Luke Humphries put in a much-improved display as his doubling prowess and a 10-dart finish secured a 3-0 rout of Jermaine Wattimena and a spot in the World Grand Prix quarter-finals. There were also 3-1 victories for James Wade and Niels Zonneveld over Stephen Bunting and Gary Anderson respectively, while Gian Van Veen came through a deciding-set cracker with Ryan Searle to triumph 3-2.
Humphries - the title favourite after defending champion Luke Littler's shock defeat to Luke Woodhouse on the opening night - had averaged only 80 and gone at 26 per cent on his closing doubles in a scruffy 2-0 win over Dave Chisnall on Tuesday evening. Two nights later, the 2023 champion and 2024 and 2025 runner-up averaged 94.11 and secured a finishing-double percentage of 64, although his starting-double percentage of 74 was the most eye-catching stat as he peppered double 16 early in legs.
Wade, meanwhile, delivered a starting masterclass to reach his eighth World Grand Prix quarter-final, hitting an opening shot of 160 five times during his win over Bunting. The sixth seed dropped his standards in the third set but was electric in the other three as he set up a meeting with Van Veen.
Elsewhere, Searle - who landed a 167 checkout, the highest of the week - threw for the match against Van Veen after breaking the Dutchman with a finish of 100 in the fourth set, only to be broken straightaway in the deciding leg. Van Veen, who had led 2-0 in the penultimate set before being pegged back to 2-2 by Searle, then blitzed the final set 3-0.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing