Simon Whitlock rediscovered some of his Alexandra Palace magic but was narrowly beaten 3-2 by Connor Scutt in a first-round World Darts Championship classic. The 2010 runner-up, a three-time semi-finalist, recovered from 2-0 down to land a spectacular 167 bull finish to take the third set, and he nearly clinched the fourth with a Big Fish attempt. Scutt nonetheless held his nerve: after Whitlock broke first in the decider, Scutt reeled off the next three legs, including a 127 finish in the third leg and a run that began with seven perfect darts in the fourth, leaving him a shot at a nine-darter. He missed the eighth dart at treble 20 and spurned seven match darts in total, but eventually hit double four to seal victory and a second-round meeting with two-time champion Gary Anderson.
Fifth seed Jonny Clayton survived a nervy start to beat Alexandra Palace debutant Adam Lipscombe 3-1. Clayton missed 21 darts at double but finished the match strongly, averaging 92.53 in the closing stages and producing three ton-plus checkouts in the fourth set, including 145 and a 135 bull finish before a closing 100. Lipscombe showed promise on his debut, taking the second set, but Clayton turned the tie.
Dirk van Duijvenbode rallied from 2-1 down to overcome Belgium’s Andy Baetens 3-2, winning six of the final seven legs. The Dutchman hit three consecutive ton-plus checkouts — one a Big Fish — levelling the contest with 109 and 106 finishes before producing a 170, the tournament’s fourth, to secure an early break in the decider. Van Duijvenbode finished with eight maximums and a 98.54 average.
Max Hopp beat Martin Lukeman 3-1 on his first Ally Pally appearance in five years, landing seven maximums. Hopp dominated the opening set without giving Lukeman a dart at double, weathered a fightback to take the second, and closed out the win in the fourth to earn a second-round tie with Luke Woodhouse.
Twenty-year-old debutant Charlie Manby produced one of the day’s standout results, battling back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat 26th seed Cameron Menzies 3-2 in a high-scoring affair that featured 14 maximums between them. Manby averaged 90.62 and hit five 180s. Menzies missed 31 darts at double, reacted in frustration by punching the drinks table and required hospital treatment for cuts to his knuckles; he later apologised for his outburst.
Two-time world champion Peter Wright progressed to the last 64 with a 3-0 whitewash of Noa-Lynn van Leuven despite averaging just 83.5. Brendan Dolan beat debutant Tavis Dudeney 3-1, overcoming nine 180s from Dudeney and sealing victory with three ton-plus checkouts, including a 170 Big Fish; Dolan will face 20th seed Ryan Searle in round two. Mensur Suljovic returned to winning ways with a composed 3-1 victory over David Cameron and will meet Joe Cullen next.
Day Six at Alexandra Palace features another double session live on Sky Sports Darts. The afternoon session (from 12.30pm) opens with Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju, then Nick Kenny v Justin Hood, Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida and eighth seed Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong. The evening session (from 7pm) includes Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa, Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde, Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas and Niko Springer v Joe Comito.
Every match of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship is live on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel through January 3, with streaming available via NOW.