World Darts Championship LIVE RESULTS: Cross & Chisnall BOTH OUT as record seeds fall before Christmas – updates

Scott Williams on Cross upset

Rob Cross' conqueror Scott Williams has admitted that it was hard to knock out his close pal.

Speaking after his 3-1 upset win, Williams said: "It’s so tough, because Rob is one of my closest friends.

“Neither of us were great tonight, but Rob missed doubles and gave me a chance, so when you get given opportunities, you’ve got to take it.

“I’m always confident, regardless of who I’m playing, but I’m just looking forward to having Christmas with the family now.”

Ricky Evans on crowd support

Dave Chisnall's conqueror Ricky Evans can't quite believe his new-found status as an Ally Pally favourite.

He told Sky Sports: "I don’t get this treatment in my household. Why are they cheering me on – ‘Ricky Evans, Ricky Evans’ – I don’t understand it.

"I kept telling them to shut up. I’m trying to win a game here, but they were getting louder and louder.

"But thank you very much, you’ve made a fat guy very happy."

Ricky Evans on Chisnall upset

Ricky Evans was modest after upsetting Dave Chisnall at Ally Pally.

He told Sky Sports: "I’ve played a world class darts player and it’s nice to say I’ve won a game and played well. Normally it’s poo.

"What am I doing the other 11 months of the year?"

Littler's opponent on next round

Luke Littler's next opponent Ian White is not scared to face the teenage wonderkid.

Speaking after booking his place in round two, White was asked if he knew who he'd be facing in the next round.

He said: "Yeah, Runcorn’s No2. I’m from Runcorn and I’m No1! Hopefully it will be a better game than what I played tonight.

“You want to cause an upset, you’re going to be the underdog but I’m all for it.

"Luke Littler’s done everything for this sport at the moment over the last two years, so bring it on."

Joe Cullen fumes

Joe Cullen stormed out of a press conference after beating Wessel Nijman 3-0.

Following his win Cullen, who will play Gerwyn Price next, said: "I think the way I’ve been treated probably with the media and things like that – I know you guys have no control over the bookies – I’ve been shown no respect, so I won’t be showing any respect to any of you guys tonight.

"I’m going to go home. Cheers.”

De Graaf on Anderson upset

Jeffrey de Graaf has admitted how nervous he was after knocking Gary Anderson out of the PDC World Darts Championship.

He said: "It’s great. Gary didn’t really show up as he usually does but I am very happy with the win.

“I was very nervous after the first set and even when I was 2-0 up I was thinking to myself, ‘what’s going on now?’

"You could see that maybe with a few darts as well, when I missed. It was just the nerves getting in but I’m happy that I got it through in the end."

Littler favourite for title

Luke Littler is still the overwhelming favourite to win the 2025 World Darts Championship, despite admitting he struggled with nerves during his opening match.

The 17-year-old is 6/4 with Sky Bet to take the title, with Luke Humphries second favourite at 5/2.

Michael van Gerwen is 11/2, while Gerwyn Price is next in line at 18/1. Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting are then ranked as 25/1 outsiders.

Sky Sports forced to apologise

Sky Sports were forced to apologise to viewers after Ricardo Pietreczko's victory over Gian van Veen in the second round of the World Darts Championship.

The 30-year-old managed to hit 10 of his 18 doubles attempts, with his clinical finishing the difference as he secured a convincing 3-1 win.

In his post-match interview, Pietreczko slipped up by letting out a swear word.

The German was discussing his improved form since his Players Championship defeat to Darren Beveridge at the end of October.

Asked to sum up his thoughts on the match, Pietreczko said: "It was really important for me because at the Players Championship it was a very s**t game for me."

Sky Sports presenter Emma Paton was quick to address Pietreczko's slip of the tongue, saying: "Yeah, apologies for some of the language that you heard there."

Robb Cross should expect ‘hefty’ fine

Rob Cross can expect a hefty fine from the Darts Regulation Authority for his lewd gesture last night, according to Darts News.

The 34-year-old imitated a sexual gesture during his World Darts Championship defeat to Scott Williams yesterday.

The motion was caught by the Sky Sports cameras, with Williams going on to win the match 3-1 and book his place in the third round.

Evans trolls Chisnall: Christmas calculator

Ricky Evans rubbed salt into Dave Chisnall's wounds by vowing to “get him a calculator for Christmas” after his rival's counting mishap in their World Championship match last night.

Needing a 139 checkout to keep the second round clash alive in the fifth set, Chisnall left himself double 20 after two darts.

But for some reason Chizzy thought he needed 32 instead of 40 and took out the double 16, before celebrating emphatically as he pointed his finger to the crowd.

His mistake was then explained to him by the match referee, and Chisnall eventually walked back to his marker with his head in his hands.

And Evans spoke on the incident in his post-match press conference after securing victory.

He said: “I was literally looking at the double and thought, ‘This is going in.’ Then I thought, 'Where's he gone here?’ Literally I thought he's maybe slipped or something.

“And of course, soon as I saw it was in the board, I mean normally I'd get involved and go, 'Wahey' or something. But no, I just turned away and let him carry on.

“I mean he won that leg so it doesn't matter, it's irrelevant now. But yeah I thought, 'Cheers Chiz', and I'll get him a calculator for Christmas bless him.”

