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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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Jeffrey De Graaf dumps out Gary Anderson on day of upsets at the World Darts Championship

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

Jamie Shaw in World Darts Championship 23 Dec 2024

Rob Cross reacts (Photo by PDC)

The Second Round action draws to a close at the World Darts Championship on Monday as a host of big hitters look to book their place in the business end of the tournament.

Eleven seeds have already departed the Alexandra Palace, and eight more will look to avoid joining that unwanted list on the final day of pre-Christmas action.

One of a number of mouth-watering ties on Monday sees 2018 World Champion Rob Cross take on his close friend and stablemate Scott Williams.

The pair meet on the sport’s greatest stage for the second time in three years, with Cross having prevailed 3-1 at this stage of the competition in 2022.

Cross enjoyed a superb run to the semi-finals last time out, including a remarkable comeback win over Chris Dobey from 4-0 down on New Year’s Day, but he has not made it beyond the quarter-finals of a televised ranking tournament since.

Williams also embarked on a ground-breaking run to the semis at Ally Pally last year, thrashing Michael van Gerwen along the way, and marked his return with an impressive 3-1 win over German debutant Niko Springer.

The evening session also sees sixth seed Dave Chisnall open up with a clash against crowd favourite Ricky Evans.

Chisnall has enjoyed a superb season away from the TV cameras, picking up a brace of European Tour and Players Championship titles, but has failed to make it beyond the Last 16 stage of a televised ranking major.

World Championship semi-finalist in 2020/21, Chisnall reached the quarter-finals last year for the fourth time and will be hoping to hit the ground running on his return.

Evans, a semi-final at the UK Open in March, famously dumped out Nathan Aspinall on this day 12 months ago and began his latest campaign by edging out Australia’s Gordon Mathers in a deciding set.

Gian van Veen, the 28th seed, begins his second World Championship campaign with a tie against former German Championship winner Ricardo Pietreczko.

Van Veen suffered a shock First Round exit to Man Lok Leung on debut here 12 months ago but has featured in every ranked major this season, reaching the quarter-finals of the European Championship, while also winning the World Youth Championship.

The Dutch youngster has lost in the opening round of four of his last five televised ranking tournaments and faces a tricky opener against a player with known pedigree on this stage.

Pietreczko came close to pulling off a huge upset here last year when he led Luke Humphries 3-1 in their Third Round contest, before eventually going down in a deciding set.

Runner-up in this season’s Flanders Darts Trophy, ‘Pikachu’ brushed aside China’s Xiaochen Zong in straight sets last week but will be keen to improve on his match average of 88.

Meanwhile, two-time major winner Daryl Gurney faces German ace Florian Hempel.

World number 26 Gurney has reached the quarter-finals at Ally Pally on two previous occasions and was a semi-finalist in this year’s German Darts Championship, but has failed to progress beyond the Last 16 stage of a ranked major in 2024.

Hempel is bidding to reach the Third Round for the third time in four years and began by dispatching Jeffrey De Zwaan 3-1 last week.

The afternoon session sees former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton take on recent Grand Slam semi-finalist Mickey Mansell.

Clayton returns for his ninth World Championship campaign as the number seven seed, having finished runner-up in this year’s Dutch Championship, while also picking up a ProTour title.

The two-time World Cup of Darts winner has not lost his opening match at Ally Pally since the 2018/19 event but is tasked with a tough opener against the methodical Northern Irishman.

Mansell enjoyed a remarkable run to the semi-finals of a major for the first time in 14 years of competing in the PDC when he broke new ground in Wolverhampton, and the 51-year-old is now eyeing another slice of personal history by booking his place in the Third Round of the World Championship for the first time.

Josh Rock, the number 18 seed, opens up against Welsh debutant Rhys Griffin, with Chris Dobey awaiting the winner after Christmas.

Rock claimed his first European Tour title at the Dutch Championship earlier this year and added a further two Players Championship titles to his CV.

He makes his third World Championship appearance and will be looking to atone for last year’s early exit at the hands of Berry van Peer in Round Two.

After coming through the Tour Card holder qualifier, Griffin enjoyed a dream bow on the Ally Pally stage on Saturday by thrashing Karel Sedlacek in straight sets with the aid of eight 180s.

Former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding takes on Grand Slam of Darts runner-up Martin Lukeman in another intriguing clash.

Gilding, the number 21 seed, is vying to reach the Third Round at Ally Pally for the first time in six attempts, having most recently lost out to Luke Littler 12 months ago.

Lukeman embarked on a career-changing run to the final of last month’s Grand Slam and is out to transfer that form onto the biggest stage of all – where he has suffered successive Second Round exits.

The opening match of the day sees 31st seed Krzysztof Ratajski looking to avoid a potential banana skin at the hands of debutant qualifier Alexis Toylo.

Ratajski, quarter-finalist behind closed doors in 2020/21, has endured a quiet season by his standards, failing to qualify for the World Grand Prix, European Championship and Grand Slam, with his best runs coming on the floor – where he reached two ProTour semi-finals.

Toylo pulled off a straight sets scalp of Richard Veenstra to mark a dream debut earlier in the week and is bidding to follow in the footsteps of Filipino compatriot Paolo Nebrida – who stunned Ross Smith last night to reach Round Three.

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 Nine Schedule

Monday December 23

Second Round

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-5pm)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo
Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman
Josh Rock v Rhys Griffin
Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko
Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel
Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans
Rob Cross v Scott Williams

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