Veteran Mervyn King turned back the clock to reach the quarter-finals of the William Hill World Darts Championship.
King made the last eight for the first time at Alexandra Palace since reaching the semi-finals in 2009 with a 4-3 comeback victory over Raymond Smith.
The 55-year-old Englishman fought back from 2-0 and 3-1 down before seizing the advantage in the final set with a spectacular 124 checkout on the bullseye.
𝗕𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚! 👑
Mervyn King completes a royal comeback, coming from 2-0 and 3-1 down to defeat the impressive Australian Raymond Smith in a deciding set!#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/vz3n0kH7Iu— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 30, 2021
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Australian Smith missed four darts at double top in the next leg and King capitalised to complete a final-set whitewash.
“I could feel the atmosphere building and building as I made my comeback,” King told Sky Sports.
“It was nice to be able to dig in and take advantage of it.
“I’ve got the game to make the final. It just depends if my proper game turns up.”
𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗔 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥!
What. A. Match.
Yet ANOTHER Ally Pally classic as Luke Humphries comes from 3-1 down to defeat Chris Dobey in a tie-break!
A third Ally Pally quarter-final in four years for 'Cool Hand' 🤩#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/E80zN3sLBuAdvertisement— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 30, 2021
Luke Humphries reached his third quarter-final in four years with a 4-3 victory over Chris Dobey.
Humphries had received a bye into the last 16 when Dave Chisnall tested positive for coronavirus.
Dobey soared into a 3-1 lead but Humphries turned the tide, with three ton-plus checkouts proving decisive.
“I got human at the end, my nerves kicked in,” said Humphries, who scored 177 to leave tops before missing match darts and finally finishing the job on double one.
🗣 "𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲"
We spoke to Callan Rydz after yet another sensational performance, which saw the 23-year-old secure his spot in the last eight... pic.twitter.com/SrOlQtIRId— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 30, 2021
“At the end my hand was shaking, my heart was going mad. Nerves got the better of me.
“It’s time for me to kick on now. The last two-quarter finals I was very new to the tour.
“But I’ve got more knowledge and experience now to go into the next game with more ambition to go further.”
Callan Rydz secured a quarter-final spot with a 4-1 victory over Alan Soutar.
Rydz recovered from losing his first set of the tournament to breeze into the last eight for the first time.
