Two-time champion Gary Anderson wins a barnstormer I Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship – live on Sky Sports Darts. We’re back on Friday for the last double session before Christmas at 12.30pm and 7pm with Rob Cross, Jonny Clayton and Joe Cullen in action
By Raz Mirza at Alexandra Palace and Ali Stafford
Last Updated: 23/12/22 1:14am
Gary Anderson was forced to produce some top-notch darts in fending off Madars Razma in his opening match at the World Darts Championship
Two-time world champion Gary Anderson fended off Madars Razma to seal a 3-1 victory on his 52nd birthday, while Dirk van Duijvenbode narrowly missed out on a nine-dart finish as he came through a deciding set thriller.
Anderson showed why he’s 2015 and 2016 champion at Alexandra Palace after edging out treble 19 hitting maestro Razma to reach the third round.
Dutchman Van Duijvenbode came close to landing perfection after he survived a match dart and a final-set tie-break to make it through against Czech Karel Sedlacek, while four-time semi-finalist James Wade saw his hopes ended with a shock 3-2 defeat against Welshman Jim Williams.
Thursday, December 22 – Evening Results
| Gary Anderson | 3-2 | Madars Razma (R2) |
| James Wade | 2-3 | Jim Williams (R2) |
| Luke Humphries | 3-2 | Florian Hempel (R2) |
| Vincent van der Voort | 3-0 | Cameron Menzies (R2) |
Here’s all SIX ton-plus checkouts from Anderson’s rip-roaring win against Razma
Anderson, who last suffered a first-round exit here back in 2010 to Ronnie Baxter, took out an early ton as he averaged 105, but still only won the opening set 3-2.
Latvian ‘Razmatazz’ made it a level-game after pinning consecutive ton-plus finishes of 121 on the bullseye and 134.
He eclipsed both those checkouts to break his opponent with a magical 154 on tops, but the veteran Scot hit back with a 15-darter before sneaking one into double 4 after Razma squandered four darts to seal the third set.
‘The Flying Scotman’ reflected on his hard-fought victory over Razma with Michael Bridge
With Razma handing out far too many birthday presents to Anderson, the former world champion eventually got the win with his sixth match dart, sinking an exquisite 110 finish.
“World No 1 or ranked 128, I don’t care, at the end of the day you’ve still got to beat me and that’s the way it goes,” said Anderson.
“Madars Razma was a serious threat in that match but Gary Anderson got there in the end and he can take a lot of positives away. Maybe he needs to be a bit more clinical but he hasn’t played a lot of TV games and that was quite evident. It was a real good job from Anderson in the end. He’ll be satisfied with that.”
Mark Webster on Gary Anderson
Jim Williams dumped out multiple major winner James Wade in a shock at the Worlds
Former Lakeside finalist Williams pulled off a stunning 3-2 victory over eighth seed Wade to move into the third round of the tournament for the first time where he will meet German Gabriel Clemens.
The Welshman displayed prowess on the double, firing 107 and 119 along the way to knocking out ‘The Machine’.
Humphries was relieved to find a way to get over the line against Hempel
Fifth seed Luke Humphries was forced to dig deep but ‘Cool Hand’ found a way to record a 3-2 victory over German star Florian Hempel with the aid of seven 180s despite 29 missed doubles.
“I felt really good up there but it just wasn’t happening for me,” said Humphries. “I was lucky to get over the line in the end. It was tough. I played nowhere near like I can but I’m through to the next round.”
Menzies was quick to show his opponent Van der Voort all the love before Christmas
Vincent van der Voort was in red-hot form as ‘The Dutch Destroyer’ hammered Cameron Menzies 3-0 to make it through to a meeting with Humphries next Thursday.
The rapid-fire 47-year-old averaged 90.78, struck 12 140s and finished with 56 per cent on the doubles in a fine display.
