World Matchplay darts in Blackpool: Gerwyn Price battles into the last eight at the Winter Gardens

Price came from behind to defeat Chisnall 11-8 and reach the quarter-finals for a third time on a blistering night of action on Wednesday.

He landed checkouts of 164 and 161 on his way to coming through a stern test against World Matchplay veteran Chisnall, who was seeking a sixth quarter-final appearance.

Chisnall held the advantage at 6-4 but, two legs later, the scores were level as Price punished Chisnall’s unsuccessful 76 attempt with a 124 checkout on the bullseye.

That passage of play proved pivotal as the following leg saw Price go in front; a lead which the Welshman never relinquished despite checkouts of 142 and 111 from Chisnall who kept the pressure on to the end.

Price will now take on De Sousa, who broke down in tears after defeating Rob Cross 11-8.

The highest quality match of the tournament so far saw both players average more than 103, as a rejuvenated De Sousa fired in nine 180s as well as hitting 11 of his 23 double attempts.

A 120 checkout saw De Sousa break throw to go 8-4 up, but a missed single 14 in a 108 checkout attempt from the Portuguese – which would have put him 10-4 in front – proved the catalyst for a Cross fightback.

The 2019 champion hit a 106 finish after De Sousa’s mistake to make it 9-5 before winning three of the next four legs to trail 10-8.

With the pressure mounting, De Sousa hit back-to-back 180s before sealing victory with a last dart double four.

Dutch World Cup of Darts team-mates Noppert and Van Duijvenbode will meet in the last eight after coming through ties against Daryl Gurney and Michael Smith respectively.

Noppert laid down a marker to the rest of the field with an impressive display to blow away two-time semi-finalist Gurney 11-4.

Noppert, who won his first TV title at the UK Open in March, landed four ton-plus checkouts and averaged 102.36 in a dominant display.

Van Duijvenbode landed the tournament’s first 170 checkout to continue his winning run with an 11-7 triumph over Smith.

An explosive start from Van Duijvenbode saw him go 4-0 up, a deficit Smith was never able to recover from.

It was a tale of woe on the doubles for Smith, who saw 23 of his outer ring attempts go wide of the target, including a dart at double 12 for a nine-darter.

Smith threatened a comeback as he closed the gap from 9-5 to 9-7, but an 86 checkout from Van Duijvenbode saw him strike a crucial break of throw before finishing the job in the following leg.

Tonight sees the first two quarter-final ties take place, as Peter Wright and Dimitri Van den Bergh meet in a repeat of last year’s final, before two-time champion Michael van Gerwen takes on a resurgent Nathan Aspinall.