Thursday 3 December 2020 16:03, UK
Dave Chisnall booked his place in the last 16 of the World Championship with victory over Chris Dobey but Robert Thornton and Mensur Suljovic crashed out.
After a three-day break for the festive period, the tungsten returned on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a mammoth evening session which includes Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld - but the afternoon saw an early warning to the tournament's biggest names as two of the top 10 seeds were dumped out.
Prior to the event's resumption, 16th seed Stephen Bunting was the highest profile casualty but he was joined by ninth seed Thornton and eighth Suljovic in making an early exit from this year's event.
Chisnall put things right in the final match of the evening, the seventh seed eventually seeing off the talented 26-year-old Dobey to set up a date with either Jelle Klaasen or Brendan Dolan in the third round.
Dobey, a quarter-finalist at the Grand Slam of Darts in November, pushed Chisnall all the way in a high-class affair before the latter finally won out, claiming his place in the last 16 thanks to a 4-2 victory.
Having seen Chisnall claim the opening set in ruthless fashion, Dobey was anything but intimidated, pushing his average above 100 as he reeled off three straight legs to level the match.
The quality continued into the third set until, with the match level at two legs apiece, Dobey pulled his dart at double 16 to allow Chizzy to sneak in and snaffle the set courtesy of a tidy two-dart 70 finish.
Again Dobey was undaunted, a 112 finish levelled the fourth and he went on to claim the set with cool, calculated finishing on double top.
However with Dobey, in his first ever World Championship, beginning to tire, Chisnall took out 110 to open up the fifth in style and he kept his nose in front before pinning double top at the sixth time of asking to claim the set.
And Chisnall's class prevailed as he ran away with the sixth set, a fantastic 12-dart leg sealing the win and setting up a Thursday afternoon date with Dolan or Klaasen, who meet on Wednesday.
In the opening match of the afternoon session, former BDO world champion Mark Webster prevailed in a battle of missed chances against Austria's Suljovic - there were almost 90 missed darts at doubles in the match.
Webster came through, first coming from a set down and then holding off a Suljovic fightback from 3-1 down to book his third-round spot.
Webster's heavier scoring kept him in control of the game, despite missing more darts at a double than his eighth-seeded opponent, the pivotal point coming in the third game of the third set where much to the delight of the Ally Pally crowd, 17 missed darts at a double went begging.
Eventually it was Webster who prevailed via double one before a more routine 65 check-out completed the job in the set.
Webster missed two darts to claim a 3-0 win in the third set but with Suljovic's problems on the double continuing, the Welshman was back to clean up and secure the set.
Midway through the match, the Austrian went on an incredible run of 16 missed darts at a double, a run which allowed Webster to claim seven legs in succession before an 11-dart leg wrapped up the fourth to move him within one set of the last 16.
Suljovic managed to gather himself to pinch the fifth set despite more missed chances at the outer ring. Four more missed darts at a double cost Suljovic a 2-0 lead in the sixth but with the set level at two legs apiece, he pinned double four to set up the decider.
Having hauled himself back into contention, Suljovic folded in the decider as Webster sealed a narrow victory and booked a date with Daryl Gurney, who came through another seven-set thriller.
The Irishman had to withstand a mid-match revival from world No 9 Robert Thornton, having taken the opening seven legs of the match before eventually prevailing to set up the clash with Webster.
Gurney flew out of the traps against Thornton, claiming all three legs of the opener in quick succession, failing to even give the Scot a dart at a double.
The Irishman continued his dominance into the second set with two-dart finishes of 94, 70 and 84 taking him into a two-set lead after six successive legs against a beleaguered looking Thornton.
The Scot missed his first darts at a double in the opening leg of the third set, six chances going awry before Gurney punished him with a double eight to break the throw, only for Thornton to get on the board with an immediate break back and change the course of the match.
Upping his pace and scoring power considerably, a pair of 12-dart legs saw Thornton claim the set and after seeing Gurney claim the opening leg of the fourth, the Thorn reeled off three legs on the bounce to level the match including a double-top finish after Gurney bust his score of 10 with a single 12 rather then the double five he was aiming at.
A brilliant 124 in the opening leg of the fourth put Thornton in front for the first time and he followed up by claiming the next before Gurney stopped the rot to pick up the next two and level the match at two sets all and two legs apiece.
Thornton missed a dart at tops for the set, while Gurney missed his dart at bull for the lead and Thornton punished him to pin double 10 and move one set away from taking the match.
Having seen Thornton take the opening leg, Gurney's biggest check-out of the match - a brilliant 161 - put him in control of the sixth set which he wrapped up thanks to a nervy double one to force the deciding set.
And despite the experience of Thornton, it was the talent of 30-year-old Gurney that prevailed, taking out the final set in three superb legs to seal his first-ever last-16 spot in the PDC World Championship
You call follow all the action from the William Hill World Darts Championship on Sky Sports Darts, including Tuesday's evening session from 8pm.
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