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World Darts Championship 2024/25 | Day Nine Preview and Order of Play

World Darts Championship 2024/25 Day Eight Preview and Order of Play | Anderson begins Ally Pally campaign

Jamie Shaw in World Darts Championship 22 Dec 2024

Gary Anderson reacts (Photo by Kelly Deckers/PDC)

The Second Round action continues at the World Darts Championship on Sunday as a host of star names kick off their campaigns at Alexandra Palace.

Dutch duo Danny Noppert and Raymond van Barneveld became the latest seeded casualties to bow out before Christmas as they slumped to defeat on Saturday, and a host of other high-profile players will be out to avoid suffering a similar fate.

Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson headlines the evening’s action as he starts out against Sweden’s Jeffrey De Graaf.

World number 14 Anderson is aiming to cap off a terrific season by becoming the first Scottish player to land three world titles, having registered the highest seasonal average of the entire tour at 99.86.

The Flying Scotsman, who triumphed here in 2015 and 2016, has racked up 51 match wins at Ally Pally, a tally bettered only by Michael van Gerwen.

A three-time PDC ranking event winner in 2024, Anderson faces a tricky opener against De Graaf – who survived a scare from Bahamas qualifier Rashad Sweeting in Round One and is now bidding to reach the Third Round here for the second successive year.

Meanwhile, former European Champion Ross Smith opens up against Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines.

Smith has reached two European Tour finals this year as well as picking up a Players Championship title, while also reaching his second major semi-final at the Players Championship Finals last month.

Having suffered back-to-back 3-2 defeats in his opening two Ally Pally appearances, Nebrida made it third time lucky as he dumped out Jim Williams in a deciding set in Round One, continuing the form which has led him to four Asian Tour titles this year.

German number one Martin Schindler faces a formidable opener against former World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz.

Schindler has enjoyed the best year of his career to date away from the TV cameras, storming to two European Tour titles, though question marks remain over his form on the big stages, with three First Round exits in ranked majors this season.

Schindler, who has reached Round Three in consecutive visits to Ally Pally, comes up against one the stand-out performer of the opening round, with Rydz having averaged 107 in a straight sets rout of Croatia’s Romeo Grbavac.

UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh looks to avert a potential scalp at the hands of Irish left-hander Dylan Slevin.

Van den Bergh comes into his tenth World Championship as the 11th seed but is under pressure to defend his semi-final prize money from two years ago.

The Belgian picked up his second major title in Minehead back in March and has also reached the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix, Masters and World Cup of Darts.

Slevin sealed his first win on the World Championship stage at the expense of Irish compatriot William O’Connor – a result which carried him into the world’s top 64.

The afternoon session sees former Masters champion Joe Cullen take on emerging Dutch star Wessel Nijman in one of the stand-out ties of the round.

It was a case of what could have been for Cullen at Ally Pally 12 months ago, having lost out to eventual champion Luke Humphries in an epic sudden death tie break in the Last 16.

The former Premier League finalist has endured a below-par 2024, reaching the Austrian Open final, but managing just one televised quarter-final and subsequently dropping out of the world’s top 16.

Nijman narrowly avoided a huge upset in Round One as he edged out South Africa’s Cameron Carolissen in a deciding set to earn his first win at the World Championship.

The seven-time Development Tour winner in 2024 has also claimed his first Players Championship title and has been installed as fifth favourite to claim a remarkable triumph in only his second Ally Pally appearance.

Reigning European Champion Ritchie Edhouse takes on multiple ranking event winner Ian White for the right to face Luke Littler after Christmas.

Twice a semi-finalist on the ProTour this season, Edhouse caused a monumental shock when he claimed the European Championship title in October as a 250/1 rank outsider.

Edhouse is now looking to atone for successive First Round exits at Ally Pally in which he has squandered two-set leads and is seeded in the draw for the first time.

Three-time European Tour event winner White finds himself into the Second Round here for the first time since the 2021/22 event after receiving a bye following the late withdrawal of Sandro Eric Sosing due to illness.

The opening match of the afternoon sees 20th seed Ryan Searle take on Canadian number one Matt Campbell.

Searle makes his seventh consecutive World Championship appearance and is looking to maintain his perfect record having reached Round Three on each occasion.

A Players Championship event winner this season, Searle also reached a further four finals, including the Swiss Darts Trophy – where he squandered seven match darts against Schindler.

Campbell, who came through last month’s Tour Card holder qualifier, narrowly edged out Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic 3-2 in Round One with a solid 93.3 average.

Dirk van Duijvenbode, the 25th seed, opens up with a tie against Latvia’s Madars Razma for the right to face Stephen Bunting in Round Three.

Van Duijvenbode has enjoyed a welcome resurgence in 2024 following his injury nightmare last year, reaching the semi-finals of the recent Players Championship Finals and the quarter-finals of the European Championship.

Quarter-finalist here in 2020/21, the lively Dutchman remains one of the most formidable scorers on the planet and will look to utilise that trait against renowned cover-shooter Razma.

Razma reached the Third Round at Ally Pally last year and has also enjoyed runs to a semi-final on both the European Tour and ProTour this season.

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

The final set 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 2024/25 Day Eight Schedule

Sunday December 22

Second Round

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-5pm)
Ryan Searle v Matt Campbell
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma
Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman
Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz
Ross Smith v Paolo Nebrida
Gary Anderson v Jeffrey De Graaf
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dylan Slevin

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World Darts Championship 2024/25 Day Eight Preview and Order of Play | Anderson begins Ally Pally campaign

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