Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years to reach the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-1 victory over Radek Szaganski.

The 56-year-old Dutchman – a five-time world champion – booked his post-Christmas place at Alexandra Palace and may fancy his chances of going further in the tournament with Peter Wright and James Wade eliminated from his section of the draw.

Van Barneveld next plays Welshman Jim Williams, the conqueror of two-time world champion Wright, and could meet teenage sensation Luke Littler in the last 16.

“Of course I look at it (the draw) but it gives you more pressure, right?” Van Barneveld told Sky Sports after averaging 99.81 and resisting a strong Szaganski recovery after the Pole had lost the opening two sets.

“Peter Wright has gone, James Wade has gone, but, hey, there’s a little guy named Luke Littler. Come on, he’s fantastic.

“I had a bad start. When I was practising backstage I never missed a treble. I’m thinking ‘all right’, but my finishing was really good and I’m really happy with this game.

“But it’s still not my A game and I can do a lot better.”

Chris Dobey, the current Masters champion, beat William O’Connor 3-2 in a match of high scoring and high quality.

The pair produced 17 180s – 10 for Dobey and seven for O’Connor – as the game swung one way and then the other into a final set.

Dobey, who this week celebrated the birth of his son Chester, held his nerve to win the decider 3-1 and finished with a match average of 103.09, his best at Alexandra Palace.

Florian Hempel ended Dimitri van den Bergh’s tournament hopes for the second time in three years.

Van den Bergh, the number 15 seed and World Championship semi-finalist 12 months ago, raced into a two-set lead after losing the first two legs of the match.

But Hempel stormed back to win 3-2 and will play Stephen Bunting or Ryan Joyce in round three.

Hempel’s fellow German Martin Schindler overcame Jermaine Wattimena 3-1.

Schindler dominated most of the match but Wattimena had the consolation of a 170 checkout in the third set.

James Wade became the first seed to crash out of the World Championship after losing to world number 57 Matt Campbell.

The Canadian produced the biggest win of his career as he came from 2-1 down to beat the four-time semi-finalist 3-2.

Wade, seeded 13th, was in good form, having reached a final, semi-final and quarter-final in the last three major tournaments, but is out of the main event of the year before Christmas.

Keegan Brown will not want to hear the name Boris Krcmar again after enduring a chastening afternoon.

Brown was left confused when MC John McDonald mistakenly called out his opponent’s name when he was due to walk onto the Alexandra Palace stage before the first-round match.

Things got even worse once play began as the Croatian cruised to a 3-1 win.

Brown took the first set but things went downhill from there, with Krcmar coming back to reach the second round for the second successive year, with Dirk van Duijvenbode waiting for him in the next round.

Elsewhere in the afternoon session, Jeffrey de Graaf produced a comeback to beat Ritchie Edhouse 3-2 while Tomoya Goto beat Ian White 3-1.

James Wade is recovering in hospital after feeling "extremely unwell" following Sunday's quarter-final victory over Ryan Searle at the European Open.

The world number five, who had been due to face Dimitri Van den Bergh in the semi-finals, withdrew from the event and was taken to a hospital in Leverkusen on advice from paramedics.

He experienced a racing heart, high blood pressure, nausea, and dizziness, and will continue to be observed and treated until he is fit enough to fly back home.

Wade's wife Samantha, who is at home with their child, is grateful for the treatment the 11-time major winner has received.

"It was very worrying on Sunday night and into Monday and it is horrible to think of James there by himself when he has been so poorly," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Clearly we want him home as quickly as possible, but the medical staff have been amazing with James and he is hugely grateful for the compassion and care they have shown.

"We are taking their advice on when it will be safe for him to return home.

"James is desperate to make sure he doesn't let anyone down and is already talking about returning to competitive action for the people that have bought tickets.

"Whilst that is his nature, I am sure everyone would agree that him making a full recovery is the important thing and we will be taking it day by day.

"But I know he will be itching to play as soon as physically possible."

Wade was due to compete in round 14 of the Premier League darts in Sheffield on Thursday, with Joe Cullen his scheduled quarter-final opponent.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.