Darren Webster, Antonio Alcinas and James Richardson all progress at Ally Pally
Wednesday 27 December 2017 18:19, UK
Simon Whitlock and Alan Norris were the major second-round casualties on Wednesday afternoon at the World Darts Championship, as the seeds continued to tumble at the Alexandra Palace.
Darren Webster knocked 2010 finalist Whitlock out of the competition for a second straight year with an emphatic 4-1 victory in Wednesday's opening match.
'The Demolition Man' whitewashed Whitlock 4-0 at this stage last year and defied six maximums and two ton-plus finishes from the 10th seed to triumph with an average of just over 90.
Webster raced into a 3-0 lead in sets without having his throw broken before 'The Wizard' conjured up checkouts of 90 and 111 to take the fourth set 3-0.
However, this only delayed the inevitable as Webster broke the Aussie in the fourth leg of set five to seal victory on double four, to book his place in round-three against Toni Alcinas.
Alcinas reached the last 16 of the World Championship for the first time in his career after defeating German qualifier Kevin Munch 4-1.
Munch was unable to replicate the heroics that saw him dump out Adrian Lewis in the opening-round and Alcinas silenced a partisan German contingent at Ally Pally to prevail with a 91 average and five maximums.
The Spaniard clinched a tight opening set with a fine 120 finish and took out a 121 kill on the bullseye en route to clinching the second set without reply.
Munch fought back to halve the deficit to 2-1, but Alcinas restored his two-set lead with an 86 checkout on the bull, before closing out the win on double four in a nervy fifth set.
Elsewhere, James Richardson continued his giant-killing run to dump out 15th seed Alan Norris. Richardson defeated Kim Huybrechts 3-0 in his opening match and caused another upset to dispatch 'Chuck' 4-1.
It was a match dominated by missed doubles, with 62 between them, but 'Ruthless' crashed in seven maximums to triumph and set up a third-round tie against either second seed Peter Wright or Jamie Lewis.
The opening three sets all went with the throw, before Richardson took out a clinical 104 finish in a fourth-set decider to establish a 3-1 cushion.
This deflated Norris and although 'Chuck' survived four match darts in the fourth leg of the fifth set, Richardson piled in his seventh 180 and hit double five to seal his progression with a 15-dart hold.
The 2018 World Championship from Alexandra Palace continues with a second session on Wednesday evening from 7pm on Sky Sports Darts and then a bumper double session on Thursday, coverage gets underway from 12.30pm and 7pm
Keep up to date with the news as the PDC celebrates 25 years on Sky Sports, right through to the final on New Year's Day. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts - don't forget to use #LoveTheDarts
