‘Mighty Mike’ in fine form

MICHAEL van Gerwen showed some of his sparkling best form as he reached the quarterfinals of the William Hill World Darts Championship with a 4-1 victory over Darren Webster at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Starting at a frantic pace, Webster hit 100 and 68 finishes to match his formidable opponent to go 2-2.

By doing so, he nearly took the opening set with two darts at doubles but he failed to convert. The Dutchman duly obliged by winning the first and then the second set.

It was one-way traffic, with ‘Mighty Mike’ rattling off the next three legs with finishes of 74, eight and 32 to go 3-0 up before a dazzling 170 checkout broke Webster in the first leg of the fourth set.

‘Demolition Man’ Webster fought back with checkouts of 96 and 84 helping him get on the board with a deserved set to trail 3-1 to Van Gerwen, and he continued into the fifth set with Webster taking the first two legs.

However, Van Gerwen by responded hitting 88, double 20 and 62 to seal the last three legs, thus confirming his place in the last eight.

Phil Taylor fought off a mini revival from Kim Huybrechts to secure a 4-2 success over the 13th seed.

Scot Peter Wright averaged over 103 on his way to a comfortable 4-1 win over Ian White to set up a quarter-final clash against James Wade, who recovered to beat Michael Smith 4-3.

Earlier in the day, Daryl Gurney reached the quarter-finals for the first time after overcoming Mark Webster in a topsy-turvy 4-3 win.

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall held off Jelle Klaasen to earn a 4-2 victory and advance to the next round.