Australian Simon Whitlock has beaten Townsville Darts Masters winner and the most successful darts player of all time, Michael van Gerwen in a major upset at the NSW Darts Masters in Wollongong.
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The match went to the wire, with van Gerwen looking likely to get the job done. A tough fightback from Whitlock saw the Australian win 6-5 in Wollongong.
Post-match, Whitlock was in disbelief but said he always had faith he could pull off an upset.
"If you don't believe you can beat the man you won't, so that's what I did and I couldn't be happier," he said.
Whitlock was the sole Aussie to make it through to the quarter-finals tomorrow night. Amazingly, it was the fifth time in succession Whitlock has gotten the better of van Gerwen.
In the other fixtures, the overseas PDC stars put on a show in Wollongong, stepping up a gear against Oceania's best.
Australian David Marland suffered a 6-3 loss to Englishman Joe Cullen.
The NSW Darts Masters has officially kicked off in Wollongong with Englishman Joe Cullen taking on Australian David Marland kicking-off proceedings.
Post-match, Marland said he was happy with his performance against a top professional and said he was happy on an improved performance from Townsville the a week ago.
"I was extremely pleased with that performance. I beat myself up a bit but to go out there tonight and put up a challenge, I'm very happy. He's a great player Joe, just so good," he said.
In the second match of the night, Gordon Mathers found himself in a tight contest with Englishman James Wade, with the scores locked at 3-3 at one point. But the overseas star came through with the win 6-3 to progress to the quarter-finals.
In the third match, Jonny Clayton put on a comprehensive performance against New Zealand's Haupai Puha, winning 6-1.
In the tightest match of the night, Victorian Mal Cuming gave everything against the "Queen of the Palace" Fallon Sherrock.
Sherrock had a poor showing at the Townsville Masters last week, getting eliminated in the first round. Post match tonight she said she had "the world on her shoulders" leading into Wollongong. The 28-year-old came away with the win, 6-5.
Fourth seed Gerwyn Price made light work of Kiwi Koha Kokiri in game five of the night, winning 6-0. Australian Damon Heta pushed England's third-seed Michael Smith all the way, with Smith winning 6-5.
In the final match of the night, top seed Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Australia Raymond O'Donnell 6-3.
Tomorrow night in the quarter-finals, Van den Bergh will face Wade, Price will verse Sherrock, Whitlock will play Cullen and Smith will take on Clayton.
There was plenty of colour on show and Wollongong fans certainly dressed for the occasion. Here is the best of the outfits at the Masters captured by Mercury photographer Adam McLean.
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