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Raymond van Barneveld put on a classy display to defeat Jelle Klaasen in round three of the Speedy Services UK Open on Friday, while Arron Monk continued his charge at the Reebok Stadium with a 9-8 triumph over 2011 Players Championship winner Kevin Painter.

There were also wins for Simon Whitlock, Paul Nicholson, Mervyn King, Michael van Gerwen, Vincent van der Voort and Robert Thornton in Bolton.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

‘Barney’ swept past Klaasen with an impressive 8-3 victory, to set up a fourth round clash against Andy Hamilton.

“He (Klaasen) let me in early on and I never looked back really,” said van Barneveld, who topped the tournament’s qualifying rankings.

“I hit my doubles and I am pleased to be through. This is a special place for me and the crowd were fantastic.”

Monk showed plenty of bottle to win a last leg decider against Painter, who missed a dart at the bull before the former under-21 World Champion stepped in to hit double top.

“I’m playing well, I’m hitting 180′s for fun,” said Monk, who exacted revenge for his defeat against Painter at the World Championships.

“Kevin has beat me every time we’ve played before so it’s a massive win for me.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

“I’m happy to go against any of the big boys. I want to keep playing well and go far in the competition.”

Monk will face Nicholson on Saturday afternoon, after ‘The Asset’ beat Michael Mansell 9-7, hitting a 170 checkout along the way.

“The aim was always to get to the weekend,” said Nicholson “I’ve made it so I’ll see what I can do from here.”

Whitlock ran out as a 9-6 winner over Terry Temple. ‘The Wizard’ now faces a tough test against Justin Pipe in round four.

“It doesn’t matter who I play,” said the Premier League finalist. “I’m playing really well at the moment and I hope to keep that going.”

King triumphed 9-3 over Gareth Cousins, while van Gerwen beat William O’Connor by the same margin. The pair now meet in the fourth round.

van der Voort fought back from 6-5 down to end the challenge of amateur qualifier Paul Amos.

“My form’s getting better and better,” said the 2007 runner-up. “It’s not easy because there are so many good players.”

“Paul played brilliant but I dug in and I can feel that my best darts are coming back.”

Thornton came out on top in a topsy-turvy battle with Mark Webster, a match that included eleven breaks of throw.

Defending champion James Wade suffered an early exit however, losing out to Colin Lloyd despite hitting mammoth finishes 160 and 170.

PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion James Hubbard also bowed out of the tournament at the hands of Terry Jenkins.

Saturday sees the last 32 players battle it out in the afternoon session before the final 16 play for quarter-final places in the evening.

All of Saturday’s matches are best of 17 legs.

By Chris Murphy

See four of the world’s top professional darts players go head to head in the Charlton Masters on Thursday 19 July.