Darts results: James Wade crashes out of PDC World Championship but Gary Anderson sails through to the third round

The eighth seed, who is still yet to add the world title to his trophy collection, headed to the Alexandra Palace on the back of a largely disappointing campaign and the biggest stage of all couldn't inspire him.

Wade got off to a good enough start by taking the opening set 3-1 but the former Lakeside finalist hit back with a superb 119 checkout that sealed the second by the same scoreline.

The Welshman maintained his charge by whitewashing his wasteful opponent in the third set only for Wade to return the favour in the fourth.

The Machine couldn't maintain the momentum, however, as he struggled to find enough trebles to put pressure on Williams, who wrapped up the fifth set 3-1.

Fellow legend Gary Anderson maintained his proud record of never losing at the first hurdle in all 14 of his Ally Pally appearances but was made to work hard for his 3-1 victory over Madars Razma.

Much has been made of the Flying Scotsman's below-par season in which he failed to challenge for glory in any of the major tournaments while he also unable to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time in his career.

However, he looked a little more like his old self against Razma, averaging over 100 for a good chunk of the contest before it dipped to 96.39, while he also made his experience count by winning all three of his sets in deciding legs.

The Latvian spurned five attempts at doubles in one of those and Anderson made him pay by taking a crucial 2-1 lead en route to the third round.

The former two-time champion also threw four of the six 180s and weighed in with three 100+ checkouts - although Razma managed a trio of his own including a match high 154.

Fifth seed Luke Humphries survived a huge scare as he came from 1-0 and 2-1 down to defeat Florian Hempel.

Cool Hand has been widely tipped for a deep run at the Ally Pally following a fantastic season in which he's won five titles and produced an array of world-class performance but while he scored well enough, his double troubles put him in real danger.

Hempel had shocked Dimitri Van den Bergh at this stage of last year's World Championship and threatened to do the same to Humphries when pinching the opening set 3-2 and the third 3-1 after his opponent had missed five darts at a double to force a decider.

The Newbury ace stormed back by comfortably taking the fourth set 3-0 and made the most of Hempel's crucial miss at double 10 in the third leg of the decider before wrapping up his victory with a 90.95 average.

Humphries fired in seven of the nine 180s in the match and also had the high checkout of 84 but he'll need to brush up on his finishing in the next round having only pinned 12 out of 41.

In the last match of the night, Vincent van der Voort cruised to a 3-0 victory over Cameron Menzies, who had a nightmare with his doubling.

The veteran Dutchman averaged 90.78 compared to his opponent's 88.31 but the big difference was the finishing, with van der Voort hitting 56.3% of his attempts and Menzies only managing 20%.

That didn't stop the Scotsman having a good time, however, as he joined in with some van der Voort chants during the match!

During the afternoon session, Dirk van Duijvenbode thrilled the crowd with 13 maximums and agonisingly missed out a nine-darter - but still had to survive a match dart to beat Karel Sedlacek.

Aubergenius is widely-fancied for a long run at the Ally Pally looked on course for quick afternoon of work when storming through the first set 3-1 with an average well in excess of 100.

But after missing six darts at a double at the start of the second, Van Duijvenbode started to falter and Sedlacek punished him by going on to clinch the set by the same scoreline.

A superb match-high 104 checkout from Evil Charlie put him 2-1 ahead in the third although he needed to rely on the Dutchman's two missed darts at double in the deciding leg to pinch it 3-2 and move a set away from a huge upset.

Van Duijvenbode came storming back to take the fourth set 3-1 and then threw eight perfect darts in the second leg of the fifth before narrowly missing double 12 for what would have been an explosive nine-darter.

Sedlacek wasn't done yet, punishing DVD for missing tops in the third leg to move 2-1 ahead and then found himself with one match dart at the bullseye after his opponent had spurned seven darts to take out 36.

The Czech thrower missed the target as van Duijvenbode eventually made it 2-2 before comfortably winning the next two legs of the tie-break to seal his place in the third round.

“I have never felt this nervous in my life,” revealed Van Duijvenbode, who will play European Champion Ross Smith or Darius Labanauskas for a place in the last 16.

“I think it’s because I think I can actually do something this year. I started well and then the pressure kicks in, but in the end I won, so I’m happy.”

Elsewhere, Ryan Searle eased through to a third round showdown against Jose de Sousa, producing a fine display of finishing to dispatch Czech youngster Adam Gawlas in straight sets.

Searle drew first blood with 100, 94 and 80 checkouts before exploiting Gawlas' doubling woes to establish a two-set cushion, and he wrapped up a regulation victory with a clinical two-dart 98 combination.

Mensur Suljovic also advanced to the third round with a 3-0 success, punishing a profligate display from Mike De Decker to set up a clash against three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen.

Following a tentative start, De Decker squandered six darts to win the second set and Suljovic took full advantage, completing a convincing win with back-to-back 14-darters in set three.

Meanwhile, in the afternoon’s curtain-raiser, Krzysztof Ratajski recorded a battling 3-1 win over Dutch debutant Danny Jansen to confirm his post-Christmas return at Alexandra Palace.

Ratajski – a quarter-finalist in 2021 – won five of the last six legs to seal his progression, averaging 88 and firing in three 180s to set up a meeting against Belgian number one Dimitri Van den Bergh.

World Championship: Thursday's results and Friday schedule

Scroll down for full tournament results and a complete daily schedule

Thursday December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Krzysztof Ratajski (88.61) 3-1 (81.97) Danny Jansen (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-1, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1)
• Ryan Searle (88.6) 3-0 (82.04) Adam Gawlas (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-2, 3-1, 3-2)
• Mensur Suljovic (88.65) 3-0 (85.63) Mike De Decker (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-1, 3-2, 3-1)
• Dirk van Duijvenbode (95.18) 3-2 (88.26) Karel Sedlacek (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-1, 1-3, 2-3, 3-1, 4-2)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Gary Anderson (96.39) 3-1 (90.96) Madars Razma (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2)
• James Wade (91.01) 2-3 (90.49) Jim Williams (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-1, 1-3, 0-3, 3-0, 1-3)
• Luke Humphries (90.95) 3-2 (86.47) Florian Hempel (R2)
  (Set scores: 2-3, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1)
• Vincent van der Voort (90.78) 3-0 (88.31) Cameron Menzies (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-0, 3-1, 3-2)

Friday December 23
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Brendan Dolan v Jimmy Hendriks (R2)
• Chris Dobey v Martijn Kleermaker (R2)
• Ross Smith v Darius Labanauskas (R2)
• Rob Cross v Scott Williams (R2)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Martin Schindler v Martin Lukeman (R2)
• Danny Noppert v David Cameron (R2)
• Jonny Clayton v Danny van Trijp (R2)
• Joe Cullen v Ricky Evans (R2)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT DRAW, SCHEDULE, RESULTS & AVERAGES

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