The New Year saw the quarter finals of the Darts World Championship with the evening session dubbed as the 'Clash of the Titans'. The afternoon session also had a strong looking card and it kicked off with Terry Jenkins facing Wes Newton. Newton took the opening set before Jenkins levelled, both finished 3-0. The third set saw Newton win 3-1 to regain his lead but from there all but the last set went to a deciding leg. Jenkins pinched the fourth set which Newton had darts to make it 3-1, but instead stared at a 2-2 scoreline. That may have played on Newton's mind a little because Jenkins went 3-2 ahead. This time it was Newton to level before Jenkins made it 4-3 (the quarter finals was first to five sets). Again Newton levelled with the deciding leg to take the match into the deciding set. The seven time major finalist, Jenkins, proved his experience with Newton seemingly out of energy to take the set 3-0 to make it into the semi-finals.
Adrian Lewis continued his consistently impressive performances to progress into the semi-finals with a win over Vincent Van Der Voort. The scoreline doesn't tell the whole story despite Lewis thoroughly deserving it. The Dutchman almost if not kept up with Lewis in the scoring but Van Der Voort was struggling to hit his doubles which Lewis constantly punished. Lewis went onto win 4-2 to advance into the penultimate round.
The evening session was one of the most anticipated sessions of the tournament so far and it didn't disappoint. First up was Gary Anderson against Van Barneveld for a chance to play Jenkins in the semi-finals. Barney looked to have come out all guns blazing by taking the first set and blowing Anderson away. But that was it from Barney as Anderson levelled and the Dutchman started falling apart and the head began to shake. It was soon 3-1 to the Scot before Barney decided to fight in the fifth set which went to a decider but Anderson took it to make it 4-1. Anderson wrapped the match up with a 3-1 sixth set victory to win 5-1 and will meet Jenkins in the semi-final.
With the five-time World Champion out, it was time to see how the fifteen-time World Champion would do against 2008 Lakeside Champion Mark Webster. Webster fought straight from the start with Taylor well below par on the finishing. The Welshman took the first set and had darts to take the second set but Taylor managed to nick it and level up. Webster then went 2-0 ahead in the third set and managed to hold his nerve this time to re-take the lead. Webster then carried on the shock by taking a 3-1 lead to leave Taylor looking bewildered and uncomfortable. Taylor again went to within one of Webster, making it 3-2. From there, despite Taylor fighting all the way, Webster went onto to secure the amazing victory by five sets to two to dump the fifteen time and reigning World Champion out. Webster will now meet Taylor's in form protege Lewis in the semi-finals.
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