World Darts Championship: The seeds dominate to produce a star-studded third round at Alexandra Palace | Darts news

Defending champion Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen both advance to the third round, where world number one Gerwyn Price faces Raymond van Barneveld; Watch every match at Alexandra Palace live on Sky Sports right up until the final on January 3rd

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John Part likes the fact that the top seeds are still in the tournament because it means there are plenty of tight games to look forward to.

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 Alexandra Palace.

Four-time semi-finalist James Wade is the most dropped player in the first matches of the tournament, with the eighth seed suffering a surprise 3-2 loss to Wales’ Jim Williams on Thursday, and ‘The Machine’ is the only one. in the world’s top 20 who cannot progress.

Alan Soutar beat 24th seed Daryl Gurney in straight sets after defeating Australian qualifier Mal Cuming in the first round, while Josh Rock is the other unseeded player to make it to the third round after winning the opening round ahead of Jose Justicia. Callan Rydz.

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Alan Soutar says he is getting used to the big stages after beating Daryl Gurney in the second round of the World Series.

With 29 seeded players taking part in the last 32, a record since the tournament expanded its field size in 2006, two-time world champion John Part expects plenty of excitement as the event resumes after Christmas.

“I think most years you’d find at least one of the top five gone and a lot of other seeds gone, but they’ve hung in there and that’s good for us!” Some told Sky Sports.

“We’re going to get better matches for it and that’s kind of proof that the ranking system works well and the ratings are valid because we don’t have a lot of distractions.

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A look back at the biggest, best and funniest moments from the World Darts Championship so far.

“It’s always great when we have young talent coming up through the ranks, but I hate when the seeds go down and you lose all these potentially great matches later in the tournament.

“We’re pretty confident about that this year and it’s going to be full of tight games now because they’re all still in play.”

What next?

The tournament continues on Tuesday 27 December with doubleheader third round action, with two-time semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall taking on world junior champion Rock in a tasty afternoon.

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Laura Turner discusses Josh Rock’s impressive win over Callan Rydz, but says Rock needs to step up his game as he faces Nathan Aspinall in a mouth-watering match in the third round.

Reigning champion Peter Wright continues his title defense against Belgium’s Kim Huybrecht later that evening, with world number one Gerwyn Price taking on five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in a titanic battle.

Van Barneveld beat Price twice during last month’s Grand Slam of Darts tournament, where he edged the final leg in the group stage before losing 16-13 in the quarter-finals as two-time world champion Part expected the Welshman to face yet another tough test.

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Gerwyn Price and Raymond van Barneveld face off on the first day at Ally Pally after the Christmas break.

“Price wants to make things right as far as he can see,” Part said Sky Sports. “He needs to fix it, and you can’t just lose to the legendary characters of the past or be sidelined by them in the present!

“He could leave the tournament because of this and it would be very expensive for him in the rankings at this point. Price will have to figure all that out and it will be exciting.

“Van Barneveld is a legend of the game. The thought of him making a run to, say, the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and possibly another world title if he gets that close would be really exciting and we know he can.

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Raymond van Barneveld reflected on his illustrious career ahead of his 30th World Darts appearance

“He’s a five-time world champion and he’s very familiar and comfortable with the set formats. If it wasn’t enough that he beat him in match style at the Grand Slam, he also feels at home. even more of an advantage because he’s shown that he loves sets.”

Who else is playing after Christmas?

Tuesday, December 27
Afternoon session (12:30 p.m.)
3x third round
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Nathan Aspinall vs Josh Rock
Jonny Clayton vs Brendan Dolan

Evening session (19:00)
3x third round
Jim Williams vs Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price v Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright vs. Kim Huybrechts

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John Part reflects on Peter Wright’s opening win against Mickey Mansell and his hopes of defending his World Darts Championship.

Wednesday, December 28
Afternoon session (12:30 p.m.)
3x third round
Ryan Searle vs Jose de Sousa
Danny Noppert vs. Alan Soutar
Gary Anderson vs Chris Dobey

Evening session (19:00)
3x third round
Joe Cullen vs Damon Heavy
Michael van Gerwen vs Mensur Suljovic
Michael Smith vs Martin Schindler

Thursday December 29
Afternoon session (12:30 p.m.)
3x third round
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Ross Smith
Rob Cross vs Mervyn King
Dave Chisnall vs Stephen Bunting

Evening session (19:00)
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 – until the final on January 3. The show continues on Tuesday 27 December from midday on Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports Main Event, before the evening session from 7pm.