RONNIE Baxter vowed to return to the Lakeside fitter and even faster next year after his latest bid for Embassy World Championship glory ended in spectacular failure last night.

Fourth seed Baxter piled up 10 maximum 180s, boasted a roof-raising 160 finish and two 11-dart legs, yet still crashed 5-3 to big scoring Wayne Mardle in an epic quarter-final.

Baxter had staged a sterling fightback to draw level at 3-3 after looking at one stage as though he would trail 4-1, only for the unseeded Mardle to step up a gear in a blistering climax.

The brash Essex star, sporting his trademark Hawaiian shirt, closed the match by bringing the house down with a 124 checkout on the board to set up a semi-final with Sheffield's John Walton.

A breathless Baxter said: "I'm obviously disappointed, but I've had worse experiences here. I may have reached the last two finals but I still remember several first round defeats. This isn't too bad and at least I've played my part in a great match.

"I was hitting big scores and one or two big finishes but not enough against Wayne who is player who can outscore anyone."

Baxter had got off to a desperate start, losing the first two sets with a string a badly missed doubles.

But the Rocket came back to life with 110 and 160 finishes in a near faultless third set.

Mardle won the fourth and should have won the fifth, but Baxter stole it and then raced to the next in five roller coaster minutes.

From then on, though, it was all Mardle and Baxter joked: "It's Wayne's world now."

Despite one or two badly pulled darts, Baxter refused to use the repetitive strain injury that has affected him for the last year as an excuse.

"I felt a little bit of pain, but nothing more than that," said the 39-year-old from Church.

"Now I've just got to get myself fully fit and I'll come back next year throwing as fast as ever and with my eyes on the title. I know that one day I will win it, because on that day I'm the best there is."