Danny Noppert beat Luke Humphries 10-6 in the last 16 of the UK Open in Minehead. Luke Littler and James Wade also progressed.
Noppert Downs Humphries
Luke Humphries suffered a defeat to Danny Noppert in the last 16 of the UK Open. Humphries reached his first major final at the UK Open in 2021. This time, he could not make it to Finals day. Poor doubling from Humphries and strong doubling from his opponent contributed to the result.
Danny Noppert continues his chase for a second UK Open win after his 2022 victory. His first big-stage victory over the world No 2 will boost his confidence.
Noppert took a narrow 3-2 lead early on. Humphries’ doubling gave ‘The Freeze’ the opportunity to pull away and go 7-3 ahead.
Humphries struggled on the outer ring, hitting just three out of 19 doubles after 10 legs. He had opportunities to win seven of those legs. Noppert broke the throw to move 9-4 ahead as Humphries strayed on a tops, tops finish. Humphries brought the score to 9-6, but Noppert wrapped things up on D8 in the next leg.
“I have lifted it once, why not twice?” Noppert said.
Littler Advances After Win Over Anderson
Noppert now has to take on Littler. Littler continued the defence of his title with a 10-4 victory over Gary Anderson in the last 16.
Prior to this contest, Anderson had been the best player in the competition, while Littler is without doubt the best player on planet darts. A cracker of a contest was expected, but it turned into Littler’s most convincing display of the tournament so far. Anderson started well in the first leg, but it was all Littler from then on. He found a different level with a 117 checkout and 11-dart leg to break the throw on the way to romping into a 4-1 lead.
After losing five legs on the spin, Anderson managed to stop the rot but still went into the final break with a 7-3 deficit. The ‘Flying Scotsman’ upped his level with comprehensive holds of throw, but it was too little, too late. Littler kept his over 100 average and sealed the win with a 78 checkout in just the second meeting between two juggernauts.
Wade Demolishes Van Gerwen
Wade put in an astonishing showing with an over 105 average in a 10-3 demolition of Michael van Gerwen.
There appeared to be nothing to separate the two dartin
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