Gerwyn Price saw his fightback fall short as he hit double trouble in a 10-6 defeat to Peter Wright in their European Championships clash.
Wales’ world No 2 looked to be heavy for a quickfire exit in the second round as he trailed 9-3 having missed several check-out attempts.
Price reeled off three legs in a row to raise hopes of a stunning comeback in the best of 19 second-round meeting before Wright booked a spot in the quarter-finals.
The 35-year-old’s defeat left Jonny Clayton as Wales’ sole survivor in the last eight after his 10-6 win over Jose De Sousa in the afternoon session earlier.
Last year’s runner-up Price produced three 100+ check-outs but The Iceman only hit six of his 15 shots at the double which proved his undoing.
WRIGHT WINS!
It was getting tense in the end for Peter Wright but he claims a superb 10-6 victory over Gerwyn Price to reach the Quarter-Finals pic.twitter.com/uNB1akrT0I
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 30, 2020
Clayton is enjoying his best-ever run at the European Championships as he booked his place in Saturday’s quarter-finals .
The Pontyberem thrower saw off De Sousa who was unable to repeat his first-round heroics when he produced a nine-dart finish.
Clayton will bank a guaranteed £20,000 for reaching the last eight at the event for the first time.
And he is not concerned with the tournament being restricted to just a few hundred fans at the Konig-Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen.
“I find difficult with the quiet arenas but I seem to be playing okay so I’m happy,” said Clayton. “I’m really happy to be through.
“I’m into the quarter-finals now so we’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a tough encounter but I’m always confident – hopefully I can relax and show my best game.”
Clayton moved ahead in leg five and would never relinquish the advantage even after the Portuguese thrower reduced the deficit to 6-5.
The 46-year-old produced legs of 13 and 14 darts to edge clear again before setting up a battle with either Michael Smith or Dirk van Duijvenbode who are in action tonight.
Clayton will face Dirk van Duijvenbode after the Dutch darter came back from 6-8 down to defeat Michael Smith 10-8.