Luke Humphries overcame a resilient Gabriel Clemens at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship on Sunday, surviving a dramatic comeback to maintain his title defence. Humphries raced to a 2-0 lead and produced a 12-dart break in the third set, but Clemens responded with checkouts of 81, 121, and 116 to claw back to 3-2. Humphries ultimately held his nerve, hitting a 50 checkout and a 12-dart 81 finish to secure victory.

“I didn’t expect that onslaught from Gabriel, he was the better player in the last three sets,” admitted Humphries. “You have to give credit to Gabriel because he pushed me and put me under pressure. He made me flustered… I knew that the version where I didn’t panic was there, and that’s what you need to be World Champion.” Humphries will now face either Nathan Aspinall or Kevin Doets in round four.

Michael van Gerwen also progressed with a 4-1 win over Arno Merk, despite Merk producing checkouts of 145, 120, and 67. “Overall I put in a decent performance… I’m really looking forward to playing Gary. When you play him, there’s always room for fireworks,” said Van Gerwen.

Gary Anderson survived a thrilling deciding-set contest against Jermaine Wattimena, missing double 12 for a nine-darter but ultimately prevailing. “I bottled it a few times in that game,” confessed Anderson. “I could have had that wrapped up at 4-1 quite easily… Michael knows what he’s going to get with me. It depends which Michael turns up!”

Gian van Veen continued his strong run by defeating Madars Razma 4-1, while Rob Cross whitewashed Damon Heta to set up a clash with reigning champion Luke Littler. Ryan Searle also impressed, averaging 102.29 in a 4-0 win over Martin Schindler, setting up a round four tie with James Hurrell.

The tournament resumes Monday with round three concluding in the afternoon and the first two round four matches in the evening. Reigning champion Littler will face Cross, while Searle meets Hurrell, continuing the build-up to an increasingly competitive last 16.

Source: PDC.TV