Stephen Bunting cruised into the fourth round of the World Darts Championship on a dramatic afternoon when he saw off Damon Heta’s nine darts.
Bunting is one of the dark horses of the tournament, especially with half of the original 32 seeds already out, and he beat Latvia’s Madars Razma 4-1 despite being far from his best.
The former Lakeside champion, whose best performance at Alexandra Palace came in 2021 when he reached the semi-finals, will play Luke Woodhouse, who roared home a 4-3 win over the Heat.
“When you’ve got this crowd behind you, you can beat anything. They’ve been incredible,” Bunting said Sky Sports Darts.
“I felt like I played pretty well there, but Razma never left, and you guys… Whoa! Let’s go Bunting mentally!”
Hethan’s nine-darter sparks wild celebrations before defeat
In the first leg after the short Christmas break, Hettha produced the second perfect leg of this year’s tournament before he lost 4-3 to Luke Woodhouse.
Then it was close nine archers in his first match but sent the Pali crowd into a frenzy in the second set and Wodehouse also celebrated wildly in the special moment.
The record for most nine throwers at a World Cup is three in 2022, so one more will equal that feat.
Heta led 3-1 but the momentum suddenly swung to Wodehouse as the latter won nine legs on the turn to reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.
“Me and Damon are good friends. we play golf and practice together,” Woodhouse said Sky Sports Darts.
“I know he was upset when he missed double 12 in his first game, so when he made that nine ball against me and the crowd went wild, I couldn’t help but celebrate with him.”
Heath wins £60,000 for his nine darts but, like a happy fan from fellow Pally crowd, tournament sponsor Paddy Power has also donated £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to mark the occasion.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Luke Woodhouse shares his reaction to his 4-3 win over Damon Hetta and why he’s celebrating after Hetta hit nine shots against him.
The other match of the afternoon was won by Jonny Clayton as he held off Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney to win 4-3.
Clayton was 3-0 up, but Gurney dug deep and sent the match to a deciding set. However, Clayton managed to find the decisive break and will face either Gervin Price or Joe Cullen in the next round.
Price plays Cullen in Friday night’s opener at 7pm before Peter Wright takes on Jermaine Watimena and reigning champion Luke Humphreys finishes the night against Nick Kenny.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship Watch every match exclusively live until Friday 3 January on Sky Sports’ special darts channel. Stream darts and better sports with NOW!
