Darts results: Michael van Gerwen defies Mensur Suljovic's magical 161 at the PDC World Championship while Gary Anderson is knocked out by Chris Dobey

Few gave the Austrian, who has endured a highly disappointing season, any chance of giving the tournament favourite a run for his money but he averaged almost 99 and won 13 of the 28 legs played during a 4-2 defeat.

One of those legs lifted the roof off the Ally Pally when he took out a spectacular 161 checkout just moments after van Gerwen had opted against going for the bullseye to win the match 4-1 - and the Dutchman's reaction said it all.

This incredible finish extended an enthralling battle to a sixth set but van Gerwen regained his composure to take it 3-1 and advance with a stunning display that saw him average 107.66 and hit 12 maximums.

The key for Suljovic making it so close was his clinical finishing of 65% as MVG missed 21 of his 39 attempts at doubles.

Comeback kings

It was otherwise a day of remarkable comebacks as Michael Smith, Alan Soutar and Jose de Sousa booked their places in the fourth round while Chris Dobey came from a set down to defeat Gary Anderson.

Bully Boy is one of the leading contenders for glory but found himself in real danger of a shock exit when Martin Schindler opened up a 3-1 lead thanks largely to his relentless heavy scoring.

Smith held his nerve with a 72 checkout in the deciding leg of the fifth set when Schindler waited on 76 to stay alive and then raised his levels to take the next two by 3-1 scorelines to keep his hopes alive.

Smith will next meet Joe Cullen, who swept aside Damon Heta 4-0 with an average of 98 and only allowed his opponent five legs.

During the afternoon session, Dobey stunned Gary Anderson 4-1 despite the Flying Scotsman racinh through the opening set 3-0 with an average in excess of 115.

However, Hollywood used all his battling qualities to pinch the next three sets in deciding legs after Anderson had missed darts to edge two of them before wrapping up a 4-1 victory by taking the fifth 3-1.

Afterwards he admitted that he was inspired to finish the job after being unhappy with something the two-time world champion had said to him during one of the last intervals.

Dobey, lost a fourth-round thriller to Anderson on this stage back in the 2018 edition, told Sky Sports: "It was a big win, Gary Anderson is one of the biggest names in darts so it's a massive win for me. I never gave up and will always fight until the end.

"I was a bit nervy up there but Gary said something to me in the last break and I didn't like it so there was no way he was winning the game after that. It really annoyed me. I came out, tried to forget about it but there was no way he was winning.

"Obviously I'm not going to say it but I didn't like it and he's usually a class bloke. I just didn't agree with what he said."

Anderson's defeat means he will drop out of the world's top 20 following the World Championship having failed to defend much of the £200,000 in ranking money he earned from reaching the final two years ago.

Earlier, De Sousa touched a high of 25/1 in-running before producing a remarkable comeback to defeat Ryan Searle 4-3.

The Special One, who came from 2-0 down to beat Simon Whitlock in the previous round, was heading for the exit when Searle stormed into a 3-0 lead and had the darts in the deciding leg of the fourth set.

De Sousa kept the match alive with a clinical 92 checkout but it looked as though it was merely a stay of execution when Heavy Metal when 2-1 up in the fifth and eyed up tops with his last dart in hand for a match-winning 120 finish.

Searle missed on the inside and that would be his last chance to seal his place in the fourth round as the Portuguese ace punished him to pull another set back before taking the next two by 3-1 scorelines.

De Sousa averaged 91.75 compared to his opponent's 87.51 and hit nine of the 15 180s, but he'll need to brush up on his finishing against Gerwyn Price in the next round having spurned 43 of his 59 attempts at doubles.

In the next match on the oche, Danny Noppert was in cruise control when taking six of the opening seven legs to move into a 2-0 set lead over Soutar and averaging well over 100 in the process.

But out of nowhere, the Scottish fireman found the heroism of his day job as Noppert suffered an alarming drop slump in form during another Ally Pally comeback.

Soutar won 12 of the next 14 legs played to dominate the next four sets and reach the last 16 just like he did on debut 12 months ago.

Soots thrilled the crowd with a 152 checkout that clinched the fifth set 3-1 and then weighed in with another stunner from 130 on his way to wrapping up the sixth without reply.

World Championship: Today's Results & Thursday schedule

Scroll down for full tournament results and a complete daily schedule

Wednesday December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Ryan Searle (87.51) 3-4 (91.75) Jose de Sousa
  (Set scores: 3-1, 3-2, 3-1, 2-3, 2-3, 1-3, 1-3)
• Danny Noppert (90.42) 2-4 (93.38) Alan Soutar
  (Set scores: 3-1, 3-0, 1-3, 0-3, 1-3, 0-3)
• Gary Anderson (93.87) 1-4 (95.34) Chris Dobey
  (Set scores: 3-0, 2-3, 2-3, 2-3, 1-3)

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

• Joe Cullen (98.09) 4-0 (94.00) Damon Heta
  (Set scores: 3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 3-0)
• Michael van Gerwen (107.66) 4-2 (98.9) Mensur Suljovic
  (Set scores: 3-2, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1)
• Michael Smith (95.36) 4-3 (94.97) Martin Schindler
  (Set scores: 2-3, 3-0, 2-3, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-1)

Thursday December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ross Smith
• Rob Cross v Mervyn King
• Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Third/Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• 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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