James Wade, the eighth seed became the biggest name to exit this year’s PDC World Championship tournament, following a dramatic deciding-set defeat to Welshman Jim Williams.
Wade made an assured start, winning the opening set with a flawless display of finishing and kicking off set two with a 107 combination, only for Williams to reply with six straight legs to storm into a 2-1 lead.
Wade – a four-time semi-finalist in the sport’s showpiece event – responded by completing a clean sweep in set four, taking out an 84 kill to level the tie as the pendulum continued to shift.
Williams, a former Lakeside finalist, was undeterred however, following up a clutch 66 finish with a 13-dart hold to 2-1 ahead in set five, and a fourth 180 propelled the Welshman to a landmark victory.
“It’s one of the biggest wins of my career,” admitted Williams, who won his maiden PDC title at a Players Championship event back in March.
“It was a tough game. I think it was tough for James as well, it’s his first game and he’s a fantastic player. I think I tried a bit too hard, but I dragged it out of myself at the end.”
The second round draws to a close on Friday at the Cazoo World Darts Championship, with 2018 winner Rob Cross in action, alongside Jonny Clayton, Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen.
The Cazoo World Darts Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship
Thursday December 22
Afternoon Session
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Danny Jansen (3-1, 0-3, 3-1, 3-1)
Ryan Searle 3-0 Adam Gawlas (3-2, 3-1, 3-0)
Mensur Suljovic 3-0 Mike De Decker (3-1, 3-2, 3-1)
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-2 Karel Sedlacek (3-1,1-3, 2-3, 3-1, 4-2)
Evening Session
4x Second Round
Gary Anderson 3-1 Madars Razma (3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2)
Jim Williams 3-2 James Wade (1-3, 3-1, 3-0, 0-3, 3-1)
Luke Humphries 3-2 Florian Hempel (2-3, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1)
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Cameron Menzies (3-0, 3-1, 3-2)
Friday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan v Jimmy Hendriks
Chris Dobey v Martijn Kleermaker
Ross Smith v Darius Labanauskas
Rob Cross v Scott Williams
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Martin Schindler v Martin Lukeman
Danny Noppert v David Cameron
Jonny Clayton v Danny van Trijp
Joe Cullen v Ricky Evans
—–ENDS—–
Steven Paston/PDC.
