Monday 29 December 2014 10:55, UK
The shocks continued at the PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace on Sunday as Spanish qualifier Cristo Reyes defeated former finalist Kevin Painter to advance to the last 16.
Tenerife resident Reyes followed up his shock first-round victory against No 13-seed Wes Newton by seeing off 2004 runner-up Painter 4-3 to become only the second preliminary player to reach the third round.
The 27-year-old, who came through a field of 154 players in the Iberian Qualifiers to reach the finals, will now take on fourth-seed Gary Anderson, of Scotland.
Painter raced into a 3-1 lead and looked on course for victory in the best-of-seven-sets encounter, but Reyes came roaring back to win the next three sets to dump the Essex thrower out.
"It's incredible, I'm speechless really," said Reyes. "I will always fight right until the end, even though I was 3-1 down I was always going to fight until the last dart.
"Until the referee calls the final shot I always think I can win, and until the last dart goes in I will always keep going - that's the way I always play and that won't change.
"We have flights booked for tonight so we'll have to go and try to change them now and try and book the hotel for an extra few days so I can stay here and prepare for the next match in a few days - but that's a happy thing for me to do."
Kim Huybrechts gained revenge for his defeat at the same stage last year to Ian White thanks to a thrilling 4-3 victory.
The Belgian won six consecutive legs to defeat White and set up a clash against 16-time world champion Phil Taylor after he whitewashed former BDO winner Mark Webster.
"It was not about revenge, it was all about today and about this match," said Huybrechts. "Of course I remember losing 4-3 last year, but I was not thinking about that up on the stage during this match.
"When I was losing 3-2 I knew I had to be a bit more aggressive, that's part of my game and how I deal with the nerves. Some players don't like to show their emotions too much but players like myself and Michael van Gerwen celebrate almost every leg.
"I'm a nervous player and I get a bit tight in the arm at times, so celebrating a double helps get rid of some of that tension - every leg is a leg closer to winning the match so I like to celebrate."
In the day's earlier action, 2012 finalist Andy "The Hammer" Hamilton came through unscathed against Australia's Kyle Anderson 4-2 to set up a meeting against last year's runner-up, Peter Wright.
"It was tough game, I battled hard and I had to battle hard to win that one," said Hamilton. "That's how I win games - my games always seem to be hard work, I always fight hard and never give up.
"Peter Wright's a great player but I'm not scared of anyone really; it's all about me and my game. I'm just going to play my own game and let the result take care of itself."
