Australian darts star Damon Heta has declared his pride at making the last-16 of the world championships for the first time after winning with a flourish at the Alexandra Palace in London.
The Perth tungsten thrower sparkled at just the right moment during his tough third-round battle with Dutchman Berry van Peer, asserting his top-10 quality in a 4-3 victory on Friday afternoon (Saturday AEDT).
And he saved his very best for last at the famed 'Ally Pally' venue, finally extinguishing the stubborn van Peer's challenge in the deciding set with a brilliant, match-sealing 151 checkout - treble 20, treble 17 and double top.
It prompted a little victory jig across the stage at the Alexandra Palace from the 36-year-old 10th seed, who now faces a clash with unseeded Englishman Scott Williams with a quarter-final place firmly in his sights at the PDC Championships.
"I’m just so proud of myself, really proud," said the English-based West Australian after advancing to uncharted territory as he seeks to become the first and only Aussie to win an individual world title since Tony David took the BDO title in 2002.
Heta was most pleased with the way he regrouped after missing four darts to win the match in the previous leg before coming up with his showstopper finish.
"Taking that checkout after missing match darts, I just literally told myself 'let's kick on, let's do it, don't dwell on that'," said Heta, admitting his overwhelming reaction was "relief".
"I've been working on my mental game, on having a positive attitude, positive thoughts and it's helped my game 100 per cent. I did not dwell on the bad stuff.
"I'm doing all right. I've made a couple of quarters before (in big tournaments) but this year it feels like a very serious business.
"I feel I'm up with all the big names and I'm up there for a reason. I've got a lot of support, especially back home, and I take that all in."
It had proved no stroll for "The Heat" against van Peer, who raced into a 2-0 sets lead before Heta started to assert his superiority against a player ranked 97 places below him to cruise into a 3-2 lead.
But Heta, who hit 13 maximum 180s, had problems with his finishing, missing 28 darts at doubles as he allowed van Peer to level up at three sets-all and then also missing his four match darts when 2-0 up in the decider.
Earlier in the fourth set, Heta, who had an impressive 96.06 scoring average for every three-dart visit, had also been left frustrated when he hit seven perfect darts en route to prospective nine-dart finish before missing his penultimate attempt at treble 19. He had to settle instead for a 10-dart finish.
Five-times world champ Raymond van Barneveld later set up a mouth-watering battle of the generations against 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler by beating Welshman Jim Williams 4-1.
Littler was born 21 days after the Dutchman won his last title in 2007, leaving van Barneveld to smile: "I will love to play him. When I was 16 I was playing with Lego and Playmobil - we didn't have the internet or whatever."
