Matt Campbell dumps James Wade out of the World Championship as Van Gerwen breezes past Barry

Matt Campbell sent James Wade crashing out of the World Darts Championship in the Second Round on Tuesday, as Michael van Gerwen blitzed past Keane Barry.

Four-time World Championship semi-finalist Wade became the first seeded player to bow out of this year’s showpiece as he went down 3-2 to an inspired Campbell.

Canadian ace Campbell twice came from a set behind to pull off the biggest win of his career and advance to the Last 32 at Alexandra Palace for the first time.

The deciding set began with an 86 checkout from Campbell before Wade missed three darts at doubles and the Canadian took full advantage to go 2-0 up.

Wade broke back with a 13-darter, but after he failed to take out 56 in the following leg, Campbell pinned double 18 at the first time of asking to wrap up victory.

“For sure, this is the biggest win of my career so far, because of where it happened,” admitted Campbell.

“I’d never won on the Ally Pally stage in four attempts before this year so this tournament has been huge for me.

“I think winning my first game against Lourence [Ilagan] helped me win this game because it got the monkey off my back.

“Now I’m looking forward to enjoying Christmas and seeing how far I can go in this tournament.”

Three-time World Champion Van Gerwen was the headline act on Day Five, and he dropped just two legs in a dominant display over Barry, with the Irish youngster left to rue 14 missed darts at doubles.

Van Gerwen averaged 98 and converted 60 per cent of his attempts at doubles, including a roof-raising 167 checkout as he progressed to Round Three.

“I’m happy to win my first game, and I’m happy with how I focussed today,” said Van Gerwen.

“I’m pleased with my finishing but I could’ve done a lot more and I’m a little bit disappointed with my scoring.

“There’s a lot of pressure on me and all the top players not to lose your first game; you don’t want to let yourself down and you have to fight for every leg.

“I’m just happy to be coming back after Christmas and hopefully I can show what I can do.”

Steve Beaton got his 23rd PDC World Championship off to a winning start as he secured a 3-1 success over Dutch youngster Wessel Nijman.

The evergreen Beaton produced a commanding display, raising the roof with a 123 checkout on his way to winning the opening set, before winning the set two decider with a 14-darter to double his lead.

Debutant Nijman’s response was immediate as he impressively reeled off three successive legs to win the third set and halve the deficit.

The second leg of set four saw both players leave a double after nine darts, and though Nijman won the leg to take a 2-0 lead, Beaton reeled off a trio of legs to book a Second Round meeting with Daryl Gurney.

“I think that was one of my best World Championship performances for a while,” said Beaton.

“It was a really tough game, Wessel came out firing and I thought ‘I’m in trouble here’, but thankfully I found some good shots at the right times.

“I think playing a tough game first sets me up nicely for my next game.

“I still get the same buzz after all these years, playing in front of that crowd is unbelievable with the support I get.”

Beaton, who will turn 60 next year, also revealed 2024 is likely to be his last full season on the PDC circuit, adding: “I think next year will definitely be my last.

“However this tournament goes, I’m 60 next year, it’s a gruelling circuit, I’ve been married 30-odd years and my wife hardly sees me – I’m only at home half of the year.

“People don’t understand how much you have to do to carry on with the darts. It’s great if you’re a youngster and I’d have loved it when I was 21, but it’s quite draining and it would nice to spend some time at home.”

Elsewhere, Japan’s Tomoya Goto enjoyed a dream Ally Pally debut as he dispatched of former World Championship quarter-finalist Ian White 3-1.

Goto, a winner of two PDC Asian Tour titles in 2023, took little time in settling onto the sport’s biggest stage as he took the opening two sets.

White, who was also battling to keep his PDC Tour Card for 2024, rallied and took the third set, but was whitewashed by Goto in the fourth as the 27-year-old sealed his passage to Round Two, where Ryan Searle awaits.

German debutant Ricardo Pietreczko dropped just one leg in a straights rout of Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki, ending female hopes in this year’s tournament.

Pietreczko, winner of the German Championship, marked his Ally Pally debut with an assured display, averaging 92.3 with 50 per cent on the doubles and two ton-plus finishes.

Jeffrey de Graaf registered his first win at the World Championship, battling back from 2-0 down to deny Ritchie Edhouse in a decider.

A hard-fought contest saw all of the first four sets go to last-leg deciders, as Edhouse missed a dart at tops to win 3-0.

De Graaf, representing Sweden for the first time in a World Championship, produced a magnificent fightback, winning another set decider in the fourth before finishing the stronger of the pair to seal his place in Round Two – where he will take on Jose de Sousa.

Mike De Decker impressed in a 3-0 defeat of Dragutin Horvat as the Belgian progressed to the Second Round for the second successive year.

De Decker averaged 11 points more than his German counterpart as he breezed through with a 94.3 average, four 180s and three ton-plus checkouts.

Croatia’s Boris Krcmar also reached Round Two for the second year running after a 3-1 victory over a struggling Keegan Brown.

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World Darts Championship 2023/24 Day Five Results

Tuesday December 19

Afternoon Session
Ian White 1-3 Tomoya Goto (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse 2-3 Jeffrey de Graaf (R1)
Keegan Brown 1-3 Boris Krcmar (R1)
James Wade 2-3 Matt Campbell (R2)

Evening Session
Steve Beaton 3-1 Wessel Nijman (R1)
Mike De Decker 3-0 Dragutin Horvat (R1)
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-0 Mikuru Suzuki (R1)
Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Keane Barry (R2)