Evans stuns Chisnall as another seed falls at Worlds

Ricky Evans is into the third round for the second successive year

Dave Chisnall became the latest high-profile casualty as a record-equalling 13th seed exited the PDC World Darts Championship in the second round.

The number six seed was beaten 3-2 in a sudden-death leg by Ricky Evans, who came into the tournament 46th in the PDC's Order of Merit.

The 2021 semi-finalist won the opening set, but then found himself 2-1 down to an inspired Evans, who was cheered on relentlessly by the Alexandra Palace crowd.

He forced the game into a deciding set and faced match dart but Evans missed bullseye by the width of the wire.

Chisnall then missed his own match dart on double tops, before he made a miscalculation when attempting to checkout 139 at 5-4 down.

No real harm was done with a sudden-death leg forced but he was unable to hold off Evans, who reaches the third round for the third time in the last five years.

"It's not even what it is, again I've played a world-class darts player. I've played quite well and won," Evans told Sky Sports.

"Look at this [the crowd], wow. I don't understand it, why are they cheering me on?

"I don't get this reception in my household. Thank you very much. You've made a very fat guy very happy."

Evans will face unseeded Welshman Robert Owen when the third round starts after the three-day Christmas break.

World youth champion Gian van Veen had become the 12th seed to be knocked out when he lost 3-1 to Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko.

The 28th seed lost the opening set, having missed nine darts at double, but levelled.

However, the Dutchman was unable to match Pietreczko, who closed out a comfortable win with a checkout percentage of 55.6%.

Pietreczko said: "I am over the moon to win. It is very important for me to be in the third round after Christmas. I love the big stage."

Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney avoided a similar fate with a final-set win over Florian Hempel.

The 26th seed trailed 1-0 and 2-1, and both players went on to miss match darts, before Gurney won the final set 3-1 on legs.

Seeds knocked out of 2025 PDC World Championship

• Michael Smith (2)

• Dave Chisnall (6)

• Danny Noppert (13)

• Gary Anderson (14)

• James Wade (16)

• Ross Smith (19)

• Martin Schindler (23)

• Mike De Decker (24)

• Dirk van Duijvenbode (25)

• Gabriel Clemens (27)

• Gian van Veen (28)

• Ritchie Edhouse (29)

• Raymond van Barneveld (32)

Clayton requires sudden-death leg to avoid exit

Jonny Clayton is into the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship for a sixth consecutive year

In the afternoon session, Welsh number seven seed Jonny Clayton also needed sudden death to pull off a sensational final-set comeback against Mickey Mansell in.

He was a leg away from defeat twice to his Northern Irish opponent, but came from behind to win the final set 6-5 in a sudden-death leg to win 3-2.

Clayton lost the opening set of the match, but fought back to lead 2-1, before being pegged back again by 51-year-old Mansell, who then missed match darts on double tops in the deciding set.

"I was very emotional. I've got to be honest, that meant a lot," said Clayton, who is in the favourable half of the draw following shock second-round exits for former world champions Michael Smith and Gary Anderson.

"I had chances before and Mickey definitely had chances before. It wasn't great to play in, not the best - I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

"There is a lot of weight off my shoulders after that. I know there is another gear or two in the bank, but I'll be honest that meant a lot to me, it is a tester and will try and make me believe again."

Clayton was 2-0 down in the fifth set after consecutive 136 and 154 checkouts from Mansell, but won three legs on the trot in 15, 12 and 10 darts to wrestle a 3-2 lead.

He missed three darts for the match, before his unseeded opponent held and broke Clayton's throw to lead 4-3.

Mansell missed a match dart at double 20, before Clayton won on double five after two missed checkouts.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland's Josh Rock booked his place in the third round against England's Chris Dobey with a 3-0 win over Wales' Rhys Griffin.

Martin Lukeman, runner-up to Luke Littler at the Grand Slam of Darts last month, is out after a 3-1 loss to number 21 seed Andrew Gilding.

The final day before the Christmas break started with Poland's number 31 seed Krzysztof Ratajski recording a 3-1 win over Alexis Toylo of the Philippines.

Monday's results

Second round

Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Alexis Toylo

Andrew Gilding 3-1 Martin Lukeman

Josh Rock 3-0 Rhys Griffin

Jonny Clayton 3-2 Mickey Mansell

Gian van Veen 1-3 Ricardo Pietreczko

Daryl Gurney 3-2 Florian Hempel

Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricky Evans

Rob Cross v Scott Williams

World Darts Championship third-round fixtures

Exact schedule of fixtures to be confirmed.

Luke Humphries v Nick Kenny

Jermaine Wattimena v Peter Wright

Stephen Bunting v Madars Razma

Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse

Luke Littler v Ian White

Ryan Joyce v Ryan Searle

Rob Cross or Scott Williams v Ricardo Pietreczko

Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Kevin Doets v Krzysztof Ratajski

Chris Dobey v Josh Rock

Jonny Clayton v Daryl Gurney

Gerwyn Price v Joe Cullen

Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan

Jeffrey de Graaf v Paolo Nebrida

Ricky Evans v Robert Owen

Dimitri van den Bergh v Callan Rydz