Michael van Gerwen landed a nine-dart finish on his way to a 13-9 victory over Steve Beaton in the second round of the Betfair World Matchplay in Blackpool on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old hit two 180s in the ninth leg and followed them up with a 141 finish - ending on double 12 - to send the Winter Gardens crowd wild.
That gave Van Gerwen a 5-4 lead but the match was a close-fought affair in the early stages and it was deadlocked at 6-6 after 12 legs despite four further ton-plus finishes from the Dutchman.
But Van Gerwen then took command and reeled off four successive legs to open up a 10-6 advantage only for Beaton to keep his hopes alive by winning the next two legs.
However, the former world champion was unable to make any further inroads and Van Gerwen wrapped up the victory, finishing with an average of 104.36 - the highest of the tournament so far.
"It feels great," said Van Gerwen. "It means so much for me and I'm very happy - I exploded into the game after the nine-darter.
"It was a very good game and Steve played well too. To win the game with a 104 average and a nine-darter is brilliant."
Terry Jenkins came from behind for the second successive match as he defeated Raymond van Barneveld 13-10 to advance to the quarter-finals.
The 48-year-old from Ledbury had stared down the barrel of defeat against Kim Huybrechts in the first round in Blackpool on Saturday night, and after finding himself 8-6 down to the Dutchman showed his battling qualities once again.
The two-time Winter Gardens finalist won seven of the next nine legs to claim a fine victory.
Jenkins opened the match with an 11-dart finish but five-time world champion Van Barneveld opened up his two-leg advantage thanks to a break with a 66 finish in the 11th leg and a 104 finish on his own throw.
But Jenkins managed to level at 8-8 after Van Barneveld missed nine darts at doubles and he then pulled clear with finishes of 74, 96, 110 and 93 helping him seal the win.
"I took some good finishes out when I needed to so I'm happy," said Jenkins.
"It was nip and tuck but I've got through and that's all that matters.
"I've had a few good runs in this tournament and I like the longer format. I would really like to win a major, that would cap my career off - but a lot of players would swap players with me because I've been in seven major finals."
Jenkins now faces world champion Adrian Lewis, who saw off Andy Smith 13-7 in the second round.
Lewis charged into a 7-0 lead but then took his foot off the gas, as Smith closed to 10-6, before he rattled off two successive legs to finally make it over the finishing line.
James Wade marched into the quarter-finals for the seventh successive year by defeating Mark Walsh 13-4.
Wade followed up his first round win over Richie Burnett on Sunday night with another high-quality performance to remain in the hunt for a second title in the £400,000 event.
