Live Darts on Friday: World Darts Championship Day Eight Preview and Order of Play

The Second Round action continues at the World Darts Championship on Friday as a clutch of star names begin their campaigns at Alexandra Palace.

The penultimate day of pre-Christmas action features eight unmissable ties across two sessions, with five former major winners among the line-up.

Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld starts his 17th PDC World Championship with a tie against Poland’s Radek Szaganski.

Having won four Lakeside world titles, Van Barneveld lifted the sport’s ultimate prize in 2007 when he defeated rival Phil Taylor in a classic sudden death final at the Circus Tavern.

The Dutch legend made the final at Ally Pally in 2009, with Taylor exacting his revenge, but he went on to win the Grand Slam and Premier League among a host of other titles and remains among the elite at the age of 56.

Van Barneveld, semi-finalist at the Grand Slam in 2022, is seeded 29th in this year’s draw but has endured a torrid year in front of the TV cameras, suffering First Round exits in his last five consecutive ranked majors.

Standing in the way of crowd favourite Barney and a place in the Last 32 is Szaganski – who could climb into the world’s top 64 if he can pull off an upset here.

Szaganski was a shock winner of a Players Championship event in October and battled his way to a 3-2 victory over Finland’s Marko Kantele in Round One earlier in the week.

The evening session also sees former World Matchplay champion and Premier League star Dimitri van den Bergh take on German nemesis Florian Hempel.

Van den Bergh was famously beaten by Hempel at this stage of the competition two years ago and will be eyeing revenge as he bids to replicate last year’s landmark run to the Semi-Finals.

The Belgian number one has also reached the semis of the UK Open this year, but has not been beyond the Last 16 stage of a ranked TV major since.

Former handball player Hempel opened up with a 3-1 success over Irish youngster Dylan Slevin and will once again be backed by a strong German contingent in the crowd at Ally Pally.

The final match of the night sees Masters champion Chris Dobey take on former World Cup of Darts finalist William O’Connor.

Dobey is making his eighth consecutive World Championship appearance, having reached the Quarter-Finals last year for the first time, and the Bedlington ace has enjoyed a memorable 2023.

He landed his maiden TV title at The Masters back in January, securing a debut spot in the Premier League, as well as reaching the Quarter-Finals of the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championship.

O’Connor, meanwhile, is vying to reach the Last 32 at Ally Pally for the third time in seven attempts, having reeled off nine unanswered legs to whitewash Indian qualifier Bhav Patel in Round One.

German number two Martin Schindler opens up with a clash against quick-fire Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena, with Scott Williams awaiting the winner.

Schindler has enjoyed a solid season to date, reaching the Semi-Finals of a European Tour event as well as the Quarter-Finals of the UK Open and World Grand Prix, and he is looking to equal last year’s landmark run to the Third Round – where he was narrowly beaten 4-3 by eventual champion Michael Smith.

Wattimena held his nerve to close out a 3-1 victory over Fallon Sherrock in Round One and is now targeting a place in the Third Round for only the third time in ten attempts.

The afternoon session features a showdown between Northern Irish duo Brendan Dolan and Mickey Mansell.

The former World Cup of Darts teammates collide in the day’s opener for the right to take on 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price in Round Three.

Dolan, quarter-finalist here in 2018/19, has been an ever-present in the World Championship for 15 years and has competed in every televised major this year, notably knocking Michael van Gerwen out of the World Matchplay.

Mansell swept past China’s Xiaochen Zong in straight sets on Thursday, and the former ProTour event winner is out to deny his close friend and progress to the Last 32 of the sport’s showpiece for the first time.

Former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa starts out with a tie against Swedish qualifier Jeffrey De Graaf.

De Sousa, the number 25 seed, reached the Last 16 here 12 months ago, going down 4-1 to Price and will be determined to put a torrid season behind him, having suffered First Round exits in three of his five TV ranking major appearances.

Dutch-born De Graaf qualified courtesy of his exploits on the Nordic & Baltic tour, and the former BDO World Trophy finalist earned his first win on the Ally Pally stage at the third time of asking when he recovered from two sets down to stun Ritchie Edhouse.

Dirk van Duijvenbode aims to put his injury hell behind him and return to winning ways on the big stage when he meets Croatian number one Boris Krcmar.

It has been a season of two halves for for Van Duijvenbode – who stormed to a hat-trick of Players Championship titles between February and April and finished runner-up in two European Tour events, before suffering a serious shoulder injury which has left him struggling to throw.

The popular Dutchman, a quarter-finalist here in 2020/21, has lost in the opening round of his last four televised ranking majors and faces a dangerous opponent riding the crest of a wave after registering his first win at Ally Pally.

Krcmar hit back from a set down to defeat Keegan Brown 3-1 with three 180s and two ton-plus finishes and will look to show no mercy against his hampered opponent here.

Krzysztof Ratajski, the number 24 seed, kicks off his World Championship quest with a tie against former Czech Open winner Jamie Hughes.

Ratajski, a winner of ten PDC ranking titles, is Poland’s most successful darter of all-time and added the German Open title and a Players Championship to his haul this season.

Quarter-finalist here behind closed doors in 2020/21, Ratajski will look to hit the ground running against two-time Lakeside semi-finalist Hughes – who emotionally ended his wait for a first win on the Ally Pally stage by defeating Canada’s David Cameron 3-1.

The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best five sets.

Matches must be won by two clear legs, unless the score reaches 5-5 in the deciding set, in which case a sudden-death leg will be played.

World Darts Championship 2023/24 Day Eight Schedule

Friday December 22

Second Round

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-5pm)
Brendan Dolan v Mickey Mansell
Jose de Sousa v Jeffrey De Graaf
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Boris Krcmar

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Florian Hempel
Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena
Raymond van Barneveld v Radek Szaganski
Chris Dobey v William O’Connor