World Darts Championship 2025/26 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play

The first round action continues at the World Darts Championship on Friday with a bumper opening double session at Alexandra Palace.

A host of major title winners aim to get their campaigns off and running in the capital, including 2018 World Champion Rob Cross – who stars in the afternoon session.

Cross enjoyed a spectacular debut here which culminated in victory over Phil Taylor to seal an historic triumph, but he returns ranked outside the world’s top 16 for the first time.

Cross finished second from bottom of the Premier League and has suffered first round exits in four of his six major ranking tournament appearances this season.

He began the season in dream fashion by claiming the Players Championship 1 title as well as the Dutch Masters, but opted to skip the majority of the remaining ProTour campaign and reached just one European Tour quarter-final.

The four-time major winner looks to atone for last year’s Last 64 exit to Scott Williams when he faces Norway’s Cor Dekker.

Dekker is making his debut as the sole Norwegian in the field, having notably enjoyed a superb run to the semi-finals of the Swiss Darts Trophy in September which included wins over Peter Wright, Chris Dobey and Jonny Clayton.

The afternoon session also features a clash of the PDC stalwarts as multiple ranking event winners Ian White and Mervyn King go head-to-head.

White, a three-time European Tour event winner, enjoyed a resurgent run to the Third Round here 12 months ago before losing out to eventual champion Luke Littler.

The 55-year-old has since reached the final of a Players Championship event but has not registered a win in a TV major since his second round success over Ritchie Edhouse here last year.

King, meanwhile, secured his return to the palace for the first time in three years after finishing fourth on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.

Semi-finalist here back in 2009, the 59-year-old dropped off the PDC tour for the first time in 14 years at the end of last season but has featured in a number of Players Championship events as a Challenge Tour top-up this season and has also claimed a Challenge Tour title.

Ryan Searle, the number 20 seed, opens up with a clash against rapid Dutch thrower Chris Landman.

Searle has reached at least the third round in each of his previous seven World Championship appearances but has never been beyond the Last 16.

The former Players Championship Finals runner-up has once again produced his best form away from the TV cameras this season, picking up two ProTour titles and reaching two European Tour quarter-finals.

Landman, the 2023 WDF World Championship runner-up, is back for a third Ally Pally appearance after notably reaching a Players Championship quarter-final this season amid a string of other consistent runs on the floor.

The afternoon’s opener sees Dutch left-hander Niels Zonneveld take on New Zealand’s Haupai Puha.

Zonneveld arrives as the third highest ranked ProTour qualifier after reaching a final and a further three semi-finals this season, and the 27-year-old is eyeing just his second win on this stage in what is his fifth appearance.

Puha came through last month’s Tour Card Holder qualifier to clinch one of the final remaining spots in the event and is targeting a first win here at the third time of asking.

Evening Session

Reigning European Champion Gian van Veen takes centre stage as he meets returning Spaniard Cristo Reyes.

An unforgettable year for Van Veen has seen him capture a first major title in Dortmund in October, climbing in to the world’s top ten for the first time, as well as picking up his first Players Championship title earlier in the season.

The 23-year-old, who also reached the quarter-finals of the UK Open and World Matchplay, makes his third appearance at the World Championship and is remarkably searching for his first win following shock early exits to Man Lok Leung and Ricardo Pietreczko.

A tricky opener for the Dutch sensation sees him face former Tour Card holder Reyes – who came through the PDCE Mediterranean Qualifier to clinch a return to the sport’s greatest stage for the first time since 2019/20.

The 38-year-old, who dropped off the tour following his most recent World Championship campaign, famously averaged 106 in his second round defeat to Michael van Gerwen here in 2016/17 – which remains the third highest losing average in the tournament’s history.

Meanwhile, former European Champion Ross Smith faces a tough opening assignment against Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson.

Smith arrives as the number 12 seed after sealing two Players Championship titles this year and finishing runner-up in the Austrian Darts Open.

However, ‘Smudger’ has not progressed beyond the Last 16 of a televised ranking major in 2025 and will be desperate to atone for last year’s shock Last 64 exit at the hands of Paolo Nebrida in straight sets.

Harrysson finished top of the 2025 PDC Nordic & Baltic rankings after racking up four titles, and the 50-year-old is making his Ally Pally debut having also claimed a brace of Challenge Tour titles in 2024.

A mouth-watering prospect sees the resurgent Ricky Evans take on Hong Kong star Man Lok Leung.

Crowd favourite Evans is making his 11th World Championship appearance, having reached the third round in four of his last six visits to Ally Pally.

Evans enjoyed a terrific run to the quarter-finals of last month’s Grand Slam and has not lost in the opening round of this event since 2018/19.

Leung lit up Alexandra Palace last year by knocking out Van Veen in round one with a 96 average before losing out to Gabriel Clemens, and he was instrumental in Hong Kong’s run to the quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup of Darts.

The final match of the night sees Australian number one Damon Heta take on Republic of Ireland’s Steve Lennon.

A bittersweet World Championship campaign for Heta last year saw him land a sensational nine-darter for a £60,000 bonus, but ultimately go on to lose in a deciding set to Luke Woodhouse in the third round.

Heta has once again produced his best form on the ProTour, clinching two titles and finishing runner-up at the European Darts Open, but has lost in the opening round of his last five major televised tournaments.

Former World Cup finalist Lennon is embarking on his seventh World Championship campaign and has not lost in the opening round since 2019/20.

The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with first round ties to be contested over the best of five sets.

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World Darts Championship 2025/26 Day Two Schedule

Friday December 12

First Round

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-5pm)
Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
Ian White v Mervyn King
Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
Rob Cross v Cor Dekker

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
Damon Heta v Steve Lennon