Dave Chisnall crashed out of the World Darts Championship after losing heavily to Ricky Evans in the final leg, while former world champion Rob Cross was eliminated in a dramatic session at Alexandra Palace.
Chisnall won the opening set of a topsy-turvy contest but had to recover from going 2-1 down to extend their epic clash to the final set, where both survival player in the game to bring it into extra legs.
Evans fired a checkout 110 on his way to retaking the lead and saw Chisnall recover from a terrible mistake on the extra ton boundary to hold a toss, with 'Rapid Ricky' then bid on the latter part of the game to place another seed heading for one early exit.
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Actor Shaun Williamson performs a series of impressive shots for the Alexandra Palace faithful at the World Darts Championships.
In a big pre-Christmas session Daryl Gurney came through a final decision against Florian Hempel and world junior champion Gian Van Veen was knocked out by Ricardo Pietreczko, before Cross was beaten 3-1 by Scott Williams in the match of end of the evening.
Cross's early exit made him the 14th seed to be eliminated from the second round, a new record for this stage of the tournament, with Williams – beaten by eventual champion Luke Humphries in a post- last year's finals – the last to get their spot. in the last 32.
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14 seeded players have ever been knocked out by round two at the World Championship of Darts, check out a round-up of the highlights from the second round.
An early Christmas classic in a wonderful session
Evans brought the holiday cheer with his Christmas-themed t-shirt and Shakin Stevens walk, only for Chisnall to seize control early by opening with a 12-dart break and holding a- into the next one.
Chisnall responded to Evans' stunning 126 checkout and missed a 'Big Fish' effort by pushing the set with a 15-darter, but he wasted a set dart on D5 in the final leg of the second to allow 'Rapid Ricky' throw and break a level. .
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Moments after Chisnall nearly landed a 170 checkout, Evans hit a massive 126 to fight back in one set.
Evans took the lead to seal the third set with a 13-darter but watched Chisnall fight back with a clean sweep in the fourth, with 'Chizzy' coming from behind three times to lead a thrilling decider .
Both players lost match points in a chaotic closing session, where Evans extended the tournament with a stunning 110 pay to break back and then found a 17-dart hold to move a leg away.
Ricky Evans knocked out Dave Chisnall in a stunning second round contest at Alexandra Palace
Chisnall survived an outstanding finish to find the 'Mad House' on his next turn and drag the set to the 11th and final leg, where Evans produced tops to draw a 52 finish and spark wild celebrations.
“I've played a world-class darts player there, and I've played well,” Evans said Sky Sports. “It's nice to say I won a match and played well – usually it's boring! I wish I'd beaten Chizzy 3-0 because my ticker would have been 'slow down the matter a bit!'
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Evans gives a brilliant post-match interview with Abigail Davies and pokes fun at the Alexandra Palace crowd for cheering him on as he beats Chisnall
Gurney lives in fear as Cross advances
Another upset looked on the cards when Gurney went down against Hempel, who was on the verge of taking the second set to a decider when the Northern Irishman fired in a 156 checkout to break with a 15-darter and the balance game.
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Daryl Gurney leveled his match with Florian Hempel by producing a massive 156 to make it 1-1
Hempel took the third set in straight legs and moved to within a leg of victory in a tight fourth, before Gurney delivered back-to-back 13-dart legs to level the match and then break the German early in the set decision.
Gurney held the next man on his way to sealing a hard-fought victory, which left him against seventh seed Jonny Clayton in the third round, while Cross was a by-name exit another big after a disappointing loss to Williams.
Rob Cross was another player who was knocked out in the second round
Cross held the throw in the latter part of the opening set before Williams grabbed the second with a 14-dart hold in another deciding leg, with the tournament also threatening to go the distance when Cross checkout 130 at the beginning of the third set.
But Williams won the next three legs to move the set ahead, taking advantage of some poor finishing from Cross, before winning the next set – and avenging a loss to the English two years earlier – with taking out a 14-darter on tops in the last leg.
Elsewhere, Van Veen missed eight darts to break his opponent in a screeching opening leg as Pietreczko raced through the opening set, although he responded by firing a hold brilliant 12-dart with a check 127 on his way to level the tournament in second.
Pietreczko moved back in front when he produced a 122 finish in the third set which was won in straight legs, then broke Van Veen with a 16-darter and held a throw into the next round until the to reach the third round for the second consecutive year.
Clayton goes over the last leg and Rock flows through
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Jonny Clayton and Mickey Mansell battled it out in a grand final set that included three ton plus finishes, a 10-dart leg, many match darts and a sudden death finish
Earlier, Clayton looked to be cruising to the finish line as he won six legs in a row, only for Mickey Mansell to force a deciding set and then produce stunning finishes of 136 and 154 to movement within the impact shaft.
The Welshman won the next two legs to extend the contest and both players missed match points, taking the set to a shootout in the final leg, where he took advantage of the points to find a way over the line .
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Mansell hit a 136 checkout followed by a 154 finish in the decider against Clayton
Elsewhere, Josh Rock cruised past Rhys Griffin 3-0, losing just two legs to set up a last 32 tie with Chris Dobey, while the other two seeds were also in action on Monday afternoon.
Polish No.1 Krzysztof Ratajski beat Alexis Toylo 3-1 and Andrew Gilding beat Martin Lukeman by the same score, with Ratajski now facing Kevin Doets – who surprised the former champion of the the world of Michael Smith – and Gilding against Nathan Aspinall.
When does the third round take place?
The darts return after Christmas on 27 December, with four consecutive days of double sessions at Alexandra Palace to leave the third and fourth round by 30 December.
World No. 1 Luke Humphries will play Nick Kenny in Friday afternoon's session, while Premier League champion Luke Littler will take on Ian White on Saturday night.
Elsewhere, Michael van Gerwen takes on Brendan Dolan (Saturday) and joint world champion Gerwyn Price hosts Joe Cullen (Friday).
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Luke Littler claimed the final set against Ryan Meikle in just 32 darts, setting up a third round meeting with Ian White
The players will have a night off on New Year's Eve ahead of the quarter-finals over two sessions on New Year's Day, with the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday 3 January.
A full day-by-day schedule for this year's tournament is available here here.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch all the matches live until January 3 on Sky Sports' exclusive darts channel. Stream darts and more sports favorites with NOW
