Winning start for Price at PDC World Championship

Gerwyn Price began his quest for a second PDC world title with a convincing straight sets victory over Adam Gawlas.

Price, 40, lost just two of 11 matches played, averaging 96.44 and carded six 180s in a dominant first round.

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Czech thrower Gawlas, a former UK Open semi-finalist, was largely dominated by Price throughout and was limited to just three darts in doubles during the entire competition.

Five years on from his world title, Welshman Price is among the favorites to win the trophy again this time around, following a consistent year in which he made several deep runs at major tournaments.

“I played pretty well apart from the two matches I conceded,” the ninth seed, who enjoyed good support from the Alexandra Palace crowd, told Sky Sports.

“I will have to improve to win this tournament but, for a first round match, it was OK.”

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Sixth seed Danny Noppert also reached the second round with a 3-1 win over fellow Dutchman Jurjen van der Velde, who attempted to combat Alexandra Palace wasps by using insecticide on stage before the match.

Noppert will next face another debutant, England’s Justin Hood, who averaged 99.59 in a straight-sets victory over Welshman Nick Kenny in the afternoon session.

Chris Dobey’s 3-1 victory over China’s Xiaochen Zong sent the three seeds in action on Tuesday into the last 64.

The 35-year-old Englishman has reached at least the quarter-finals at each of the last three World Championships, including a semi-final run last year, and will next face former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.

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Soutar wins epic after missing 15 match darts

In the opening match of the day, Scotland’s Alan Soutar missed 15 darts before finally defeating Finnish debutant Teemu Harju in a sudden-death stage.

In an epic affair that lasted almost an hour and a half, Harju, 33, missed four match darts in the sixth game of the deciding set.

Soutar, 47, had taken a two-set lead without losing a leg, averaging 107.36 at that stage and succeeding in six of his first eight doubles attempts.

But while Harju maintained a steady level, Soutar’s overall three-dart average fell closer to 90 and when opportunities arose he was unable to put the match away.

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Harju had the advantage to throw first in the 11th and decisive stage of the fifth set at Alexandra Palace, but Soutar broke to win – landing his first dart at double 16 to complete a check-out of 45.

The record number of missed darts in a major match is 18, according to three-time world champion John Part.

Part wore glasses on stage for the first time and missed a succession of doubles in a defeat to Andy Hamilton in the Players Championship final at Minehead in 2013.

Soutar will face European Championship winner and 10th seed Gian van Veen of the Netherlands in the second round.

England’s Scott Williams, a semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace in 2024, hit nine of his 14 doubles attempts in a fine display to beat Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines 3-0, while Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko beat former Portuguese Grand Slam champion José de Sousa 3-1.

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There will be no afternoon session on Wednesday, meaning play will start at 19:00 GMT with four first round ties scheduled.

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld and multiple major winner James Wade are among the players in action.

Tuesday’s results

• Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju

• Nick Kenny 0-3 Justin Hood

• Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida

• Chris Dobey 3-1 Xiaochen Zong

• Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 José de Sousa

• Danny Noppert 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde

• Gerwyn Price 3-0 Adam Gawlas

• Niko Springer vs. Joe Comito

Wednesday program

From 7:00 p.m. GMT:

• Matt Campbell vs. Adam Sevada

• Raymond van Barneveld vs. Stefan Bellmont

• James Wade vs. Ryusei Azemoto

• Martin Schindler vs. Stephen Burton