World Darts Championship

Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey make statements in World Championship last-32 wins

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 28 December 2023

Bunting, Dobey make statements in World Championship last-32 wins

Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey both make statements in progressing through to the last 16 of the World Championship.

Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey have both impressed in setting up World Championship last-16 showdowns with Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.

Bunting - one of the in-form players in the tournament - opened up with back-to-back 11 darters in his 4-0 victory over Florian Hempel.

In a memorable first set, the German fired back with a 164 checkout, but he could not keep pace with a relentless Bunting whose checkout rate was 52%.

The Liverpudlian also averaged 101.15 across four competitive sets to progress through to a meeting with Van Gerwen.

Meanwhile, Dobey was involved in a classic last-32 showdown with Smith in a game where he appeared on course to post a record-breaking average for the tournament.

SUBLIME FROM SMITH! 🤯

That is extraordinary from Ross Smith!

The former European Champ defies a blistering barrage in set three from Dobey, reeling off three straight legs to halve the deficit!

📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD #WCDarts | R3 pic.twitter.com/FXYajRtQ0y
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 28, 2023

At 2-0 up in sets and 2-0 ahead in the third, Dobey was averaging 118, but he squandered eight darts for a 3-0 lead and subsequently saw Smith claw his way back to 2-2 and have momentum heading into the fifth set.

However, Dobey - the 17th seed - impressively held his nerve to stop the rot and proceed to wrap up the match in an astonishing tie that featured 27 180s.

Despite the contest also seeing 47 missed darts at a double, Dobey averaged 102.36 in comparison to Smith's 103.33, and he will now play defending champion Michael Smith for a spot in the quarter-finals.

The other encounter on Thursday afternoon did not disappoint as Joe Cullen also held his nerve to post a 4-2 success over Ryan Searle.

In a similar way to Dobey and Smith's match, Cullen established a lead that was pegged back by Searle, but the latter's checkout ratio of just 24% ultimately cost him.

Cullen ended the match with a 96.51 average as he moved into a meeting with either Luke Humphries or Ricardo Pietreczko, who play later in the day.