Chris Dobey cruised past Gary Anderson; Jose de Sousa produced a huge comeback to go through; Alan Soutar rallied to knock out Danny Noppert; Wednesday's evening session includes Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Joe Cullen in action (7pm, Sky Sports Darts)
Wednesday 28 December 2022 19:17, UK
Chris Dobey denied Gary Anderson his 50th win on the Alexandra Palace stage as he cruised to a 4-1 victory at the Cazoo World Darts Championship.
Anderson exits in the third round for the first time since 2014 and, after the Flying Scotsman played down his chances pre-match, it came to fruition as he scuppered a 1-0 lead to crash out.
Anderson started the encounter with real intent and blew Dobey away as he romped to take three straight legs, a brilliant 121 finish securing the break of throw before sealing the set on tops and leaving Dobey no chance to answer.
The second set saw Dobey and Anderson trade breaks before a missed chance by the Flying Scotsman to take a 2-0 lead allowed Dobey to bring the contest level, taking out 50 with 18 and double 16 to peg Anderson back.
Despite Anderson seeming to be throwing the better darts, hitting six perfect darts in succession, Dobey managed to get himself into a 2-1 lead with some precision on the doubles that Anderson couldn't muster, then taking advantage of those errors to make it 3-1.
Inaccurate finishing then only made the encounter an even tougher task for Anderson as he missed three chances to hold his throw in the fifth set, allowing Dobey to take out tops on his throw to hold and take a 'Hollywood' victory.
Speaking after the contest, Dobey expressed his delight at getting over another "hurdle" at the Alexandra Palace and revealed that some words from Anderson in the break, which he "disagreed with", spurred him on.
"It was a big win, Gary is a class lad, one of the big names in darts. It is a massive win. I never gave up. That's the kind of lad I am, always fighting to the end. I am delighted to get the win," said Dobey.
"Gary said something to us in the last break and I didn't like it. It annoyed me and there was no way he was winning the game after that.
"I came out and tried to forget about it. He is a class lad but I didn't agree with what he said. I made sure I was winning this game.
"I have been in this position a number of times so I am hoping to get over that hurdle. I am still in the competition."
Alan Soutar put in one of the performances of his career so far as he fought back to complete a 4-2 victory over ninth seed Danny Noppert in the second match of the session.
Noppert got off to a perfect start against Soutar, getting the match under way with a maximum and 11-dart leg before securing the set 3-1 with a brilliant 104 finish.
The second set saw Noppert's accuracy on the trebles provide success as he continued to add to his maximum tally, taking the set in straight legs with Soutar unable to find an answer despite throwing at the tournament average.
However, the third set provided an unexpected chance for the Scotsman and he took it, taking advantage of a mistake on the 66 finish from Noppert for the break of throw before taking six straight legs to bring the tie level at 2-2.
From there, Soutar came alive with a sensational 152 finish to take the lead for the first time and make it 3-2, another huge 130 finish helping set up Soutar for the 4-2 victory in a comeback and performance to remember. A clash with Gabriel Clemens now awaits him in the last 16.
The opening match of Day 11 at the Alexandra Palace saw Jose de Sousa produce an almighty comeback against Ryan Searle, fighting back from 3-0 down to a 4-3 win to set up a clash with world No 1 Gerwyn Price in the last 16.
Searle took control to secure an early 3-0 lead against De Sousa, a break of throw together with some inaccuracy on the doubles from The Special One giving Heavy Metal the 1-0 lead. Searle then nullified a slight fightback from his opponent in the second set as he took out tops in the deciding leg.
A poor third set followed, in which both players were averaging below 90, but Searle was the better of the two once again as the doubles continued to trouble De Sousa.
However, The Special One then began a comeback to keep the match alive in the fourth set, concluding with D16 after slamming in a T20 with his first dart to make it 3-1. Two poor visits from Searle in the fifth set then forced a deciding leg in which De Sousa put himself well and truly back in the match, taking out the D8 to make it 3-2.
From there, De Sousa brought the match level as a huge maximum left him 98 which he took out on tops to take the match to a seventh set, finding his flow on the trebles and finally taking the victory on D2.
Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen takes on Austria's Mensur Suljovic in a blockbuster evening session, which also includes 'The Rockstar' Joe Cullen up against Damon Heta and 2022 runner-up Michael Smith versus Martin Schindler. Watch the action live from 7pm on Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports Main Event.
Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship - live on Sky Sports Darts - all the way through to the final on January 3.
