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Two-time world champions Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen will face one another in the semi-finals at Ally Pally to earn a shot at a third title.

The pair both produced 100+ averages on their way to victory and in doing so set up the heavy weight clash that many had anticipated before the first dart had even been lifted at this year’s tournament.

MVG took out Ryan Joyce 5-1, while Anderson, who had raced into a 3-0 lead against opponent Dave Chisnall, was unperturbed by a Chizzy fightback for a 5-2 win.

Michael Smith has also earned a place in the last four with a 5-1 triumph against Luke Humphries.

Despite his ranking of 90th in the world, Humphries, who dismissed reigning champion Rob Cross last night, could not match Smith – even after a brilliant 170 checkout.

Luke Humphries’ hopes of replicating Rob Cross’ shock win at the Palace continue as he came from two sets down to overpower Voltage 4-2 and inflict a first ever defeat on Cross at the World Championship.

Humphries will now face Michael Smith for a place in the last four after the Bully Boy saw off Ryan Searle 4-1.

Averaging just under 100 and hitting 10 180s, Smith only dropped a set because of clumsy doubling in the deciding leg of the fourth set.

A man who won’t be joining Humphries and Smith in the quarters is James Wade after he was bettered 4-3 by Ryan Joyce.

Having come through several tough matches already, Wade finally fell short to Joyce who now has a testing tie against Michael van Gerwen.

Dave Chisnall had no such trouble as he beat Jamie Lewis 4-0 for his second consecutive straight sets win, earning a meeting with Gary Anderson.

Greatly anticipated, the return to Ally Pally action after the Christmas break did not disappoint.

Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson became the first players to claim spots in the quarter-finals, but the pair did so in vastly contrasting circumstances.

MVG overpowered Adrian Lewis 4-1 with an average of 108.08, while Anderson came from two sets down to beat Chris Dobey 4-3 as the Flying Scotsman was pushed all the way for a second successive match.

Also in action was Michael Smith, the Bully Boy facing John Henderson as the final round three ties took place.

Scotsman Henderson was more than a match for Smith in the opening exchanges and earned a 2-1 lead before Smith disappeared out of sight – taking the next three sets for a 4-2 win.

Benito van de Pas and Devon Petersen both pulled off the same scoreline to beat Toni Alcinas and Steve West respectively.

Defending champion Rob Cross maintained his perfect record at the Palace with a straight-sets-victory over Spain’s Cristo Reyes.

Cross’ performance, which included a 147 finish, was on a par with his win against Jeffrey de Zwaan in round two, averaging over 100 on his way to the 4-0 triumph.

Also through was James Wade, although the nine-time TV title winner was made to sweat after falling behind to Kegan Brown 3-1. Digging in, Wade turned the tie around - checking out 101 to secure a 4-3 win.

Darius Labanauskas’ run in the competition came to an end as the Lithuanian, who beat Raymond van Barneveld in the last round, was no match for Adrian Lewis.

Lewis’ 4-0 victory means he will face fellow two-time world champion Michael van Gerwen in round four.

After knocking-out Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall added Kyle Anderson to his list of scalps by beating the Australian 4-1.

Moving into round three and the promise of increased quality did not disappoint as Gary Anderson and Jermaine Wattimena served up the match of the championship so far.

Despite four 100+ checkouts, Wattimena was eventually outgunned 4-3 by Anderson after a tie-break in the now best-of-seven-set format.

Wattimena had a chance to take glory himself, but missed a match dart at the bullseye for what would have been an astonishing 170.

World number one Michael van Gerwen booked his place in round four with a 4-1 victory over Max Hopp, while Dave Chisnall powered to a 4-0 win against Kim Huybrechts.

Chisnall will now face Jamie Lewis in the next round after Lewis knocked out fifth seed Daryl Gurney in a nail-biting encounter.

Having been 3-1 up Lewis withstood a comeback from the Northern Irishman to take the match 4-3 and continue his quest of at least replicating last year’s run to the semi-finals.

The final day of round two action saw upsets galore, including the defeat of world number six Gerwyn Price.

Price, winner of this year’s Grand Slam, was two sets up before an outstanding comeback by Nathan Aspinall who won the match 3-2.

A polarising character with fans, Price was cheered each time he missed a treble at one stage, with the Welshman already having had a chance at bull to take victory.

Earlier in the evening session Devon Petersen had achieved the same feet as Aspinall, coming from two legs down against 11th seed Ian White – the match decided after extra legs.

Likewise, Jelle Klaasen and Jonny Clayton were also sent packing after 3-1 defeats to Keegan Brown and Dimitiri Van den Bergh.

The morning session was a more regular affair in terms of results with 3-2 wins for Scotland’s John Henderson over Gabriel Clemens and Benito van de Pas of the Netherlands against Jim Long.

Mensur Suljovic became the third of the top 10 seeds to be knocked out as Ryan Searle came from a set down to win 3-1 in round two.

Searle, ranked 61 in the world, produced two 100+ finishes including Shanghai on his way to victory and averaged higher than Suljovic, even though the Austrian hit 10 180s.

Adrian Lewis avoided any such drama to reach round three as Jackpot had too much for Ted Evetts, although the 3-0 scoreline is a harsh reflection on Evetts’ performance.

Stephen Bunting exited the tournament at the first hurdle for the third year in a row after he lost 3-1 to a phenomenal Luke Humphries.

Meanwhile Alan Norris and two-time runner-up Mervyn King needed extra legs to claim 3-2 victories over Steve Lennon and Jan Dekker - Cristo Reyes also won by the same score following a deciding set with Rowby-John Rodriguez.

Simon Whitlock was stunned 3-0 by world number 74 Ryan Joyce as the former finalist crashed out of the tournament.

Although the Wizard averaged over 90 in the first two sets, his doubling let him down and the Australian then collapsed as the impressive Joyce took his chances.

Despite making it through to round two neither Michael Smith or James Wade had it easy, with the latter needing extra legs to beat Seigo Asada 3-2 – the Japanese player having been a credit to the competition in both his outings.

Smith was kept under pressure as the Netherlands’ Ron Meulenkamp matched his scoring for the majority of their contest, though the Englishman did enough to progress.

There were comfortable wins for Brendan Dolan and Kim Huybrechts as the pair won 3-0 against Joe Cullen and Daniel Larsson, while Ireland’s William O’Connor too made it through with a 3-2 victory following a deciding set with James Wilson.