GERWYN Price eased past Raymond van Barneveld then saw his bid for a second PDC World Darts Championship crown get an added boost with Peter Wright’s exit.

Five-time world king Van Barneveld’s rise up the rankings after twice retiring from the sport had provided the feel-good story at this year’s tournament at Alexandra Palace.

But the 55-year-old was whitewashed 4-0 as world number one Price showed there is no room for sentiment on darts’ biggest stage.

The 37-year-old from Markham was without a win in his previous six televised tussles against the Dutchman, but he made a blistering start, converting clinical 84, 68, 87, 117 and 66 combinations to race into a two-set lead.

Van Barneveld responded with 125 and 147 finishes in his bid to launch a fightback, but he paid the price for spurning one set dart in the third, as Price sealed the deal with a superb 128 finish on double ten.

South Wales Argus: DELIGHT: Gerwyn Price on his way to beating Raymond van BarneveldDELIGHT: Gerwyn Price on his way to beating Raymond van Barneveld (Image: PA)

“I needed to start well, put Raymond under pressure and I did that,” reflected Price, who suffered two defeats against Van Barneveld at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts.

“In the Grand Slam I let Raymond off so many times and I didn’t want to do that this time. I wanted to be clinical.

“I’m defending a lot of ranking points and I want to lift the trophy, so it’s been really difficult, but I’m looking forward to the last 16 and there’s not as much pressure on me now.

“I’m happy with that one. I’m the world number one and I’m here to win. I’m not here to make up the numbers.”

Peter Wright’s reign as world champion came to a sorry end as Kim Huybrechts claimed the biggest win of his career.

Wright wore a colourful Christmas shirt on the oche, but that was the only thing that sparkled from the Scot as Huybrechts cruised to a 4-1 victory and a last-16 date with fellow Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh.

“I beat the name Peter Wright, but the person Peter Wright wasn’t there,” Huybrechts told Sky Sports after the world number two had averaged just 91.28 throughout and was even below 80 in the third set.

“That wasn’t Peter Wright. I have to be honest about that. Normally he’s about 20 times better than this. I just played my game, took my chances and got the win.

“I did what I had to do, but I’m not going to be arrogant or cocky. But I’m a happy man to go through to the next round.”

Wright took the first set 3-0 and Huybrechts, who came to London battling to stay in the world’s top 32, appeared to be up against it.

But he seized the initiative by winning seven of the next eight legs and a cool 67 checkout gave him a 3-1 advantage.

Wright tried to fight back in the fifth set, but he missed double 18 to extend the match and Huybrechts stepped in to seal matters before a shocked crowd.

Germany’s Gabriel Clemens won six of the final seven legs to beat Jim Williams 4-3 in a see-saw thriller.

Welshman Williams had a match dart to win 4-2. But he could not take out double six for a 126 checkout, and Clemens averaged 112 in the deciding set to book a date with either Danny Noppert or Alan Soutar.

Josh Rock knocked out 10th seed Nathan Aspinall 4-3 in an epic encounter. The 21-year-old Rock has hinted that he could come of age at this tournament and he punished Aspinall for a raft of missed doubles.

After leading 3-2, Rock held his nerve to take out 70 for victory in the final leg. Van den Bergh and Jonny Clayton had earlier eased through with respective 4-1 victories over Brendan Dolan and Krzysztof Ratajski.