Day 12 at the Ally Pally sees an eagerly-anticipated clash of champions as talking stops at the Paddy Power World Championship.
Luke Humphries and Peter Wright will battle it out on the stage after a joust behind the microphones has dominated the build-up to their showdown.
There are six Sunday ties in total with the third-round ending and the fourth getting underway. Record Sport guides you through the when and who for today’s mouth-watering clashes.
Afternoon Session 12.30pm
Jeffrey de Graaf v Paolo Nebrida
Not a single person would have predicted this opener as the shock troops from Sweden and the Philippines take the stage. It was supposed to be Gary Anderson against Ross Smith, but De Graaf dealt with the Scot and Nebrida dumped out Smudger. Both players now have a golden chance to make the last 16. De Graaf has played arguably the better in his wins over Rashad Sweeting and Anderson, but it’s close. Nebrida’s finishing against Jim Williams in round one was lethal and same against Smith.
Kevin Doets v Krzysztof Ratajski
The Dutchman and the Pole will both fancy their chances of victory having made fast starts in the tournament. Doets grabbed the high-profile success when, 12 months after an agonising loss to Michael Smith, he removed Bully Boy in an epic to exact ample revenge. Doets improved markedly in that match on his opening figures against Noah-Lynn van Leuven, but the Polish Eagle produced similar stats in his victory over the dangerous Alexis Toylo. Ratajski is the seed and fancied, but Doets is flying high.
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Callan Rydz
Massive contrast in styles as van den Bergh faces Rydz. The Belgian can be steady and methodical, while the Geordie plays at a much-faster tempo. Rydz may have to overcome that tricky issue to play his A game here, which was on show in a magnificent first-round destruction of Romeo Grvabac. He wasn’t as flashy against Martin Schindler, but that was still a huge win against Germany’s No.1. Van den Bergh didn’t need to get out of his second gear to defeat Ireland’s Dylan Slevin and he has more to go through.
Evening session 7.00pm
Ricky Evans v Robert Owen
Sparks will fly in the final third-round game of the tournament with both of these players superb entertainment. Rapid Ricky won arguably the game of the tournament so far as he edged out Dave Chisnall in a classic in the previous round.
Good against Gordon Mathers, Evans increased that to terrific in beating the No.6 seed. Owen has written his own story. The man who drives an Iceland delivery van for his job has sped straight into this tie with excellent wins over Niels Zonneveld and Gabriel Clemens. The Welshman averaged just shy of a ton against the German, which is the pick of the pair’s work in the event so far.
Jonny Clayton v Gerwyn Price
The World Cup winning duo get the fourth-round started and it promises to be an exciting game. Both have had bad years, but are looking to wipe that away with progress here. Each Welsh wizard has been involved in round-three slugfests to get here. After easing past Keane Barry, Price went through the mill in an epic before seeing-off Joe Cullen. Just a couple of hours earlier, Clayton also had to dig to beat Daryl Gurney having chucked away a 3-0 lead. The Ferret also had to scrap in round two against Mickey Mansell and, if it turns into a battle, these two are Welsh warriors as well as compatriots and mates.
Luke Humphries v Peter Wright
The tie of the day as scores will be settled on the stage. Wright’s comments earlier in the tournament about not fearing the champ weren’t missed by Humphries and he responded with some feisty edge.
Snakebite has been ill, but the two-time champ climbed off the sickbed and dug out some of his best to beat Jermaine Wattimena in his previous match having narrowly disposed of Wesley Plaisier in his opener. Cool Hand hasn’t dropped a set in dumping Thibaut Tricole and Nick Kenny. He’s warming up and he has the bit between his teeth as he aims to make Wright pay for his chit-chat.