Darts results: Dirk van Duijvenbode and Ross Smith break 180s record in PDC World Championship thriller
Ross Smith #RossSmith
Dirk van Duijvenbode came through a record-breaking clash with Ross Smith to reach the Cazoo World Championship quarter-finals.
The 180 machines are the two most prolific maximum hitters in the game and their last-16 showdown lived up to the hype and more.
They combined for 31 of them to smash the 180 record for a best-of-seven set match that was previously set by Rob Cross and Michael Smith in the 2018 edition (29).
Ross Smith set the individual best of 19 while Aubergenius landed 12 of them to keep the Alexandra Palace crowd on their feet throughout an absorbing encounter that had begun with spectacular back-to-back checkouts of finishes of 156 and 136.
Van Duijvenbode, who hit two more 100+ finishes to go with his 136, averaged 93.44 compared to his opponent’s 96.95 but his doubling was much better, pinning 19 of his 47 attempts as Smith spurned 41 of his 58.
Five of those were for the match, but he missed the bullseye in the deciding leg of the sixth set before blowing all three attempts to finish 40 when 2-1 up in the seventh.
His fifth and final match dart came in the sudden-death shoot-out at 5-5 but he agonisingly went outside of double 10 before van Duijvenbode took out 71 to spark wild scenes of jubiliation.
Afterwards, the Dutchman revealed that Smith’s pre-match ‘trash talking’ and his subsequent celebrating of 180s fired him up.
“Obviously he’s playing in his own country and the crowd are cheering him on a lot more.
“But before the game he was saying I’d celebrated my last win (v Sedlacek) more than when he won the European Championship.
“Then then I see him celebrating his 180s like it’s his first one! If he’s giving me this trash talking, what’s all this about? But it gave me more strength to keep digging in. I was lucky he missed match darts, but I won.”
World Darts Championship: Thursday results & Friday schedule
Thursday December 29Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)Third Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
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Evening Session (7pm GMT)Third/Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
Friday December 30Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
Evening Session (7pm GMT)Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
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