By Sarah Leaver
Alexandra Palace crowd favourite, Stephen Bunting was stunned by James Hurrell as the 4th seed is defeated in round three. Luke Littler stole the show with an exeptional performance against to light up day 14.
Match 1: Andreas Harrysson v Ricardo Pietreczko
Debutant Andreas Harrysson took on the highest-ranked unseeded player Ricardo Pietreczko in the first of three evening sessions. The first set went all the way to a decider which went in favour of the Swede after “Pikachu” struggled to land in the trebles.
Pietreczko had a lucky break as Harrysson chose and failed at an unconventional 95 checkout, and this allowed the German to go on and double his lead. He was pegged back by Harrysson to force another deciding leg, but Pietreczko took out an astonishing 158 to level the sets.
The Swede came back firing in the third set, averaging over 100 to win three legs on the spin and put himself back in front. The fourth set continued in similar fashion until Pietreczko produced another ton-plus finish to give himself some confidence.
This carried on, allowing the German to equalise the sets once again, but Harrysson took another three consecutive legs to win the fifth set.
Pietreczko won the first leg of the sixth set, but the Swede powered on to win the set and the match after just one missed match dart.
Result: Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Match 2: Stephen Bunting v James Hurrell
Stephen Bunting took the lead in what was believed to be a one-sided tie between himself and James Hurrell, but Hurrell had the throw in the second leg and used this to his advantage, taking out a 120 Shanghai finish to equalise.
The first set ultimately went in favour of Hurrell after a poor display from Bunting which saw him average 84. Hurrell continued in top form, winning two legs before the world number four managed to force a deciding leg, which was won by Bunting after a 161-checkout.
This sparked a confidence in Bunting not yet seen in the match, taking another ton-finish to put himself ahead in sets for the first time. Hurrell refused to back down though, winning three legs on the bounce to level the sets.
Hurrell put himself one set away from the victory after a 3-1 set win against Bunting, but the Bullet once again fought back to force a deciding set.
In the final set, Bunting went 1-0 up and it seemed like he would finally get the better of his opponent, but with the help of the throw Hurrell managed to get his well-deserved win against the world number four to set up a fourth-round tie against either Martin Schindler or Ryan Searle.
Result: Stephen Bunting 3-4 James Hurrell
Match 3: Luke Littler v Mensur Suljovic
The world number one took centre stage in the headline match of the evening, facing a fan favourite in Mensur Suljovic. Luke Littler hadn’t quite reached his explosive best yet in the competition, but he found his form in the first set of the match – winning three consecutive legs to put himself ahead.
The 18-year-old’s fine form continued, replicating the first set to go two sets to the good. Averaging over 111, Littler steamrolled Suljovic in the first two sets, but the Austrian found some fight in the third set, forcing a decider which was won by Littler.
Throwing for the match, Littler races his way to another leg before being pegged back by Suljovic. However the Austrian just couldn’t keep up with the world number one and Littler went on to win the match with an astonishing 4-0 scoreline.
Result: Luke Littler 4-0 Mensur Suljovic