Luke Humphries and Jonny Clayton came through jittery last-leg shootouts while Luke Littler advanced despite being far from his best as the eight elite PDC players all progressed to the quarter-finals of the Nordic Darts Masters.
World No 1 Humphries – playing his first match since winning his maiden Premier League title a little over a week ago – pipped Latvia’s Madars Razma 6-5, firing in a maximum and then a match-clinching checkout of 125 in the deciding leg in Copenhagen.
Razma had fought back from 5-2 down amid four missed match darts from Humphries, who will face defending champion Gerwyn Price in the last eight on Saturday evening after the Iceman saw off Norway’s Cor Dekker 6-3 in the second match of the night.
Jonny Clayton survived two match darts to advance in Denmark
Clayton – who registered a roof-raising 170 finish – had an even nervier time than Humphries, surviving two missed match darts from Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and squandering four of his own, before he pinned D5 to book a last-eight date with top seed Stephen Bunting, a 6-3 winner over Oskar Lukasiak.
Littler progresses after sluggish start
The last 16 pitted eight household PDC names against an octet of Nordic and Baltic stars, with reigning world champion Littler the firmest of favourites as he battled Sweden’s Viktor Tingstrom.
However, The Nuke was slow to get going, averaging in the 70s across the opening two legs, before an upturn in form included a 12-dart break in the seventh leg and saw him eventually prevail 6-3.
Luke Littler was not at his best as he made the last eight in Copenhagen
Still, paltry visits of 30 and nine contributed to Littler averaging only 90.19 and he will probably need to improve in his quarter-final against Nathan Aspinall, who whitewashed Danish crowd favourite Benjamin Reus 6-0.
Aspinall – the winner of the European Darts Open in Germany last week – was heavily booed by the home fans but put in a stellar display of finishing, including one checkout of 138 and then another of 92 after ending with successive D18s.
Reus missed all five of his attempts at a double and is yet to win a leg in the history of this tournament, having now been swept in all four of his matches.
Nathan Aspinall whitewashed home favourite Benjamin Reus 6-0 on Friday night
The last quarter-final will pit Chris Dobey against Rob Cross, with the former beating Jeffrey de Graaf 6-2 and the latter seeing off Andreas Harrysson 6-4 in the opening round.
Harrysson, who picked up notable wins over former world champions Raymond van Barneveld and Michael Smith in Leverkusen last week, gave Cross a stiff test, before Voltage sealed victory by hitting back-to-back D18s.
Nordic Darts Masters – round-one results
- Chris Dobey 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
- Gerwyn Price 6-3 Cor Dekker
- Rob Cross 6-4 Andreas Harrysson
- Luke Humphries 6-5 Madars Razma
- Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Benjamin Reus
- Luke Littler 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
- Stephen Bunting 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
- Jonny Clayton 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Remaining Nordic Darts Masters schedule
Quarter-finals (from 6pm, Saturday)
- Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton
- Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall
- Rob Cross vs Chris Dobey
- Gerwyn Price vs Luke Humphries
Semi-finals and final to follow
Watch the World Cup of Darts on Sky Sports
The World Cup of Darts, from June 12-15 in Frankfurt, is live on Sky Sports as Humphries and Littler look to retain the title for England, after Humphries and Michael Smith triumphed last year.
The World Matchplay in Blackpool is then live on Sky Sports from July 19-27, with Humphries out to defend his crown after beating Michael van Gerwen 18-15 in the 2024 final at the Winter Gardens.
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