PDC World Championship: Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock in action on day three

Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and Robert Thornton are the big names who kick off their World Championship bids on day three at Alexandra Palace.

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Saturday is the first day with an afternoon and a evening session - double the amount of darts to really get you into the mood!

The day will be rounded off with Anderson kick-starting his championship hopes - he is in the running alongside Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen to lift the Sid Waddell trophy and is odds-on to join those two big-hitters in the next round.

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Anderson meets either Mark McGrath or Scott Kirchner (who will earlier meet in a preliminary match) in Saturday's final encounter, and the Scot is 1/33 with Sky Bet to succeed this evening.

'The Wizard' Whitlock is 2/7 to overcome the challenge of Darren Webster in the evening, after Terry Jenkins (1/12) meets John Weber.

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Robert Thornton (4/11) is also expected to get past Andrew Gilding in the afternoon's standout match but having witnessed Cristo Reyes' shock win on the opening day nothing will be taken for granted.

Order of play

Afternoon

Andy Smith v Ronny Huybrechts

Scott Mackenzie v Daryl Gurney (P)

Justin Pipe v Lawrence Ryder

Robert Thornton v Andrew Gilding

Ronnie Baxter v Scott Mackenzie/Daryl Gurney

Evening

Steve Beaton v Kyle Anderson

Mark McGrath v Scott Kirchner (P)

Terry Jenkins v John Weber

Simon Whitlock v Darren Webster

Gary Anderson v Mark McGrath/Scott Kirchner

Watch the PDC World Championship live on Sky Sports Darts from December 18. For information on how to upgrade to Sky Sports head to www.skysports.com/watch/get-sky 

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