Gerwyn Price has been dumped out of the World Championship at the last-32 stage after losing 4-2 to Brendan Dolan on Thursday night.
Having dropped outside of the world's top four, Price had been hoping to enjoy a run to the latter stages, but the Welshman failed to produce in the important moments.
Dolan won each of his four sets in deciding legs, most notably in the opener when he hit a 144 checkout, although he impressively held his nerve in the sixth set having missed a match dart and seeing Price take out 81 and 76 checkouts to force a decider.
Remarkably, Dolan hit just one 180 in the entire match, yet his 50% checkout ratio saw him still average 95.73 on his way to sealing a place in the last 16.
DOLAN STUNS PRICE AT ALLY PALLY! 🤯
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 28, 2023
What a performance that is from Brendan Dolan to beat former champion Price and reach the Fourth Round 👏
That is an ice cold performance from the Northern Irishman!
📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD#WCDarts pic.twitter.com/9pC6cbJORw
Meanwhile, in-form Luke Humphries dramatically overturned a 3-1 deficit against Ricardo Pietreczko to book his place in the next round with a 4-3 victory.
Although Humphries took the opener, the Englishman struggled to cope with the partisan crowd - many of them backing his German opponent - and Pietreczko was able to take three successive sets.
However, having come out on top in a decider in the fifth set, faced with potential elimination, Humphries dropped just one further leg as he retained hope of adding a fourth major to his collection.
In the final game of the night, Daryl Gurney came from 1-0 and 2-1 adrift to record a 4-2 victory over Ricky Evans.
Darren Plant