Ross Smith threw his darts into the Ally Pally crowd

Smith launched his darts into the Ally Pally crowd following shock defeat to Paolo Nebrida in the World Championship on Monday.

Filipino Nebrida took a stunning 3-0 victory to progress into the third round.

Smith - the 19th seed - was captured throwing his darts - which were safely in a box - into the crowd following the shock result.

And he later posted on social media: "Very disappointed with my performance last night. There are no excuses."

Why did Luke Littler break down and cry?

Despite making the next round, Littler burst into tears and had to cut short a post-game Sky Sports TV interview.

The 17-year-old then needed the embrace of his parents.

Littler admitted his nerves were so bad on Saturday night that he walked on stage and thought: "I don’t want to be here."

Littler explained: “That game (against Ryan Meikle) was probably the most important game I have ever played.

“All week I was looking forward and excited to play on the stage with no nerves.

“The train journey down here was fine."

Latest Paddy Power odds for the World Championship winner

Now that 14 seeded players have dropped out early, here are the latest betting odds for the Ally Pally winner come January.

• Luke Littler - 5/4
• Luke Humphries - 11/4
• Michael van Gerwen - 13/2
• Gerwyn Price - 16/1
• Chris Dobey -25/1
• Stephen Bunting - 25/1
• Dimitri Van den Bergh - 33/1
• Jonny Clayton - 33/1
• Josh Rock - 33/1
• Nathan Aspinall - 33/1

Stories of the first week at the World Championships

Best pre-Christmas darts ever?

Rob Cross became the 14th seed to be knocked out of the World Championship by the second round - a new record.

In an earlier shock on Monday evening, world No6 Dave Chisnall crashed out at the hands of Ricky Evans in a thriller.

Which other seeded players are out?

• Michael Smith (2)
• Rob Cross (5)
• Dave Chisnall (6)
• Danny Noppert (13)
• Gary Anderson (14)
• James Wade (16)
• Ross Smith (19)
• Martin Schindler (23)
• Mike De Decker (24)
• Dirk van Duijvenbode (25)
• Gabriel Clemens (27)
• Gian van Veen (28)
• Ritchie Edhouse (29)
• Raymond van Barneveld (32)

Sky Sports Darts presenter Anna Woolhouse shares a moving tribute to her late brother

Harry Woolhouse tragically passed away in a Malaysian bus crash 10 years ago.

The double-decker span out of control in slippery conditions while taking a group of tourists to Singapore and fell down a 15-metre slope into a ravine.

A decade on from the horrific accident, Sky Sports host Anna has shared a touching tribute to her brother on what would have been his 43rd birthday.

Alongside four photos, she wrote on Instagram: "Happy Heavenly Birthday Harry.

"Today you would have been 43, you are missed more than ever."

When is Luke Littler back in action?

Littler faces Ian White in Round 3 on Saturday 28 December.

It is the last match of the day.

Good morning darts fans!

Looking forward to today's action ahead!?

Well, sorry to disappoint you but the board is closed for Christmas!

It was some night last night to round it off pre-Christmas as yet more big seeds fell at the early hurdle.

That's now 14 seeds dumped out by this stage - a record for the competition.

Play resumes on Friday. Now just the small matter of Christmas and Boxing Sport Day to get through...

Weird one

Now that the evening session is over, it's hit just how strange a night that was.

Three seeds knocked out in four matches.

One going the distance to a deciding 11th leg in set five.

Barry from Eastenders keeping the crowd entertained on the microphone.

And Peter Lovenkrands' boy making an appearance. What a sport.

Seedless

It's been a quite ridiculous week at the oche, with some big names flopping on the big stage.

In fact, that's now a RECORD 14 SEEDS that have been dumped out by the end of round 2 - the most ever!

• M Smith (2)
• Cross (5)
• Chisnall (6)
• Noppert (13)
• Anderson (14)
• Wade (16)
• R Smith (19)
• Schindler (22)
• De Decker (24)
• Van Duijvenbode (25)
• Clemens (27)
• Van Veen (28)
• Edhouse (29)
• Van Barneveld (32)

On a break

So that's the darts packed away for a couple of days over Christmas, with the third round coming in a few days.

96 players started out just over a week ago, 32 remain.

Here's the next day of darts and what we've got to look forward to:

Friday December 27

Afternoon session

• Damon Heta vs Luke Woodhouse
• Jonny Clayton vs Daryl Gurney
• Stephen Bunting vs Madars Razma

Evening session

• Gerwyn Price vs Joe Cullen
• Jermaine Wattimena vs Peter Wright
• Luke Humphries vs Nick Kenny

Tonight's results

Elsewhere, it was a brilliant night of darting action, with the Dave Chisnall vs Ricky Evans the clear highlight of the night - and probably the tournament so far.

Here's how tonight's session finished:

• Gian van Veen 1-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
• Daryl Gurney 3-2 Florian Hempel
• Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricky Evans
• Rob Cross 1-3 Scott Williams

Cross not at it

Just a really average night for Rob Cross as he exits at this early stage.

What will hurt him most is pal Scott Williams didn't even have to play well himself to get the win.

He'll play Ricardo Pietreczko when we return later in the week.