Thursday, December 22 – Afternoon Results
| Krzysztof Ratajski | 3-1 | Danny Jansen (R2) |
| Ryan Searle | 3-0 | Adam Gawlas (R2) |
| Mensur Suljovic | 3-0 | Mike De Decker (R2) |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode | 3-2 | Karel Sedlacek (R2) |
DVD so close to nine-dart heaven
Dirk van Duijvenbode rose to prominence with a remarkable run to the World Grand Prix final in 2020
‘The Titan’ Van Duijvenbode reached the last 32 at Ally Pally – but only just – as he came from 2-1 down to edge out Sedlacek in an afternoon epic.
The world No 14 raced through the opening set with a stunning 108 average but squandered a string of missed double attempts to allow an early break in the second from Sedlacek, who sealed the set with a 13-dart leg.
Sedlacek claimed a final-leg victory in the third before Van Duijvenbode bounced back to win the next and take the contest to a decider in which ‘Aubergenius’ fired eight perfect darts then narrowly dipped low of the D12 target in pursuit of the first nine-darter of this year’s tournament.
It was pure agony for Van Duijvenbode, who threw eight perfect darts before missing double 12 in his nine-dart attempt against Karel Sedlacek
Van Duijevenbode settled for a 10-dart leg and took advantage of a missed match dart on bullseye from Sedlacek to move the match to extra legs, where he rattled off 14 and 15-darters to secure a meeting with Ross Smith or Darius Labanauskas after Christmas.
“Yeah, I thought it [the nine-dart leg] was going in when it left my hand,” Van Duijvenbode admitted. “Sometimes you miss a nine-darter and you just know it’s not in and I threw it and thought ‘this is in’, but it wasn’t.”
“I barely recovered from the first set, where he came out with a 108 average and completely stormed the stage. We never expected it to be into a tie-break at the end of it all there! There was an absolute mirage of 180 and at one point he hit three in a row, one before the nine-dart attempt and then two inside the attempt. He missed a double for it and really, the amazing thing was he still could have lost after it and was in a bad position. He was incredibly pumped up and he dealt with it in the end, but it was a really tough grind for Dirk!”
John Part on Dirk van Duijvenbode
Mensur Suljovic claimed a straight-sets victory over Mike de Decker to book a third-round meeting with Michael van Gerwen, while Ryan Searle claimed a 3-0 victory over Adam Gawlas and will now play Jose de Sousa on December 28.
“Van Gerwen is favourite every time. I saw him on TV against Lewy Williams and he played brilliantly. The second set was fantastic but every game is different. I hope I can pressure him,” said Austrian star, Suljovic. “I like Michael – he’s my friend. I want to play my game, not his game. I have a good feeling.”
Ryan Searle missed a match dart before Adam Gawlas brilliantly took out 150 to keep his hopes alive
Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski also reached the third round after defeating Danny Jansen 3-1, booking him a meeting with dancing Dimitri van den Bergh.
Here’s a round-up from a superb afternoon session at the World Darts Championship
Friday at Ally Pally
Joe Cullen takes on Fallon Sherrock’s conqueror ‘Rapid’ Ricky Evans on Friday night before the Christmas break
The second round concludes across two sessions with 2018 world champion Rob Cross, seventh seed Jonny Clayton and Masters champion Joe Cullen among the high-profile names in action.
Friday, December 23 – Afternoon Fixtures (1230 GMT)
| Brendan Dolan | vs | Jimmy Hendriks (R2) |
| Chris Dobey | vs | Martijn Kleermaker (R2) |
| Ross Smith | vs | Darius Labanauskas (R2) |
| Rob Cross | vs | Scott Williams (R2) |
Friday, December 23 – Evening Fixtures (1900 GMT)
| Martin Schindler | vs | Martin Lukeman (R2) |
| Danny Noppert | vs | David Cameron (R2) |
| Jonny Clayton | vs | Danny Van Trijp (R2) |
| Joe Cullen | vs | Ricky Evans (R2) |
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place from January 1-3.
Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship – live on Sky Sports Darts – all the way through to the final on January 3.
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