STUART Kellett celebrated his best run during a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) floor tournament in four years after reaching the last eight on Sunday afternoon.

And he saw off a five-time world champion, Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld, with a thrilling 143 checkout to get there.

The Northwich thrower then exited Players’ Championship Eight at Barnsley following a 6-4 defeat in the quarter finals against Daryl Gurney, a close friend with whom he shares a manager.

He banks ÂŁ2,250 as a reward.

Kellett started the one-day competition with a narrow 6-5 victory against Dirk van Duijvenbode, avenging a loss against the same opponent at the UK Open last month.

The 35-year-old then edged Warrick Scheffer in a last-leg decider before ending the run of James Wilson (6-4) – another of his stablemates at MDA Promotions – in the third round.

That clinched a date with van Barneveld, ranked eighth in the PDC’s Order of Merit, in which he prevailed by the same score.

A stunning 170 finish initially put him in front against in-form Gurney, who had won Saturday’s edition to claim a first ranking title, before the Northern Irish ace later recovered.

Kellett, who had exited in the second round 24 hours earlier following a 6-2 reverse against Mervyn King, had not gone so deep into a floor event since May 2013.

On that occasion he succumbed to Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in the final of a Players’ Championship event at Wigan.