Anderson and Humphries into the final 8 as Stephen Bunting crashes out

The round of 16 got underway in Leicester as Cameron Menzies looked to continue his dream start in the World Grand Prix, whilst Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting faced challenging opposition.

Inspired Menzies topples former world champion Rob Cross to continue dream run at World Grand Prix

Round Two got underway as Cameron Menzies took on Rob Cross. The Scots’ first appearance past the first round in the World Grand Prix competition.

After an impressive display to defeat Chris Dobey in the first round, Cammy looked forward to the second round, however not in high spirits as would be expected.

Speaking after the first-round victory, the Scotsman reflected on the recent performances from his beloved football team, Rangers: “It affects my attitude in practice. I just sit there in a huff.”

However, these emotions were seemingly shrugged off upon entering the limelight in Leicester as Menzies focused on the difficult task at hand. After taking the first leg, it appeared the success of the first round was going to continue.

Although, ninth seed Rob Cross looked to have other ideas, fighting back to win consecutive legs, putting himself in a prime position to take the opening set.

Yet this was not to be. Showing his Glaswegian pride, Menzies struck back to win consecutive legs of his own, taking an entertaining first set 3-2.

Inspired by his comeback in set one, Cammy threw first in the second set looking to put himself in pole position to progress into just his second major quarter-final of his career.

A disheartened Cross struggled to show consistency early in the set and was punished by the Scot. Averaging just shy of 100, the world number 32 struck fifteen scores over the ton mark, showing pure domination to win the second set 3-0.

With a spot in the quarter-finals slipping from Cross’ grasp, Velocity needed to produce some high-quality darts to get back into the contest. Still struggling with consistency, the Englishman looked set to fall to a crushing defeat. However, five missed match darts from Menzies allowed Cross to record his first set in the match, with a potential comeback on the cards.

Determined to book his place in the quarter-final, Menzies refused to back down in what ended up being the final set of the match. Taking out 136 in the first leg, the underdog took control of the tie before going on to average 81.34 and winning the set 3-2.

Another impressive performance from the unseeded Scot, doubling his win tally at the World Grand Prix and booking his spot in the last eight.

Below-par Bunting stunned by stellar performance from Danny Noppert

The second match of the night saw fan favourite Stephen Bunting take on Deutchman Danny Noppert after cruising through the first round on Monday night. After a resilient round one performance against Jermaine Wattimena, Noppert was looking to cause an upset in Leicester and take out the world number four.

Looking forward to the match up with the Deutch national, Bunting told Sky Sports: “The Bunting Army – I hope they’re behind me. Please get behind me because I’m going to need you.”

The first two sets provided the lively crowd with a cagey but high-quality affair, with both going to a deciding leg. To the disappointment of the crowd, The Freeze had ice in his veins to win consecutive sets and take a convincing 2-0 lead, averaging an imposing 90.24 in the process.

The Bullet had to reset as Noppert had the darts in set three, looking to inflict a humiliating defeat at the Mattioli Arena. A consistent display of scoring saw the fourth seed break the throw of Noppert, before holding his own to take a vital 2-0 lead in the set, much to the delight of the crowd.

Bunting didn’t stop there, hitting a maximum on his way to a second break of throw in the set to take a 3-0 whitewash, sending the Bunting Army into pandemonium.

The quality continued in the fourth set as both players struck scores of 140+ in the first leg, yet Bunting’s struggles on double tops and D10 allowed Noppert to punish in a clinical 66 checkout. After three more hard-fought legs, the legs were tied at two-a-piece with Bunting needing to hold his throw to avoid defeat.

However, a crucial maximum from The Freeze nullified The Bullet’s earlier hopes, after nailing a 160 to start the leg. Noppert took out a ton to win the match three sets to one, silencing the English crowd and confirming his place in the final eight.

World class Humphries overcomes Krzysztof Ratajski’s resilience to secure quarter-final spot

Premier League champion Luke Humphries was next to take the stage, facing off with in-form Krzysztof Ratajski.

Coming off the back of a personal best average of 95.94 in his World Grand Prix career, the Pole had no better opportunity to test the world number one.

Cool Hand Luke set the tone in the first set with consistent scoring throughout, providing himself with eight checkout opportunities. Despite an underwhelming 37.5% of checkouts hit, the quality of Humphries allowed The Polish Eagle had just two attempts at a checkout of his own. With both opportunities being squandered, the Englishman needed no second invitation to wrap up the first set in typical fashion.

Ratajski looked to throw punches off his own in the second set, holding his throw in the first leg to take a vital lead. This trend continued throughout as both players held their own to level the score at two legs all, setting up a one leg shootout to decide the fate of the second set.

The Polish veteran threw first in the deciding leg, hitting a double in his first set before nailing a ton-plus score at his next visit to the oche. Rajatski looked in complete control, seemingly heading to a set victory, before Humphries showed his quality to hit a 170, leaving 40 to take a two-set lead.

Nerves began to show on stage as both players missed several set darts, before Humphries punished the Pole’s inability to take out D10.

Ratajski remained focused on the task at hand, despite the inevitability Humphries winning the tie. Despite the number one seed averaging a sensational 102, The Polish Eagle stuck with him, averaging 99.96 himself. This resilience came with reward as Ratajski claimed the set 3-1 to work his way back into the match.

Seemingly providing Humphries with a wake-up call, the smile disappeared from Cool Hand’s face as he turned to laser focus to get over the line.

Continuing the remarkable power-scoring, the world number one showed his class, averaging a superb 109 -including four maximums – to overpower Ratajski’s determination to sweep the final set 3-0.

In the end, Humphries combining immense scoring with clinicality to progress to the next round.

Gary Anderson sweeps aside Joe Cullen in second round thrashing 

Scottish titan Gary Anderson faced the charisma and precision of Joe Cullen in Wednesday’s final second round match.

The experience of Anderson was on show in the first set as the Scotsman immediately punished Joe Cullen’s poor double hitting to break throw and take an early lead.

Consistency was key once again for the Flying Scotsman as cruised through the next two legs, breaking Cullen’s throw on a second occasion to win three consecutive legs in a dominating first set performance.

The woes continued for The Rockstar in the second set, averaging a dismal 59.19 – stemming from an inability to get underway in the first and third legs. Anderson was certainly not in a forgiving mood as he continued to score, whilst showing class in the checkout department, hitting 75% of those available.

With the Scot going two up in sets and Cullen still yet to record a leg, the outcome seemed inevitable.

Anderson offered no mercy for the world number 31 in the third and final set, despite Cullen recording his first leg of the match. With his average continuing to rise to 90.18, the two-time world champion ran away with the tie, resulting in a convincing 3-0 win to set up a quarter-final against Deutchman Danny Noppert.

Anderson and Humphries into the final 8 as Stephen Bunting crashes out

Schedule of play –

Wednesday 8th October –

Cameron Menzies 3-1 Rob Cross

Stephen Bunting 1-3 Danny Noppert

Luke Humphries 3-1 Krzysztof Ratajski

Joe Cullen 0-3 Gary Anderson

Thursday 9th October –

Jonny Clayton v Luke Woodhouse

Luke Littler v Mike De Decker

Gerwyn Price v Josh Rock

Dirk Van Duijvenbode v Daryl Gurney

Author Jacob Johnson