One of the challengers, Bluebird's James Stoodley, lit up the Indian venue with a 3-2 win that was accented by a crucial 80 checkout against Cherry Tree's Tony Reid.
Stoodley then almost achieved something that has never been cracked in the competition's 39 year history by going seven darts into the magical nine darter in his last 32 clash with Alfie Ford of the Octagon.
Ford had earlier bettered Indian's own Paul Gavican 3-1 before his 3-1 loss to Stoodley who nailed as many 180s as legs in the victory, whilst King Billy's Andrew Cook came through thanks to two wins against team-mates.
Fellow King Billy player Scott Cook was his brother's first victim after an 80 checkout gave Cook a 3-2 win before roundly beating Paul Goundry also of the King Billy 3-0 to book his place amongst the 16 elite.
Kings Arms' Paul Palmer will have another crack at glory after wins of 3-0 over Indian's Danny Bull and a 3-1 against Liam Taylor who represented Victory earned his place.
Hyde Park's Lee Dennis was a 3-1 winner over team-mate James Duke before ending the hopes of Cherry Tree's James Ewing 3-0 with a 180 for the victor in that match-up.
Ewing had looked in good nick for a place in the showpiece event after his 3-0 success over Dennis' Friday night team-mate Andrew Hawes.
Champion in 2000, Bruce Harrison, finds himself in the familiar surroundings of the last 16 after a 3-1 triumph at the King Billy over Lee Hunter who was wearing the colours of Legends Lounge.
Hunter nailed an 87 combination in the only leg he won, but did well to make it through to that stage after a 3-2 success over Devon's Frankie Stout who plays from King Billy.
This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of The Herald.
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This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of The Herald.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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