Darts results: Dimitri Van den Bergh crashes out to Florian Hempel at the PDC World Darts Championship

Florian Hempel caused the upset of the PDC World Darts Championship so far as he knocked out fifth seed Dimitri Van den Bergh with a breathtaking display of doubling.

The German, who is playing in just his second televised tournament since earning his Tour Card back in January, showed no sign of nerves against one of the tournament favourites as he pinned nine of his 12 attempts at the outer ring (75%) and also produced clinical checkouts of 104 and 100.

Hempel averaged an impressive 98.37 and hit five of the 11 maximums in the match and although Van den Bergh also scored powerfully with an average of 101.78, the Belgian was made to pay for missing 11 of his 17 doubles.

Michael Smith produced the performance of the tournament so far as he averaged 106.32 in a 3-0 thrashing of Ron Meulenkamp.

Bully Boy, who was tipped up pre-tournament on these pages at 25/1, threw six of the seven 180s in the match, pinned nine of his 12 doubles (75%) and fired in a 110 checkout while his Dutch opponent only managed two attempts to finish, hitting one of them.

Smith is in one of the toughest quarters alongside Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton but on this evidence, neither will want to play him.

Click here for a 10/1 Sporting Life RequestABet

Another seed fell in the final match of the night as Devon Petersen slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of debutant Raymond Smith.

The 28th seed has endured an alarming season in stark contrast to his impressive 2020 and was unable to lift his game for the Ally Pally crowd as he averaged just 87 compared to his opponent's 93.25.

Petersen only managed to hit three of his eight attempts at doubles as Smith clinically pinned nine of his 16 and also weighed in with a 121 checkout.

In the opener, Vincent Van der Voort claimed a 3-0 victory over Adam Hunt that was closer than the scoreline suggested.

The Dutchman pinched the first two sets in deciding legs before romping away with the third 3-0 and he'll next meet James Wade.

Van der Voort averaged 89.55 compared to Hunt's 92.01, hit three of the eight 180s and only hit 27.3% of his doubles (9/33) as his opponent hit four of his 11 (36.4%.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mervyn King rattled off nine successive legs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory on day seven of the World Championship.

King was in big danger against Ryan Joyce, who took six of the first seven legs and was hunting another break of throw at the start of the third set.

Then came the turning point as King took out 120, began the next leg with back-to-back 140s for an easy break, and closed out the set to halve his deficit in the blink of an eye.

Joyce then missed four darts to hold throw at the start of set four as King swooped in, breaking again to win the set with an 87 finish which forced a decider.

As if to underline that the tide had fully turned, King kicked off set five with a 180 to Joyce's 71, the latter then missing four darts for the following leg before King took out 110 to complete the comeback.

Click here for a 10/1 Sporting Life RequestABet

Chizzy proves a real rascal

Dave Chisnall was a ready 3-0 winner against Mike de Decker, although the scoreline failed to reflect how close these two were - indeed both averaged 96.43.

Chisnall though won the important legs, most notably the fifth in set one which saw him hit double five with his final dart, knowing that de Decker stood waiting on eight.

If that was a blow to de Decker then Chisnall's 146 to steal the opening leg of set two made life really difficult and the St Helens man added a smart 63 finish to extend his advantage, before taking out 95 to go 2-0 up.

Chisnall then needed a 12-darter to hold at the start of set three, broke with a 94 finish, and was again under pressure when hitting double five once more to finish a match which was competitive throughout.

Welsh wonder impresses

Lewy Williams enjoyed a dream debut as he whitewashed Japan's Toyokazu Shibata 3-0, with the Welsh teenager to face Gabriel Clemens in round two.

Williams was solid throughout, buoyed no doubt by the seven missed darts at double Shibata produced in the very first leg of the match.

Bossing matters thereafter, Williams dropped just two legs, averaging 93.05 and doing enough to suggest he could give Clemens plenty to think about in the second round.

Jason Lowe also enjoyed a 3-0 win against Sweden's Daniel Larsson, losing just one leg to set up a meeting with seventh seed Jose de Sousa.

Lowe was quick to find his stride when it came to heavy scoring, but having missed a dart for an 11-darter to open proceedings, it eventually took him 23 to get the job done.

Further problems on doubles continued to dog him in the early stages, but by the end of the match he'd upped his return to an unlikely 31 per cent and again suggested de Sousa will have to be alert to the possibility of an upset.

Tuesday's results & Wednesday's schedule

Tuesday December 21
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Lewy Williams (93.05) 3-0 (75.17) Toyokazu Shibata (R1)
  (Set scores: 3-1, 3-1, 3-0)
• Jason Lowe (88.89) 3-0 (78.13) Daniel Larsson (R1)
  (Set scores: 3-0, 3-1, 3-0)
• Mervyn King (92.72) 3-2 (93.47) Ryan Joyce (R2)
  (Set scores: 1-3, 0-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-0)
• Dave Chisnall (96.43) 3-0 (96.43) Mike De Decker (R2)
  (Set scores: 3-2, 3-1, 3-1)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Vincent van der Voort (89.55) 3-0 (92.01) Adam Hunt (R2)
  (Set Scores: 3-2, 3-2, 3-0)
• Michael Smith (106.32) 3-0 (90.66) Ron Meulenkamp (R2)
  (Set Scores: 3-0, 3-1, 3-0)
• Dimitri Van den Bergh (101.78) 1-3 (98.37) Florian Hempel (R2)
  (Set Scores: 2-3, 3-0, 1-3, 0-3)
• Devon Petersen (87.03) 0-3 (93.25) Raymond Smith (R2)
  (Set Scores: 0-3, 1-3, 2-3)

Wednesday December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Ryan Searle v William Borland (R2)
• Glen Durrant v William O’Connor (R2)
• Luke Humphries v Rowby-John Rodriguez (R2)
• Joe Cullen v Jim Williams (R2)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Nathan Aspinall v Joe Murnan (R2)
• Dirk van Duijvenbode v Boris Koltsov (R2)
• Kim Huybrechts v Beaton/Sherrock (R2)
• Simon Whitlock v Martijn Kleermaker (R2)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT DRAW AND SCHEDULE

World Darts: Related content

• 2022 World Championship draw
• 2022 World Championship guide
• 2022 World Darts betting tips
• Match Treble Masters: Vital stats
• Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally column
• Gerwyn Price exclusive
• Fallon Sherrock exclusive
• World Championship nine-darters
• 2022 Premier League schedule
• Should Sherrock be in the Premier League
• 2021 PDC Darts Calendar
• Greatest darts rivalries
• Phil Taylor's greatest display
• World Cup of Great Darts performances
• Dimi v Humphries: A rivalry for the future
• Fantasy Darts: Bristow v MVG
• Fantasy Darts: Cross v Deller
• Fantasy Darts: Taylor v Burnett
• Fantasy Darts: Hankey v Durrant
• Fantasy Darts: Rees v Price
• Sky Bet's darts odds