PDC world darts: Gerwyn Price crashes out with defeat to Brendan Dolan | PDC World Championships

Gerwyn Price, the fifth seed and former champion, was dumped out of the world darts championship after a 4-2 defeat to Enniskillen’s Brendan Dolan.

Dolan held his nerve to close out the match with his first shot at tops after Price had clawed his way back from two legs down to level in the sixth set.

It was a crushing defeat for the Welshman, who had been intent on repeating his victory in the behind-closed-doors tournament in 2021. Dolan, who got through his second-round match via a sudden death leg against his compatriot Mickey Mansell, had served an early warning when he took out the opening set with a 144 checkout.

His crisp finishing proved the difference as he nudged in front again at 2-1 on the bull, then produced 64 to repel Price’s advances and go 3-2 up and one set from victory. Dolan looked set to pay for missing a match dart at bull at 2-0 in the sixth when Price hit back to break his throw, but the 50-year-old saw it home in style. Dolan told Sky Sports: “I was thinking we might go to a last leg but thank God it didn’t because I don’t know if I would have held myself together.”

Luke Humphries, the third seed, narrowly avoided following Price out of the tournament after recovering a 3-1 deficit to beat Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko 4-3. Humphries, who has won three major titles this year, was forced to play with a spare set of darts after breaking a tip in practice earlier on Thursday and averaged a disappointing 91.

But he dragged himself back from the brink as Pietreczko faltered, winning the last six legs of the match to seal victory. “Mentally and physically that’s the toughest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Humphries told Sky Sports. “I had 99% of the crowd against me and the broken point before the game played on my mind. I was down and out and playing absolute dross, but I came back and showed a little bit of grit and determination.”

Elsewhere Daryl Gurney rounded off a marathon evening by beating Ricky Evans 4-2, the turning point coming after he edged a 3-2 lead with a 164 checkout on the bull.

Earlier in the day, Chris Dobey overcame a scare from Ross Smith to win 4-2, while Stephen Bunting continued to impress in dismantling Florian Hempel without losing a set.

A back-and-forth contest that produced 27 maximums throughout started with Dobey taking the first set with a 116 checkout before continuing his ruthless run to clinch the second with an average of 122.

The world No 17 took the opening two legs in the third, but was unable to find the crucial doubles as Smith dragged himself back into the game to pull one back. Smith drew level but another tight set saw Dobey edge ahead and he hit double 16 for the match to set up a meeting with Michael Smith, the reigning world champion, in the last 16.

In another close contest, Joe Cullen reached the next round with a 4-2 win over Ryan Searle. Cullen breezed through the opening two sets but Searle found some rhythm to take the third.

“Heavy Metal” put up a fightback in the fourth, where in a tight deciding leg Searle took advantage of Cullen’s missed double with a 124 finish on the bullseye to level the match. A cagey set followed as “The Rockstar” edged to victory and another close set followed, but Cullen managed to hit double top for the win.

Bunting produced a stunning performance to beat Hempel 4-0. An electric opening saw Bunting set the tone with two 180s in his opening leg before winning the next one, but an excellent 164 checkout spurred Hempel on as he took the next two legs.

With the first set level at 2-2, “The Bullet” took the decider with an average of 115.62 and from there the momentum was firmly with Bunting as he swept Hempel away with a whitewash, averaging 101.15 throughout. Victory means Bunting will now face Michael van Gerwen in the last 16.