The Paddy Power World Championship resumed after the Christmas break, with experience telling on Wednesday. There were wins for three World Champs in the shape of Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, and Michael Smith, and they were joined by Dave Chisnall and Scott Williams. That just left 16-year-old Luke Littler, who faced Canadian Matt Campbell. Final North American hopes were dashed as Littler strolled to a 4-1 victory.

Thursday brought a shock, as another former Champ, Gerwyn Price, exited at the hands of Brendan Dolan by a score of 4-1. No such worries for Stephen Bunting, who again averaged in three figures as he disposed of Florian Hempel in straight sets. Daryl Gurney, Chris Dobey, and Joe Cullen all advanced, but man-of-the-moment Luke Humphries came perilously close to being dumped out! Against German Ricardo Pietreczko, the Englishman was 3-1 down, and one set from defeat, before bouncing back to clinch the match in the seventh set.

Friday saw Chris Dobey post an impressive average of 102.43 against reigning titlist Michael Smith. Smith actually averaged a slightly superior 102.47 – but failed to win even one set! There were 4-1 triumphs for Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld, while Michael van Gerwen crushed Stephen Bunting 4-0. Jonny Clayton (Wales) and Aussie Damon Heta were the other two winners.

Saturday saw the last six fourth-round clashes – and in fact, the last six matches of 2023.

The afternoon session brought wins for Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall. The other winner of the session was Scott Williams. Not exactly a household name – yet – the Englishman qualified for the tournament as the 22nd best player on the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit. He started well with a defeat of Japan’s Haruki Muramatsu, and followed up by taking the scalp of #7 seed Danny Noppert. He then disposed of #26 seed Martin Schindler. Now, he took on #10 seed Damon Heta. Heta joined Noppert and Schindler on the sidelines! Nothing totally stupendous, but four wins, three seeds gone, and four 90+ averages. Not bad, eh?

Wasn’t bad either from Brendan Dolan, who kicked off the evening by taking down Gary Anderson in a seven-set thriller. It was a similar story for Luke Humphries, who also emerged from a deciding set, with a 6-5 scoreline in the seventh against Joe Cullen. The other winner was tenacious teen Luke Littler. Against five-time World Champ Raymond van Barneveld, Littler stuck in a mighty average of 105.1, and only dropped the one set. The sobering thought here is that, when ‘Barney’ won his last world title (2007), Littler wasn’t even born…

On to the new year now, and the Quarter-Finals. Rob Cross recorded another ton-plus average as he edged out Chris Dobey 5-4. Cross’ average was then bettered by that lad Littler, who crushed Brendan Dolan in six sets. Luke Humphries made it a little easier on himself this time, and also won in six sets – this time against Dave Chisnall. So, that leaves Scott Williams. Yes, he had beaten three seeded players already, but now he faced the redoubtable Michael van Gerwen. Make that FOUR seeded players he has now beaten. His highest average so far, and now he’s in the semis.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) brings a couple of fantastic looking semi-finals, with Williams up against Luke Humphries, and Rob Cross taking on Luke Littler.

Full details from the PDC website here

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