Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen produced vintage displays at the World Darts Championship, as Danny Noppert and Peter Wright became the latest high-profile names to exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final day of round two action ahead of the Christmas break featured a star-studded line-up at London’s Alexandra Palace, with Anderson producing the performance of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time World Champion averaged almost 106 to defeat Connor Scutt in a quality contest, reeling off three consecutive sets to register the second-highest average of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Connor is a fantastic player. He’s a grafter,” reflected Anderson, who will take on Jermaine Wattimena in a tantalising round three showdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Jermaine over the last 18 months has gone to a different level. He’s been absolutely fantastic over the last few years, so that will be another tough game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I can still do it though. People think it’s a young man’s game, but it’s not!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen also impressed in his 3-1 victory over William O’Connor, averaging over a ton and converting 63% of his attempts at double to cap off a complete performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O’Connor threatened a late fightback after claiming set three, only for the three-time World Champion to produce consecutive 121 and 127 checkouts in an explosive conclusion to proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was sharp, I was ready today, and that’s what you want,” declared Van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Of course there is still room for improvement, but I’m more critical of myself than anyone. I put a lot of effort into this match, and I think from here I can do even more damage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen’s reward will be a tussle against Arno Merk, who continued his dream debut run with a straight-sets victory over two-time World Champion Peter Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve just beaten a two-time World Champion and a legend of the game,” admitted Merk, who averaged 92 and landed two ton-plus checkouts.This is the biggest win of my career by far. I can’t believe it. I’m overwhelmed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If I play like I did today and I take my chances, I can be dangerous for anybody, so let’s see what happens.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justin Hood believes he can lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on debut after denying sixth seed Danny Noppert in arguably the game of the tournament so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hood defied a host of skin-saving finishes from Noppert to prevail in a sudden-death thriller, averaging 103 and crashing in 11 maximums to set up a showdown against Ryan Meikle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noppert converted 102, 157 and 127 finishes to keep his hopes alive, but Hood refused to relent, following up a sensational 156 of his own with a clutch 78 checkout on tops to seal his progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I can win it. It’s as simple as that,” declared Hood, who also averaged 99 in his opening round win over Nick Kenny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I believe I can improve on that tonight, and hopefully that will come out in my next game, but it’s nice to prove a point to myself that I can do it on the big stage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meikle, meanwhile, became only the second player at this year’s tournament to triumph from two sets adrift, overturning an early deficit to deny DPNZ number one Jonny Tata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josh Rock stormed through to round three with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over DPA number one Joe Comito, averaging 101.32 in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both of Comito’s legs came courtesy of ton-plus checkouts, but the Australian number one was blown away by a rampant Rock, who advances to face Callan Rydz in round three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rydz continued his Alexandra Palace love-affair with a deciding-set victory over two-time quarter-finalist Daryl Gurney, recovering from 2-1 down to triumph in a tie-break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bedlington star produced a brace of 167 finishes along the way, before converting successive 100 and 92 checkouts in the closing stages to preserve his title aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Wattimena fended off a late fightback from 2023\/24 semi-finalist Scott Williams to prevail in another five-set marathon in North London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman fired in 11-darters to win each of the first two sets in deciding legs, before defying a valiant rearguard from Williams to complete a clean sweep in the fifth and decisive set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Paddy Power World Darts Championship will resume on Saturday December 27, as reigning champion Luke Littler continues his defence of the title against Austrian stalwart Mensur Suljovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, world number four Stephen Bunting faces James Hurrell, with fifth seed Jonny Clayton also in action earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SECOND ROUND RESULTS: <\/strong>Ryan Meikle 3-2 Jonny Tata (1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-1); Callan Rydz 3-2 Daryl Gurney (3-1, 0-3, 1-3, 3-0, 5-3); Jermaine Wattimena 3-2 Scott Williams (3-2, 3-2, 1-3, 0-3, 3-0); Arno Merk 3-0 Peter Wright (3-0, 3-1, 3-1); Justin Hood 3-2 Danny Noppert (3-2, 3-1, 2-3, 1-3, 6-5); Gary Anderson 3-1 Connor Scutt (1-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2); Michael van Gerwen 3-1 William O’Connor (3-2, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0); Josh Rock 3-0 Joe Comito (3-1, 3-0, 3-1)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen produced vintage displays at the World Darts Championship, as Danny Noppert and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-7410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t