3.
Peter Wright also continued his resurgence as he breezed past Canada’s Jeff Smith 6-2.
Sunday will see the quarter-finals take place in the afternoon ahead of the semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
A limited number of tickets for the Jack’s World Series of Darts Finals are available via SeeTickets.
Click here to follow live match stats and results.
Saturday September 14
Afternoon Session
First Round x8
Kevin Doets 6-0 Keane Barry
Jeff Smith 6-4 Rhys Griffin
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Peter Wright 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Andrew Gildnig
Michael Smith 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Evening Session
Second Round x8
Chris Dobey 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Luke Littler 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries 6-5 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Danny Noppert
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 6-2 Jeff Smith
Rob Cross 6-5 Kevin Doets
Michael Smith 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Sunday September 15
Afternoon Session (1245 CEST, 1145 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Chris Dobey
Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen
Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright
Rob Cross v Michael Smith
Evening Session (1900 CEST, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals
Littler/Dobey v Humphries/Van Gerwen
Gurney/Wright v Cross/Smith
Final
Littler/Dobey/Humphries/Van Gerwen v Gurney/Wright v Cross/Smith
—–Ends—–
Images: Kelly Deckers / PDC
