World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Day Ten preview and order of play
The World Darts Championship resumes on Tuesday as the Third Round action gets under way at Alexandra Palace.
Sixty-four players departed the sport’s show-piece event prior to the Christmas break, leaving 32 to compete for the illustrious Sid Waddell trophy and £500,000 top prize.
Just three seeds were sent packing in the Second Round, the fewest since the event was expanded to a 96-player field, meaning a host of star names will collide in the Last 32.
A gripping double-header at Ally Pally commences with a tie between former World Matchplay champion Dimitri van den Bergh and Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski.
Van den Bergh notably recovered from 6-2 down to defeat Ratajski 17-9 in last year’s World Matchplay Semi-Finals and atoned for last year’s shock early exit here by thrashing Lourence Ilagan for the loss of just two legs in his opener.
The Belgian ace is the number 15 seed, having reached the Semi-Finals of the Matchplay for the third consecutive year, while also finishing runner-up in two European Tour events.
He also picked up a brace of World Series titles earlier this year and has twice reached the Quarter-Finals at Ally Pally, but now faces a tough assignment against the unflappable ‘Polish Eagle.’
Ratajski, winner of eight PDC ranking titles, reached the Quarter-Finals of the World Championship two years ago and is looking to put a below-par season behind him, having made just one European Tour Quarter-Final and failed to progress beyond the Last 16 stage of a televised ranking tournament.
A mouth-watering encounter sees Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock go head-to-head in a repeat of their recent European Championship clash.
Rock prevailed 6-5 on that occasion and the Northern Irish youngster has coasted into the Third Round on his World Championship debut, defeating Jose Justicia 3-1 and Callan Rydz 3-0.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed 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, storming into the world’s top 40 in the process.
Aspinall has put his recent injury woes behind him in a remarkable resurgence this year, finishing runner-up in both the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam, while also scooping two Players Championship titles.
The Stockport star was a back-to-back semi-finalist in his first two appearances at Ally Pally in 2019 and 2020, and defeated Boris Krcmar 3-1 to maintain his record of having never lost his opening match in five consecutive World Championship campaigns.
The afternoon session also sees world number seven Jonny Clayton take on former World Grand Prix finalist Brendan Dolan.
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.
Dolan has been an ever-present in the World Championship since 2009, with his best run to date coming in 2019 when he reached the Quarter-Finals.
The 49-year-old has claimed a Players Championship title in each of the last two seasons and ended a run of four consecutive opening round exits in televised ranking tournaments this season by dispatching Jimmy Hendriks 3-1 on Friday.
The evening session centres around a box office battle between world number one Gerwyn Price and five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.
The pair met twice in last month’s Grand Slam of Darts, with Van Barneveld claiming a narrow 5-4 win in the Group Stage before pulling off a sensational comeback from 8-3 down to prevail 16-13 in the Quarter-Finals and end Price’s reign as champion.
Price has his sights set on revenge as the decorated duo meet on the sport’s biggest stage for the first time, and the Welshman is under 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.
Price, runner-up in this year’s World Matchplay and winner of the World Series Finals, came from a set down to defeat Luke Woodhouse in Round Two with a crucial 150 checkout along the way.
Van Barneveld finds himself in the Last 32 for the first time since the 2017/18 event after also recovering from losing the opening set to defeat Ryan Meikle 3-1.
Crowd favourite Barney, winner of six PDC major titles, retired from the sport in 2019 but returned to the tour in 2021, winning a Players Championship event and working his way back into the world’s top 32 this year after a magnificent run to the Semi-Finals of the recent Grand Slam.
Reigning champion Peter Wright steps up the defence of his world title with a show-down against Kim Huybrechts.
Wright has lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy in two of his last three visits to Ally Pally and has had to wait 12 days for his return to action, having defeated Mickey Mansell in straight sets on the opening night of the competition.
Snakebite’s best run in a televised ranking tournament so far this season saw him reach the Semi-Finals of October’s World Grand Prix, having finished fifth in the Premier League and made the Quarter-Finals of the World Matchplay and European Championship.
The world number two has won 21 of his 24 previous meetings with Huybrechts, most recently at the World Grand Prix, though ‘The Hurricane’ did sweep aside the Scot 6-0 with a 107 average on the ProTour earlier this year.
Huybrechts dropped just one leg in a straight sets rout of South African qualifier Grant Sampson on Day Two of the competition and is vying to avoid a fourth exit at this stage of the event in his last five appearances.
German number one Gabriel Clemens aims to end the landmark run of former BDO world finalist Jim Williams in the opening match of the evening.
Clemens reached the final of a Players Championship event in July but has endured a torrid spell in front of the TV cameras, losing in the opening round of his last five televised ranking tournaments coming into the World Championship.
However, he returned to form in style by dismantling William O’Connor in straight sets with a 95.6 average to reach Round Three for the third straight year.
Williams, making only his second PDC World Championship appearance, has already contested the maximum ten sets en route to this stage, edging past Poland’s Sebastian Białecki before holding his nerve to dump out eighth seed James Wade in a decider for a famous scalp.
The action commences from 12.30pm GMT, with Third Round 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 Ten Schedule
Tuesday December 27
Third Round
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Dimitri van den Bergh v Krzysztof Ratajski
Nathan Aspinall v Josh Rock
Jonny Clayton v Brendan Dolan
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Jim Williams v Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price v Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright v Kim Huybrechts
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