Defending champion Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen are both through to the third round, where world No. 1 Gerwyn Price faces Raymond van Barneveld; Watch every dart from Alexandra Palace live on Sky Sports all the way through to the final on January 3
Sunday 25 December 2022 09:07, UK
The world’s best players have dominated the early stages of the World Darts Championship, with only three seeds failing to reach the third round at the Alexandra Palace.
Four-time semi-finalist James Wade is the highest-ranked player to fall in the first fixtures of the tournament, the eighth seed suffering a surprise 3-2 defeat to Wales' Jim Williams on Thursday, with "The Machine" the only one of the world's top 20 unable to progress.
Alan Soutar defeated 24th seed Daryl Gurney in straight sets, having beat Australian qualifier Mal Cuming in the first round, while Josh Rock is the other unseeded player to make it through to round three after following his opening-round win over Jose Justicia by brushing aside Callan Rydz.
The last-32 will have 29 seeded players involved, a record since the tournament expanded its field size in 2006, with two-time world champion John Part expecting plenty of excitement when the event continues after Christmas.
"I think in most years you would find at least maybe one of the top five gone and a lot more other seeds gone, but they've hung in there and that's good for us!" Part told Sky Sports.
"We're going to get better matches for it and it's kind of proof that the ranking system is working well and the ratings are valid, as we're not having a ton of upsets.
"It's always great when we have some young talent come up and into the ranks, but I hate when the seeding is decimated, and you lose all these potential great matches later on in the tournament.
"We're pretty secure this year for that and it's going to be full of tight games now, because they're all still in."
The tournament resumes on Tuesday December 27 with a double-session of third-round action, with two-time semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall up against World Youth champion Rock in a tasty afternoon session.
Reigning champion Peter Wright continues his title defence against Belgium's Kim Huybrechts later that evening, where world No. 1 Gerwyn Price faces five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in a titanic tussle.
Price was beaten twice by Van Barneveld during the Grand Slam of Darts last month, where he was edged in a final-leg decider in the group stage before losing 16-13 in the quarter-finals, with two-time world champion Part expecting the Welshman to face a tough test once again.
"Price wants to make things right as far as he sees it," Part told Sky Sports. "He has to fix it and you can't just keep losing to legendary figures of the past or be displaced by them in the present!
"He could go out of the tournament because of this and that would be, at this stage, severely costly to him in the ranking. Price needs to figure all that out and it's going to be exciting.
"Van Barneveld is such a legend of the game. The thought of him having a run, let's say like the Grand Slam to the semis, and potentially another world title if he gets that close, would be absolutely thrilling and we know he's capable.
"He's a five-time world champion and is very familiar and comfortable with the set format. If it wasn't enough that he beat him in the match play style at the Grand Slam, then he'll feel also very at home and with even more of an advantage because he has proven he loves sets."
Tuesday December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Nathan Aspinall vs Josh Rock
Jonny Clayton vs Brendan Dolan
Evening Session (7pm)
3x Third Round
Jim Williams vs Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price vs Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright vs Kim Huybrechts
Wednesday December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Ryan Searle vs Jose de Sousa
Danny Noppert vs Alan Soutar
Gary Anderson vs Chris Dobey
Evening Session (7pm)
3x Third Round
Joe Cullen vs Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen vs Mensur Suljovic
Michael Smith vs Martin Schindler
Thursday December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Ross Smith
Rob Cross vs Mervyn King
Dave Chisnall vs Stephen Bunting
Evening Session (7pm)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Luke Humphries vs Vincent van der Voort
Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship - live on Sky Sports Darts - through to the final on January 3. Coverage continues on Tuesday December 27 from midday on Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports Main Event, ahead of the evening session from 7pm.
