World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Day 12 preview and order of play
Round Three draws to a close at the World Darts Championship on Thursday, as the Last 16 gets under way at Alexandra Palace.
The sport’s most prestigious event is entering its business end as the top seeds aim to remain in contention for the Sid Waddell Trophy and £500,000 winner’s cheque.
Four places in the Fourth Round remain up for grabs on Day 12, before the evening session plays host to the opening two Last 16 ties.
Two of the most prolific 180 hitters on planet darts face off in the opening game of the day as Dirk van Duijvenbode meets Ross Smith.
The power-scoring pair collide in the Last 32 for the second successive year at Ally Pally, with Smith bidding to avenge his heartbreak last time out when he let a 3-0 lead slip in an eventual 4-3 defeat.
Fast forward 12 months and Smith is now a major champion, having triumphed at October’s European Championship to storm to the verge of a place in the world’s top 16.
A blistering opening salvo from ‘Smudger’ saw him average 101 in a 3-1 win over Darius Labanauskas before Christmas and a further win here would see him break new ground in his sixth World Championship appearance.
Van Duijvenbode enjoyed a breakthrough run to the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix has gone from strength-to-strength since, picking up three ranking titles and finishing runner-up in a further two televised events, including this year’s Dutch Darts Masters on home soil.
Semi-finalist in October’s European Championship, the lively Dutchman reached the Last Eight here two years ago and survived a huge scare in his opening match before Christmas, edging out Karel Sedlacek in a tie break set after the Czech had missed a match dart.
Rob Cross, the 2018 World Champion, steps up his quest for a second crown with a tie against former semi-finalist Mervyn King.
Cross famously lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy at the first attempt with victory over departing legend Phil Taylor in the final and has gone on to win the World Matchplay and two European Championship titles.
The world number six warmed up for the main event of the year by finishing runner-up to Michael van Gerwen in last month’s Players Championship Finals, having also reached three European Tour finals this season and picked up a brace of Players Championship titles.
Voltage, who came from a set down to defeat his close friend Scott Williams 3-1 in Round Two, faces another tough test from former World Master King – an ever-present at Ally Pally who enjoyed a superb run to the Quarter-Finals 12 months ago.
A familiar all-St Helens clash sees Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting go head-to-head for the third time in a televised tournament this season.
Chisnall has incredibly recorded back-to-back 6-0 whitewashes of ‘The Bullet’ at The Masters and European Championship, going on to reach the final of the former before losing out to Joe Cullen.
Chisnall, an ever-present at Ally Pally over the past decade, came closest to glory two years ago when he reached the Semi-Finals behind closed doors and started his latest campaign by coming from a set behind to defeat Andrew Gilding 3-1 with a 97.8 average.
Bunting’s best run here also came in 2021 when he reached the Semi-Finals before being denied by eventual champion Gerwyn Price.
The former Lakeside Champion similarly recovered from losing the first set to defeat North American champion Leonard Gates 3-1 in his opener before Christmas.
The final match of the Third Round sees fifth seed Luke Humphries take on world number 28 Vincent van der Voort.
Humphries is enjoying his highest ever ranking position and has had a superb end to the season which has seen him reach the Semi-Finals of both the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals last month.
Quarter-finalist in three of his last four World Championship appearances and a winner of four European Tour titles this year, Humphries opened up with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Florian Hempel and will be eyeing an improvement on his match average of 91.
Former UK Open finalist Van der Voort has been an ever-present at Ally Pally since 2008 and has twice reached the Quarter-Finals.
The rapid Dutchman’s highlight of the season so far saw him make the Semi-Finals of the Czech Darts Open, and he ran out a convincing straight sets winner over debutant Cameron Menzies in Round Two.
Top seed Gerwyn Price aims to become the first man through to the Quarter-Finals on New Year’s Day when he comes up against comeback king Jose de Sousa.
Price is under huge pressure to defend the £500,000 title-winning prize money from 2021 against his world ranking in order to avoid dropping as low as fourth.
Runner-up in this year’s World Matchplay and winner of the World Series Finals, the Welshman came from a set down to defeat Luke Woodhouse with a crucial 150 checkout along the way, before brushing aside his recent nemesis Raymond van Barneveld in four consecutive sets on Tuesday.
The Ice Man has reached at least the Quarter-Final stage in each of his last three World Championship campaigns but has lost four of his seven previous meetings with De Sousa.
De Sousa has twice battled back from the brink to keep his world title dream alive, firstly recovering from two sets down to defeat Simon Whitlock 3-2, before staging a remarkable fightback from 3-0 down to stun Ryan Searle on Wednesday afternoon.
The former Grand Slam champion finds himself at this stage of the competition for the first time in six attempts and is bidding to tear up the script and continue his landmark run.
Another mouth-watering encounter sees former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton take on the sport’s brightest new star – Josh Rock.
Clayton racked up four televised titles in a landmark 2021, but has been thwarted at the Semi-Final hurdle in four TV tournaments this season, including last month’s Players Championship Finals.
The tenacious Welshman finished top of this year’s Premier League table before bowing out in the play-offs, but did claim glory at the New South Wales Masters in August – his sole title in 2022.
An impressive opening salvo saw ‘The Ferret’ brush aside Dutch debutant Danny van Trijp in straight sets with a 99.6 average, before overcoming Brendan Dolan 4-1 in a close-run contest which saw all five sets go the distance.
Rock, meanwhile, has enjoyed a dream World Championship debut so far, defeating Jose Justicia 3-1 and Callan Rydz 3-0, before holding his nerve in an epic tussle to knock out tenth seed Nathan Aspinall 4-3 earlier in the week.
The 21-year-old has had a remarkable first season on the PDC circuit, picking up a Players Championship title, as well as the World Youth crown and five Development Tour triumphs, and is now guaranteed to climb at least 11 places in the Order of Merit to 36th as a result of his run here.
Rock, who defeated Clayton on the Euro Tour this season, is one of only two unseeded players left standing in the competition has been installed as fourth favourite to claim a fairy-tale debut world title.
The action commences from 12.30pm GMT, with all matches to be contested over the best seven sets, best of five legs per set.
Deciding sets 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 2022/23 Day 12 Schedule
Thursday December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ross Smith (R3)
Rob Cross v Mervyn King (R3)
Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting (R3)
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Luke Humphries v Vincent van der Voort (R3)
Gerwyn Price v Jose de Sousa (R4)
Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock (R4)
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