World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Day Six preview and order of play
A star-studded line-up assembles at Alexandra Palace on Day Six of the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday.
Just two more sessions of First Round matches remain, while the seeded players continue to get their campaigns under way in the Second Round.
Daryl Gurney remains the only seeded casualty of the tournament so far, while a host of international qualifiers have come through their opening encounters against ProTour opposition.
A blockbuster evening session on Tuesday features the return of five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld as he takes on Ryan Meikle for a place in the Last 32.
Van Barneveld, 55, is competing in his 30th World Championship, having triumphed at Lakeside in 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2005, before defeating rival Phil Taylor in a legendary sudden death leg final to claim his first PDC world title in 2007.
Crowd favourite Barney, winner of six PDC major titles, retired from the sport in 2019 but returned to the tour in 2021, winning a Players Championship event and working his way back into the world’s top 32 this year after a magnificent run to the Semi-Finals of the recent Grand Slam.
Van Barneveld secured the 32nd and final seeded spot in the field courtesy of his run in Wolverhampton, which included a terrific comeback win over Gerwyn Price, and he is now eyeing a place in the Third Round at Ally Pally for the first time since the 2017/18 event.
The decorated Dutchman starts out against Suffolk left-hander Meikle – who battled his way to a 3-2 victory over Lisa Ashton to reach the Second Round for the second successive year.
Meikle, the world number 48, is a six-time Development Tour winner and has previously beaten Van Barneveld on the ProTour, but now looks to pull off what would be arguably the biggest win of his career so far, with top seed Gerwyn Price waiting in the wings for the winner.
Meanwhile, Fallon Sherrock returns to the scene of her historic success as she comes up against Ricky Evans in Round One.
Sherrock defeated Ted Evetts here three years ago to become the first woman to beat a male in a PDC World Championship, and went to knock out Mensur Suljovic before eventually falling to Chris Dobey in the Last 32.
Since then, Sherrock has featured in a plethora of World Series events and picked up the inaugural Women’s World Matchplay title this summer, as well as a total of ten Women’s Series titles.
She was narrowly denied by Steve Beaton in a deciding set on her return to Ally Pally 12 months ago, and faces another tough test against the quick-fire Kettering thrower.
Evans, a two-time European Tour finalist, reached the Last 16 of this year’s UK Open and has appeared in seven previous World Championships, twice losing out to Michael van Gerwen in the Third Round.
The opening match of the night sees former BDO world finalist Jim Williams take on Polish debutant Sebastian Bialecki.
Williams is making his second successive Ally Pally appearance, having lost out to Joe Cullen in a five-set epic in last year’s Second Round.
The Welshman picked up his first PDC title at Players Championship Six in March and also reached the Fourth Round of the UK Open in Minehead.
Bialecki’s best moment of the year came at the same tournament as he reached the Quarter-Finals despite being a non Tour Card holder, defeating the likes of Matt Campbell, Keegan Brown, Ian White and Ryan Searle along the way.
The 19-year-old sensation has also claimed a Development Tour title this season, as well as the Denmark Open, and was a Challenge Tour winner in 2021.
Former Czech Open champion Jamie Hughes opens up with a tie against Dutch debutant Jimmy Hendriks.
Hughes is bidding to improve on a below-par record which has seen him win just one match on this stage in three previous campaigns, and the two-time Lakeside semi-finalist has struggled for results this season amid injury problems.
Hendriks came through last month’s West Europe qualifier in Kalkar to secure a debut at Ally Pally, having competed in two previous BDO World Championships.
The 28-year-old regained a Tour Card at European Qualifying School in January and has beaten the likes of Dave Chisnall, Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan on the ProTour this term.
The action commences from 7pm 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 Six Schedule
Tuesday December 20
7.15pm Jim Williams v Sebastian Bialecki (R1)
8.15pm Jamie Hughes v Jimmy Hendriks (R1)
9.15pm Ricky Evans v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
10.15pm Raymond van Barneveld v Ryan Meikle (R2)
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