Former Champion Cross Among Record 14 Seeds Eliminated from World Darts Championship

Former champion Rob Cross, who has now experienced three second-round eliminations in his eight World Championship appearances, became the most recent prominent player to be knocked out. His departure marked a new record, as he was the 14th seeded player to exit the PDC World Darts Championship during the second round. The fifth seed, Cross, was defeated 3-1 by his close friend Scott Williams. Williams is scheduled to compete against Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko in the third round. Cross, the 2018 champion on his debut, secured the initial set but was unable to perform at his peak, leading to his third second-round elimination. He was followed out of the competition by the sixth seed, David Chisnall, who lost 3-2 in a sudden-death leg to Ricky Evans, a player ranked 46th in the PDC’s Order of Merit before the tournament. Chisnall, a semi-finalist in 2021, won the first set but subsequently fell behind 2-1 against an invigorated Evans, who received continuous support from the Alexandra Palace crowd. Chisnall pushed the match to a deciding set and faced a match dart, but Evans narrowly missed the bullseye. Chisnall then missed his own match dart on double tops, followed by a miscalculation while attempting a 139 checkout when trailing 5-4. Although this led to a sudden-death leg without significant immediate consequence, Chisnall ultimately could not withstand Evans, who advanced to the third round for the third occasion in the past five years. “It’s not even what it is, again I’ve played a world-class darts player. I’ve played quite well and won,” Evans stated to Sky Sports. He continued, “Look at this [the crowd], wow. I don’t understand it, why are they cheering me on?” Evans added, “I don’t get this reception in my household. Thank you very much. You’ve made a very fat guy very happy.” Following the three-day Christmas break, Evans is set to compete against unseeded Welsh player Robert Owen in the third round. Earlier, world youth champion Gian van Veen became the 12th seeded player eliminated from the tournament, having lost 3-1 to Pietreczko. The 28th seed, Van Veen, dropped the initial set after missing nine darts at double, but managed to equalize. Nevertheless, the Dutch player could not maintain his performance against Pietreczko, who sealed a decisive victory with a checkout percentage of 55.6%. Pietreczko commented, “I am over the moon to win. It is very important for me to be in the third round after Christmas. I love the big stage.” Daryl Gurney of Northern Ireland managed to avoid an early exit, securing a final-set victory against Florian Hempel. The 26th seed found himself trailing 1-0 and 2-1, and both competitors subsequently missed match darts before Gurney ultimately won the deciding set 3-1 in legs. The list of seeded players who have been eliminated includes: Michael Smith (2), Rob Cross (5), Dave Chisnall (6), Danny Noppert (13), Gary Anderson (14), James Wade (16), Ross Smith (19), Martin Schindler (23), Mike De Decker (24), Dirk van Duijvenbode (25), Gabriel Clemens (27), Gian van Veen (28), Ritchie Edhouse (29), and Raymond van Barneveld (32). Jonny Clayton has advanced to the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship for the sixth year in a row. During the afternoon session, the Welsh number seven seed, Clayton, also required a sudden-death leg to complete a remarkable final-set comeback against Mickey Mansell. Clayton was on the brink of defeat twice against his Northern Irish adversary but rallied to win the final set 6-5 in a sudden-death leg, securing a 3-2 victory. Clayton, who is scheduled to face Gurney in round three, initially lost the opening set of the contest. He then recovered to take a 2-1 lead, only to be drawn level again by the 51-year-old Mansell, who subsequently missed match darts on double tops in the deciding set. “I was very emotional. I’ve got to be honest, that meant a lot,” Clayton remarked. He noted that he is now positioned in a more advantageous section of the draw due to the unexpected second-round eliminations of former world champions Michael Smith and Gary Anderson. Clayton continued, “I had chances before and Mickey definitely had chances before. It wasn’t great to play in, not the best – I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. There is a lot of weight off my shoulders after that. I know there is another gear or two in the bank, but I’ll be honest that meant a lot to me, it is a tester and will try and make me believe again.” In the fifth set, Clayton initially trailed 2-0 following Mansell’s consecutive 136 and 154 checkouts. However, Clayton then secured three legs in a row with 15, 12, and 10 darts to establish a 3-2 advantage. He subsequently missed three darts for the match, after which his unseeded opponent held serve and broke Clayton’s throw to take a 4-3 lead. Mansell then missed a match dart at double 20, before Clayton ultimately clinched the victory on double five, following two missed checkouts. In other matches, Josh Rock of Northern Ireland secured his spot in the third round, where he will face England’s Chris Dobey, by defeating Wales’ Rhys Griffin 3-0. Martin Lukeman, who was runner-up to Luke Littler at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts, was eliminated after a 3-1 defeat by the 21st seed, Andrew Gilding. The last day of play before the Christmas break commenced with Poland’s 31st seed, Krzysztof Ratajski, achieving a 3-1 victory over Alexis Toylo from the Philippines. The results from the second round were as follows: Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Alexis Toylo, Andrew Gilding 3-1 Martin Lukeman, Josh Rock 3-0 Rhys Griffin, Jonny Clayton 3-2 Mickey Mansell, Gian van Veen 1-3 Ricardo Pietreczko, Daryl Gurney 3-2 Florian Hempel, Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricky Evans, and Rob Cross 1-3 Scott Williams. All listed times are GMT and may be subject to alteration. The schedule for upcoming matches is: Friday, 27 December Afternoon session (12:30): Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse, Jonny Clayton v Daryl Gurney, Stephen Bunting v Madars Razma Evening session (19:00): Gerwyn Price v Joe Cullen, Jermaine Wattimena v Peter Wright, Luke Humphries v Nick Kenny Saturday, 28 December Ryan Joyce v Ryan Searle, Scott Williams v Ricardo Pietreczko, Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding, Chris Dobey v Josh Rock, Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan, Luke Littler v Ian White Sunday, 29 December Jeffrey de Graaf v Paolo Nebrida, Kevin Doets v Krzysztof Ratajski, Dimitri van den Bergh v Callan Rydz, Ricky Evans v Robert Owen. Additionally, two fourth-round matches are scheduled to be played on this day.