The World Darts Championship has seen its first seed fall as four-time semi-finalist James Wade was knocked out within the second spherical.
Wade, the sixteenth seed, received the primary leg of the spherical two match – however then misplaced the following eight in succession as Jermaine Wattimena took management.
Within the night session, veteran American Leonard Gates produced a classic show to defeat Scotland’s Cameron Menzies 3-1.
Gates, 54, landed a monster 122 checkout – hitting two treble 18s – to seal his place within the second spherical with Menzies, companion of Fallon Sherrock, combating again tears as his hopes slipped away.
Later, former champion Gerwyn Value blitzed previous Keane Barry 3-0 to safe his place within the third spherical.
The Iceman – whose 2021 title win got here behind closed doorways at Alexandra Palace – had not reached the final eight at any main event this yr, however wasted little time in racing via the opening set with out dropping a leg.
The following three weeks at Alexandra Place are the spotlight of the festive interval for a lot of sport followers, with the motion culminating within the remaining on January 3.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler will take centre stage for the primary time on December 21, when he might tackle Fallon Sherrock in what can be a blockbuster encounter.
It’s now six years since Michael van Gerwen was topped world champion and he begins his bid to finish that wait in opposition to James Hurrell or Jim Lengthy, whereas Gary Anderson has been in excellent kind in latest months and kicks his marketing campaign off on December 22 when he’ll go up in opposition to Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting.
Luke Humphries beat Thibault Tricole 3-0
Bradley Collyer/PA Wire
World Darts Championship schedule and newest outcomes
(Seeds in brackets, all occasions GMT)
Thibault Tricole 3-1 Joe Comito
Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 Stefan Bellmont
Keane Barry 3-0 Kim Huybrechts
(1) Luke Humphries 3-0 Thibault Tricole
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wesley Plaisier 3-2 Ryusei Azemoto
Luke Woodhouse 3-0 Lourence Ilagan
Alan Soutar 1-3 Kai Gotthardt
(16) James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 James Wade (16)
Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen 3-1 Niels Zonneveld
Connor Scutt 3-0 Ben Robb
Cameron Menzies 3-1 Leonard Gates
(10) Gerwyn Value 3-0 Keane Barry
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Kevin Doets v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Ryan Joyce v Darius Labanauskas
(24) Mike De Decker v Luke Woodhouse
Jeffrey de Graaf v Rashad Sweeting
Ricardo Pietreczko v Xiaochen Zong
Ryan Meikle v Fallon Sherrock
(17) Peter Wright v Wesley Plaisier
Jim Williams v Paolo Nebrida
Madars Razma v Christian Kist
Ricky Evans v Gordon Mathers
(12) Nathan Aspinall v Cameron Menzies/Leonard Gates
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Chris Landman v Lok Yin Lee
Callan Rydz v Romeo Grbavac
Martin Lukeman v Nitin Kumar
(27) Gabriel Clemens v Niels Zonneveld/Robert Owen
Mensur Suljovic v Matt Campbell
Scott Williams v Niko Springer
(2) Michael Smith v Kevin Doets/Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Stephen Burton v Alexander Merkx
Wessel Nijman v Cameron Carolissen
Ian White v Sandro Eric Sosing
(8) Stephen Bunting v Kai Gotthardt
Mickey Mansell v Tomoya Goto
Florian Hempel v Jeffrey De Zwaan
William O’Connor v Dylan Slevin
(3) Michael van Gerwen v James Hurrell/Jim Lengthy
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Karel Sedlacek v Rhys Griffin
Richard Veenstra v Alexis Toylo
(30) Brendan Dolan v Chris Landman/Lok Yin Lee
(15) Chris Dobey v Stephen Burton/Alexander Merkx
(13) Danny Noppert v Ryan Joyce/Darius Labanauskas
(32) Raymond van Barneveld v Nick Kenny/Stowe Buntz
(4) Luke Littler v Ryan Meikle/Fallon Sherrock
(9) Damon Heta v Connor Scutt/Ben Robb
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(20) Ryan Searle v Mensur Suljovic/Matt Campbell
(25) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma/Christian Kist
(23) Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman/Cameron Carolissen
(29) Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White/Sandro Eric Sosing
(22) Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz/Romeo Grbavac
(19) Ross Smith v Jim Williams/Paolo Nebrida
(14) Gary Anderson v Jeffrey de Graaf/Rashad Sweeting
(11) Dimitri Van den Bergh v William O’Connor/Dylan Slevin
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(31) Krzysztof Ratajski v Richard Veenstra/Alexis Toylo
(21) Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman/Nitin Kumar
(18) Josh Rock v Karel Sedlacek/Rhys Griffin
(7) Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell/Tomoya Goto
(28) Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko/Xiaochen Zong
(26) Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel/Jeffrey De Zwaan
(5) Rob Cross v Scott Williams/Niko Springer
(6) Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans/Gordon Mathers
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Third Spherical (x1), Fourth Spherical (x2)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Thursday, January 2 (7.30pm)
How can I watch the World Darts Championship?
TV channel: The event shall be lined dwell in full on Sky Sports activities. Each the afternoon and night classes shall be proven on Sky Sports activities Darts, with many classes additionally on Sky Sports activities Major Occasion.
Reside stream: Sky Sports activities subscribers will have the ability to watch the sport via the Sky Go app.
World Darts Championship newest odds
Odds by way of Betfair. Topic to vary
