Ally Pally rejoices as Stephen Bunting blitzes rival in World Darts ...

Stephen Bunting produced his best performance of this year's World Darts Championship as he waltzed into the quarter-finals.

Bunting romped to a 4-0 victory over Luke Woodhouse in their fourth round match and will now face two-time world champion Peter Wright in the next stage.

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The victory marked Bunting's first whitewash of the tournament, having dropped a set against Kai Gotthardt and Madars Razma in the second and third round respectively.

A fan favourite of the Alexandra Palace faithful, Bunting put his foot on the gas from the opening leg of the match and never relented.

Over the course of the contest, Bunting dropped a measly three legs as the darts simply would not fall for Woodhouse.

It was Bunting's proficiency on the big numbers that aided his victory, which was sealed in less than 35 minutes.

He landed 22 scores of 100 or more along with six 180s, whereas Woodhouse landed just one maximum.

However, Bunting had to wait until the opening leg of the second set before he could secure his first 180.

Bunting ultimately finished with a three-dart average of 96.78, his second-highest figure of the tournament.

The Liverpudlian will need to maintain his lofty standards when he comes up against Wright on January 1 though.

Wright caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament on Sunday when he dumped out defending champion Luke Humphries 4-1.

The two-time world champion had been short of his best form over the course of the year, but a staggering checkout rate of 70 per cent against Humphries reminded the darting world that form may be temporary but class is very much permanent.

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Both Bunting and Wright are major fan favourites, so a loud atmosphere undoubtedly awaits.

However, there's one specific Wright supporter Bunting will have to 'upset'.

"Tobias, my son, Peter Wright is his favourite player," Bunting told talkSPORT.

"I want to upset my son on New Years Day, that's the plan.

"But Peter Wright I'm sure will be 100 per cent ready for the game. I'm really looking forward to it. Who can't be ready for the quarter final in the World Championships?

"May the best man win, but I'll make sure I bring my A-game."

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Most darts fans, and perhaps even Bunting himself, had anticipated a quarter final showdown between him and Humphries.

But with that prospect now officially off the table, Humphries is willing the 39-year-old on to victory.

In fact, the man nicknamed 'Cool Hand' stated there's no-one he'd rather hand his crown over to than Bunting.

"We had practice sessions leading into this and it was well-documented," Bunting said.

"I'd seen him this morning and he wished me the best of luck for the rest of this tournament. He even said to me that he'd love me to become world champion.

"That means a lot coming from someone like that. But there's still a lot of hard work to be done and I'm willing to put that hard work in."