Ohio’s Larry Butler kept the American flag flying proudly as he stormed past Latvian Madars Razma to reach the quarter-finals of the Winmau World Masters!  Butler dropped just the one leg in a convincing straight-sets victory, recording three maximum 180’s on the way.  Razma’s downfall was his poor finishing, but the former World Matchplay Champion was always in control.  Butler now faces #11 seed Scott Waites in a mouth-watering clash tomorrow.

Other winners today were Jamie Hughes, Thomas Junghans, Glen Durrant, Martin Phillips, Pip Blackwell, and Martin Adams.  It was Adams who posted the best average of the day (33.32) in a tense five-set struggle with Pole Krzysztof Ratajski.    Ratajski’s defeat leaves Butler and Junghans as the only non-Britons still going, which is surprising particularly for the fact that no Dutch contenders remain!

The same cannot be said for the Women’s event, although Aileen de Graaf has her work cut against the mighty English trio of Deta Hedman, Lisa Ashton, and Fallon Sherrock.  As it turned out though, De Graaf produced the best performance of the Top 8 in her 4-2 defeat of Anastasi Dobromyslova.  The Dutch #1 now meets Hedman, while a fascinating clash between Ashton and Sherrock is in prospect.

Updates will be posted here tomorrow.

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