Former World Youth Champion Michael Smith set up a meeting against Benito van de Pas while Flying Dutchman Vincent van der Voort beat Kyle Anderson at the World Darts Championship on Sunday afternoon.Smith produced an impressive 100.30 three-dart average on his way to a 4-2 victory against Steve Beaton to book his place in the last 16 for the third year running.
Dutchman Van de Pas won a thriller against dancing Dimitri Van den Bergh while Van der Voort battled back from two sets down to go through.
The 51-year-old Beaton produced an average a little over 108 to claw his way back from 2-1 down and finish with an outstanding 11-dart leg to take the first set against the young St Helens thrower Smith.
But 25-year-old dark horse Smith, playing in his fifth world championship, responded by winning the next in a little over three minutes.
Smith advanced to the last 16 after he defeated Steve Beaton.
‘Bully Boy’ Smith proceeded to win the next seven legs before 1996 Lakeside champion Beaton managed to stop the rot in the second leg of the fourth set.
It wasn’t enough to save the set though with Smith proving irresistible on double top.
‘The Bronzed Adonis’, playing at his 25th consecutive world championship, won the fifth to close the gap and keep the high-quality contest alive.
But Grand Slam of Darts semi-finalist Smith stepped things up in the sixth to whitewash Beaton and finish with five maximums.
In the battle of the young guns, Van de Pas played out a thriller against Van den Bergh to reach the last 16 for the second year running.
Belgian ace Van den Bergh showed off his dance moves when he walked out to ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams and then carried on his impressive shapes on the ochre as he took the first set.
‘Big Ben’ hit back in the next to level things up and then won the third after managing to hit a double at the eighth time of asking.
‘The dream maker’ Van den Bergh, currently ranked 86 in the PDC Order of Merit, had caused a shock by knocking out Ian ‘Diamond’ White in the opening round, and struck back in the fourth.
But the 22-year-old Dutchman pulled away in a tie which offered a glimpse into the future of darts to seal his place against Michael Smith.
Van der Voort set up an intriguing last 16 showdown against world champion Gary Anderson after defeating Australian thrower Kyle Anderson4-2 in the final match of the afternoon session.
With ‘The Dutch destroyer’ renowned for his quick style of play, the encounter lived up to its billing producing 14 maximums, 44 140s and 56 100s.
‘The original’ Anderson struck first after his opponent missed five darts for the set and more missed arrows cost him the next, despite being two legs ahead.
Rapid-fire Van der Voort soon found his form in the third to reduce the deficit and then broke in the final leg of the fourth to level a high-octane clash.
VDV then pulled away from the renowned Perth scorer by winning the next two and finished things off with a superb 134 checkout.