• PDC World Championship

Van Gerwen comes back from the brink

Michael van Gerwen was made to work hard for his place in the last eight © PA Photos

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Michael van Gerwen stared down the barrel of a shock exit from the PDC World Championship before winning a deciding set against Gary Anderson to advance to the last eight.

Van Gerwen trailed 2-0 and 3-1, and twice had to watch Anderson throw for the match, before winning 3-1 in the decider.

Anderson reached double figures for maximums thrown in the match, but will rue missed chances in the fifth and sixth sets to see off last year's finalist and set up a meeting with Mark Webster in the quarter-finals on Sunday evening. Van Gerwen sealed the match with one dart at double 8, and celebrated in trademark fashion with more than a hint of relief before revealing the inspiration behind his comeback.

"I watched James [Wade] come back from behind a couple of times so I always kept that in my mind," he told Sky Sports. "I struggled at times but at the end I played really well. At one point you think you're going to lose but I kept going."

Adrian Lewis continued his quest for a third title with a 4-1 win over Mervyn King at Alexandra Palace sealing his place in the last eight.

Lewis got off to a flyer, taking the first set 3-0. King narrowly missed a fine effort at a 120 checkout to save the set, which was immediately punished by 'Jackpot' when he took out 65. King then wasted three darts to take the second set, and was again made to pay as Lewis made no mistake at double tops.

Another set was quickly wrapped up 3-0 again by Lewis, who again landed double tops to win the third leg, but King showed he was not going to go quietly with a 3-1 win in the fourth set rounded off by a 74 checkout. However, the resistance did not last long as Lewis took the next set in typical fashion.

Despite the margin of victory, Lewis again bemoaned his overall scoring. "I have a terrible record against Mervyn, especially on the floor [televised]," Lewis said to Sky Sports. "If it wasn't for my finishing I could have lost 4-1."

Lewis will face James Wade in tomorrow's quarter-final after the sixth seed defeated Devon Petersen, the only unseeded player remaining in the championship.

Wade had struggled in his two previous matches, but was in superb form against the South African, racing to a 4-0 victory.

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