JOSH ROCK IS out of the PDC World Darts Championship after Jonny Clayton came from behind to beat him 4-3 in Thursday’s late match at the Alexandra Palace.
Rock, 21, led 3-2 and was just one set away from a place in the quarter-finals in his first season on the PDC Tour.
But Welshman Clayton, the seventh seed, fought back force a deciding set in which he won all three legs to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Clayton’s highest checkout was 122 as he hit eight maximums with an average of just under 98 to finally end the run of the 21-year-old from Antrim, who shocked Nathan Aspinall in the last round.
Earlier on Thursday evening, top seed Gerwyn Price completed a comfortable 4-1 win over Jose de Sousa to book his place in the quarter-finals.
‘The Iceman’, who beat five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 4-0 in the last round, will next face either Gabriel Clemens or Alan Soutar.
Dirk van Duijvenbode edged out Ross Smith 4-3 after securing the final set on a thrilling sudden-death tiebreaker in a high-quality match which saw a record 31 maximums thrown during a best-of-seven contest.
After surviving five missed match darts by ‘Smudger’ Smith, Van Duijvenbode progressed 6-5 in the decider and goes on to face fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen, a three-time former champion, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Rob Cross, world champion in 2018, coasted past Mervyn King 4-1 with an average of 99.7 and five 180s to progress to the last 16.
Sixth seed Cross will next face Chris Dobey, who had ended the hopes of two-time former winner Gary Anderson in the third round on Wednesday.
Stephen Bunting defeated Dave Chisnall 4-2 as he booked a fourth-round date with Luke Humphries.
Bunting ended a run of eight defeats against fellow St Helens player Chisnall with an average of just over 102, which included nine 180s and three ton-plus checkouts.
Humphries secured his place in the last 16 with a 4-3 win over Vincent van der Voort.
‘Cool Hand Luke’ had been 2-0 up before Dutchman Van der Voort rallied to level the match and then again at 3-3.
World number five Humphries recovered to take the decider in straight legs, finishing with a 96.5 match average and having landed eight maximums.
