TOP SEED Michael van Gerwen will take on Austrian favourite Rowby-John Rodriguez in the quarter-finals of the European Darts Matchplay on Sunday evening, after they enjoyed third round wins over Raymond van Barneveld and Mervyn King in Innsbruck.
World number one van Gerwen dropped only one leg as he overcame Dutch rival van Barneveld, and whilst neither player was at their best, the 26-year-old's clinical finishing proved decisive, the highlight being a 107 checkout to move into a 3-0 lead.
And although van Barneveld avoided the whitewash, he was unable to get close to van Gerwen on his throw as the young Dutchman avenged his back-to-back World Series defeats to the same opponent in Sydney and Auckland last month.
"I wasn't thinking about the World Series, I just wanted to win this game," van Gerwen said. "I won quite easily in the end and I am happy with my performance but I know I can play better."
The dream of a home winner on Austrian soil stayed alive as Rowby-John Rodriguez sent the Innsbruck crowd in to raptures of delight with a 6-4 win over Mervyn King.
Rodriguez broke his experienced opponent in the first leg and then held, and although King got off the mark winning the third leg, an 84 finish gave the Austrian a two-leg lead again.
He landed a 67 checkout to lead 4-2 but King stayed in contention and broke back to level the match at 4-4.
But the 21-year-old from Vienna broke King's throw again and then completed his journey into the quarter-finals with a 72 finish before breaking down in tears of joy.
"It's unbelievable," said Rodriguez. "This is the only tournament of the year where I have a home crowd and I was focused on my game. It feels great to win and I am looking forward to the quarter-final."
A change of darts did the trick for Peter Wright as he progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6-3 win over Benito van de Pas, hitting four 180s on the way and recording a 99.38 average.
Wright produced finishes of 91 and 76 to break the Dutchman in the third and seventh legs, and although a 100 finish from van de Pas saw him break back in leg eight, the world number four checked out on 62 to seal victory.
"I'm always looking for improvement and that's why I changed my darts," Wright admitted. "It wasn't working in the last round and although I was a bit nervous with these they did the job for me."
Dave Chisnall withstood a monumental comeback from Terry Jenkins to set up a last eight clash with Wright, as he held his nerve in a final leg shoot-out after throwing away a 5-0 lead.
Chisnall had been in storming form early in the game, averaging almost 120 as he opened with a ten-darter and produced further finishes of 64, 67, 60 and 124 to move to within a leg of victory.
But after Chisnall missed two darts for the match in leg six, Jenkins stepped in and reeled off five legs of his own - including one with a 'Shanghai' 120 finish - to draw level at 5-5.
And when Chisnall suffered two bounce outs in the decider, one of which was on the bullseye as he stepped up for 82, it looked as if the comeback was to be completed, but Jenkins couldn't finish when it really mattered by missing double 12 and six - and the Premier League semi-finalist eventually fell over the line by squeezing his last dart in to the corner of double eight.
"I had a few match darts but you can't write off Terry, he’s a cracking player. Luckily Terry gave me a shot at it in the end and I took it," said a relieved Chisnall, whose 107.64 average was the highest of the weekend so far.
Tenth seed Kim Huybrechts defeated Justin Pipe 6-4 to make his fifth European Tour quarter-final of the year.
Pipe took the first two legs before Huybrechts found his range and won four legs in succession, hitting three 180 maximums on the way.
The Englishman hung in there, but after being handed a lifeline in leg ten when Huybrechts missed two match darts, he failed to finish from 30 and double four saw the Belgian through to the last eight with a 99.11 average.
"I don't care what my average was, playing Justin always makes you think and I had a rhythm going which gave me a chance to beat him," Huybrechts said.
Vincent van der Voort ended the hopes of fourth seed Ian White by prevailing in a dramatic last leg decider as he maintained his hopes of taking European Tour glory in Austria for a second successive year.
A scrappy encounter was marked by three outstanding finishes, the first being White's top-of-the-shop 170 in leg four.
Neither player could find their scoring range on a regular enough basis but White kept his nose in front until the Dutchman pulled a 160 checkout out of nowhere to break back in the tenth leg and force a decider.
White looked to have done enough when he set himself up with a maximum, but after he missed two darts at tops, van der Voort stepped in with a 145 to progress to the final session.
Robert Thornton knocked out Brendan Dolan 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter which could have gone either way.
Dolan, determined to improve on his showing against Mark Walsh on Saturday, opened with a 161 to break Thornton's throw and maintained a 106 average to move to a 3-0 lead in the early stages before the Scot broke back with 60.
That proved to be the start of a four leg streak for the former UK Open champion but Dolan levelled matters with a 141 as he pushed his average in to three-figures to stay in contention.
However it was Thornton who kept his nerve to close out the win, edging through to face van der Voort in the last eight.
"Brendan and I are great friends and have played each other so many times and it's harder playing a friend but we're here to entertain and if he wins he takes money out of my pocket so you try your best to win and fortunately I did," Thornton said afterwards.
Unseeded due David Pallett and Alan Norris battled it out for the right to play Huybrechts, with Shropshire's Pallett edging the fast-paced contest 6-5 thanks to NINE missed match darts from Norris.
The opening six legs were squared with Pallett outscoring his opponent only to let himself down on doubles, and Norris' composure on tops saw him edge ahead for the first time with a 4-3 advantage.
Pallett, in search of his maiden European Tour last eight spot, finally broke Norris in the ninth leg, but couldn't then hold his own throw, and both players missed match darts for three successive visits before Pallett finally progressed with double 16.
The £115,000 PDC European Tour event concludes at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck on Sunday evening with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
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European Darts Matchplay
Sunday September 20
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Peter Wright (3) 6-3 Benito van de Pas (14)
Dave Chisnall (6) 6-5 Terry Jenkins (11)
Justin Pipe (7) 4-6 Kim Huybrechts (10)
Alan Norris 5-6 David Pallett
Ian White (4) 5-6 Vincent van der Voort (13)
Brendan Dolan (5) 4-6 Robert Thornton (12)
Mervyn King (8) 4-6 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld