World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Day Three preview and order of play
A host of former major winners get their 2022/23 World Darts Championship campaigns under way at Alexandra Palace on Saturday.
The First and Second Round action continues thick and fast at the sport’s spiritual home as a clutch of decorated darters aim to avoid an early exit.
An earlier start of 11am for the opening session kicks off with a tie between debutants Martin Lukeman and Nobuhiro Yamamoto.
Lukeman has enjoyed a breakthrough year in his second campaign as a Tour Card holder, reaching the final of the German Darts Grand Prix in April and the Quarter-Finals of the World Grand Prix – his best run in a major to date.
Yamamoto, 45, won this year’s PDC Japan Championship to seal his spot in the main event and will look to catch Lukeman cold and set up a Second Round show-down with Martin Schindler.
The stand-out contest of the afternoon sees former Lakeside World Champion Richie Burnett make his return to face Czech number one Adam Gawlas.
Burnett, the 1995 BDO World Champion, is back at Ally Pally for the first time since 2014 after coming through the last-chance Tour Card holder qualifier.
The enigmatic Welshman has struggled for results and consistency since regaining a Tour Card at Qualifying School in January, mustering only £14,500 in ranking prize money and failing to progress beyond the Last 16 stage on the ProTour.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is Gawlas’ first appearance in the World Championship, having clung on to the 32nd and final ProTour qualification spot by a margin of just £250.
The 20-year-old burst onto the scene by reaching the World Youth Championship final in 2019 and has gone from strength-to-strength since, reaching two European Tour Quarter-Finals and qualifying for last month’s Grand Slam.
Former world finalist Simon Whitlock gets off and running with a clash against Christian Perez of the Philippines.
Whitlock was denied glory by Phil Taylor in the 2010 final and has been an ever-present since, reaching a further two Semi-Finals, though he has not been beyond the Fourth Round in his last eight appearances.
The 53-year-old partnered Damon Heta to World Cup glory for Australia this summer and will be determined to kick-start a climb back up the world rankings after dropping to 35th.
Whitlock met Perez in November’s Grand Slam, recovering from 2-0 down to prevail 5-3 in their group fixture and will be poised for another tricky test from the Asian qualifier – who is vying to register a first win on this stage at the fourth time of asking.
Daryl Gurney, the number 24 seed, faces a tough opening test against world number 36 Alan Soutar.
Gurney, twice a major champion, has two previous World Championship Quarter-Final appearances to his name and will look to put a relatively quiet season by his standards behind him with another strong run in the capital.
The Northern Irishman was a semi-finalist in this year’s German Darts Championship but has not been beyond the Last 16 stage of a major televised ranking tournament since last year’s Players Championship Finals.
Scottish star Soutar defeated Diogo Portela, Mensur Suljovic and Jose de Sousa during a terrific maiden campaign here 12 months ago, and after a relatively low-key season to follow, he sparked back into life with a charge to the Quarter-Finals of last month’s Grand Slam as a Tour Card holder qualifier.
He began his second Ally Pally campaign with a routine straight sets victory over Mal Cuming on Friday with two ton-plus checkouts along the way.
The evening session features the eagerly-anticipated Ally Pally debut of Josh Rock as he takes on Spain’s Jose Justicia.
Rock has enjoyed a remarkable first season on the PDC circuit, picking up a Players Championship title, as well as the World Youth crown and five Development Tour triumphs.
The 21-year-old has stormed into the world’s top 50 and comes into this event as the joint fifth favourite with the bookmakers, having landed a sensational nine-darter during an epic Second Round contest with Michael van Gerwen at the Grand Slam in which he was denied 10-4 despite an average of 104.
Rock will be aiming to put down an immediate marker by dispatching South-West Europe Qualifier Justicia – the world number 112 who regained his Tour Card at Q School in January but has struggled for results throughout the campaign.
Former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh starts out against Filipino star Lourence Ilagan.
Van den Bergh is the number 15 seed, having reached the Semi-Finals of the World Matchplay for the third consecutive year, while also finishing runner-up in two European Tour events.
The Belgian number one picked up a brace of World Series titles earlier this year and has twice reached the Quarter-Finals at Ally Pally, though he will be keen to atone for last year’s Second Round exit to Florian Hempel.
Ilagan registered his first win on the Ally Pally stage at the seventh attempt by edging out Rowby-John Rodriguez in a dramatic sudden death leg on Friday.
Ilagan led 2-0 before the Austrian pegged back to parity, but the World Cup veteran held his nerve to seal a landmark triumph and a minimum of £15,000 in prize money.
Four-time Women’s World Champion Lisa Ashton seeks her first PDC World Championship win at the fourth attempt when she faces Suffolk star Ryan Meikle.
Ashton finished top of this year’s Women’s Series Order of Merit after racking up a magnificent seven titles and was a semi-finalist in the inaugural Women’s World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Meikle, meanwhile, is enjoying a career-high ranking of 48 after competing in three televised ranking tournaments this season and reaching the Quarter-Finals of the Hungarian Darts Trophy and the Semi-Finals of a ProTour event.
The left-hander registered his first win at the World Championship 12 months ago before going down in straight sets to eventual champion Peter Wright.
Cameron Menzies will get his first taste of the Ally Pally stage when he meets Brazil’s Diogo Portela.
Menzies was a semi-finalist in this year’s WDF World Championship at Lakeside and notably defeated Josh Rock in the recent Players Championship Finals before being defeated by eventual winner Michael van Gerwen.
The charismatic Scot comes up against a player no stranger to this stage, having featured in the last five stagings but managing just one win to date.
Portela, an ever-present in Brazil’s World Cup of Darts side, progressed through the Central/South America Qualifier, and like Menzies, knows what it takes to claim a Challenge Tour title.
The action commences from 11am GMT, with First Round and Second Round matches to be contested over the best five sets, best of five legs per set.
The tie break rule does not apply to First Round matches, meaning the fifth leg of a deciding set would be sudden death, while the final set in matches from Round Two onwards must be won by two clear legs, unless the score reaches 5-5, in which case a sudden-death leg will be played.
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World Darts Championship 2022/23 Day Three Schedule
Saturday December 17
Afternoon Session (11am-3pm)
Martin Lukeman v Nobuhiro Yamamoto (R1)
Simon Whitlock v Christian Perez (R1)
Adam Gawlas v Richie Burnett (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Alan Soutar (R2)
Evening Session (8pm-12am)
Ryan Meikle v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Diogo Portela (R1)
Josh Rock v Jose Justicia (R1)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Lourence Ilagan (R2)
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