Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen has criticized Peter Wright’s claims of a world darts title as “nonsense” and called tournament favorite Luke Littler’s performance “disappointing”.

Van Gerwen booked a quarter-final clash with Callan Rydz with a 4-2 win over Jeffrey de Graaf on Monday night, with the world number three taking aim at Wright. Wright, believes Reitz should be the favorite.

Although Rez was not a seed, he posted the two highest average points of this tournament so far – 107.06 points against Romeo Gelbavac in the first game, and a 4-0 victory over the No. 11 seed in the third round. Dimitri Vandenberg’s 105.31 points.

“I want to play like Callan Reitz,” Wright said after knocking out defending champion Luke Humphries in the fourth round. “He should be the favorite for this tournament. His darts are really good and hopefully that will continue.”

Prior to this, Wright had already made headlines for saying he was “ready to upset Luke Littler” and “here to upset Luke Humphreys,” who lost two The Alexandra Palace champion has previously spoken out about his “mind games”.

“Every year at Worlds he talks a lot of rubbish,” van Gerwen said of Wright’s latest comments.

“He was always allowed to talk nonsense. No one took him seriously on tour either because he wasn’t allowed to have an opinion at home.”

When asked about his opponent Reitz in the quarter-finals, Van Gerwen said: sky sports: “I think he’s got the highest tournament average so far, so you can’t underestimate him.

“I think he’s playing some good darts, but we’ll see. It’ll be the first of five sets and it’s a completely different game.”

He added: “When I play well, I don’t panic. When I stay focused, when I continue to believe in my ability, anything is possible. I’m not here to be happy, I’m here to win One game, we all know that.”

For van Gerwen to win, he may have to face tournament favorite and last year’s runner-up Littler in the final.

The 17-year-old averaged over 100 twice in three games heading into the quarter-finals, including an impressive 103.13 against Ryan Joyce in the fourth round, although he Forced to enter the final set.

The 4-3 victory means Littler has dropped five sets at this tournament, just one less than last year’s total when he reached the final.

“I think the biggest disappointment so far has been Luke Littler,” van Gerwen added at a press conference ahead of Littler’s victory over Joyce. “A lot of people expect a lot from him and that’s why he’s not 100 percent.”

Asked about van Gerwen’s comments after confirming he was in the quarter-finals where he will face 12th seed Nathan Aspinall, Littler said: “It might answer some questions but I’m just disappointed with the result. Feeling good about it, feeling good about the scoring ability.”

What happens next at Worlds?

The World Darts Championship resumes on New Year’s Day with two quarter-final matches on Wednesday.

The afternoon session sees Chris Dobey take on 2021 champion Gerwyn Price before three-time champion Michael van Gerwen takes on Callan Ray Callan Rydz.

Two-time champion Peter Wright takes on Stephen Bunting, followed by Luke Littler taking on Nathan Aspinall in what promises to be a A great evening game.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? You can watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel until January 3rd. Live stream darts and more top sports with NOW.