Ryan Meikle on Tuesday evening held off a spirited fightback from Fallon Sherrock to set up a second-round clash with last year's runner-up Luke Littler at the World Darts Championship.
Sherrock, who became the first female player to win a match in the tournament back in December 2019, won the first set and fought back from 2-1 down to force a decider at Alexandra Palace, before left-hander Meikle held his nerve to hit double 18 for a 96 finish to seal a hard-fought win.
Later in the evening, Peter Wright kicked off his bid for a third world title with victory over Wesley Plaisier.
In the afternoon session, Noa-Lynn van Leuven was left to rue what might have been. Van Leuven became the first transgender player to compete on the Ally Pally stage and she held her own in a 3-1 loss to Kevin Doets.
The next three weeks in north London are the highlight of the festive period for many sport fans, with the action culminating in the final on January 3.
It is now six years since Michael van Gerwen was crowned world champion and he begins his bid to end that wait against James Hurrell while Gary Anderson has been in superb form in recent months and kicks his campaign off on December 22 when he’ll go up against Jeffrey de Graaf.
World Darts Championship schedule and latest results
(Seeds in brackets, all times GMT)
Sunday, December 15
Evening Session (7pm)
Thibault Tricole 3-1 Joe Comito
Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 Stefan Bellmont
Keane Barry 3-0 Kim Huybrechts
(1) Luke Humphries 3-0 Thibault Tricole
Monday, December 16
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wesley Plaisier 3-2 Ryusei Azemoto
Luke Woodhouse 3-0 Lourence Ilagan
Alan Soutar 1-3 Kai Gotthardt
Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 James Wade (16)
Evening Session (7pm)
Niels Zonneveld 1-3 Robert Owen
Connor Scutt 3-0 Ben Robb
Cameron Menzies 3-1 Leonard Gates
(10) Gerwyn Price 3-0 Keane Barry
Tuesday, December 17
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
James Hurrell 3-0 Jim Long
Kevin Doets 3-1 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Ryan Joyce 3-1 Darius Labanauskas
Luke Woodhouse 3-1 Mike De Decker
Evening Session (7pm)
Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 Rashad Sweeting
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-0 Xiaochen Zong
Ryan Meikle 3-2 Fallon Sherrock
(17) Peter Wright 3-1 Wesley Plaisier
Wednesday, December 18
Evening Session (7pm)
Paolo Nebrida 3-2 Jim Williams
Madars Razma 3-1 Christian Kist
Ricky Evans 3-2 Gordon Mathers
(12) Nathan Aspinall v Leonard Gates
Thursday, December 19
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Chris Landman v Lok Yin Lee
Callan Rydz v Romeo Grbavac
Martin Lukeman v Nitin Kumar
(27) Gabriel Clemens v Robert Owen
Evening Session (7pm)
Nick Kenny v Stowe Buntz
Mensur Suljovic v Matt Campbell
Scott Williams v Niko Springer
(2) Michael Smith v Kevin Doets
Friday, December 20
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Stephen Burton v Alexander Merkx
Wessel Nijman v Cameron Carolissen
Ian White v Sandro Eric Sosing
(8) Stephen Bunting v Kai Gotthardt
Evening Session (7pm)
Mickey Mansell v Tomoya Goto
Florian Hempel v Jeffrey De Zwaan
William O'Connor v Dylan Slevin
(3) Michael van Gerwen v James Hurrell
Saturday, December 21
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Karel Sedlacek v Rhys Griffin
Richard Veenstra v Alexis Toylo
(30) Brendan Dolan v Chris Landman/Lok Yin Lee
(15) Chris Dobey v Stephen Burton/Alexander Merkx
Evening Session (7pm)
(13) Danny Noppert v Ryan Joyce
(32) Raymond van Barneveld v Nick Kenny/Stowe Buntz
(4) Luke Littler v Ryan Meikle
(9) Damon Heta v Connor Scutt
Sunday, December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(20) Ryan Searle v Mensur Suljovic/Matt Campbell
(25) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma
(23) Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman/Cameron Carolissen
(29) Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White/Sandro Eric Sosing
Evening Session (7pm)
(22) Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz/Romeo Grbavac
(19) Ross Smith v Paolo Nebrida
(14) Gary Anderson v Jeffrey de Graaf
(11) Dimitri Van den Bergh v William O'Connor/Dylan Slevin
Monday, December 23
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(31) Krzysztof Ratajski v Richard Veenstra/Alexis Toylo
(21) Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman/Nitin Kumar
(18) Josh Rock v Karel Sedlacek/Rhys Griffin
(7) Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell/Tomoya Goto
Evening Session (7pm)
(28) Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko
(26) Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel/Jeffrey De Zwaan
(5) Rob Cross v Scott Williams/Niko Springer
(6) Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans
Friday, December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Third Round (x3)
Evening Session (7pm)
Third Round (x3)
Saturday, December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Third Round (x3)
Evening Session (7pm)
Third Round (x3)
Sunday, December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Third Round (x3)
Evening Session (7pm)
Third Round (x1), Fourth Round (x2)
Monday, December 30
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Fourth Round (x3)
Evening Session (7pm)
Fourth Round (x3)
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Quarter-finals (x2)
Evening Session (7pm)
Quarter-finals (x2)
Thursday, January 2 (7.30pm)
Semi-Finals (x2)
Friday, January 3 (8pm)
Final
How can I watch the World Darts Championship?
TV channel: The tournament will be covered live in full on Sky Sports. Both the afternoon and evening sessions will be shown on Sky Sports Darts, with many sessions also on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers will be able to watch the game through the Sky Go app.
World Darts Championship latest odds
Luke Littler 7/4
Luke Humphries 3/1
Gary Anderson 10/1
Michael van Gerwen 11/1
Mike de Decker 25/1
Michael Smith 25/1
Odds via Betfair. Subject to change
