James Hurrell

Darts results: Dirk van Duijvenbode and Dave Chisnall both suffer five-set defeats at Ally Pally

By Sporting Life

Darts

Sat December 20, 2025 · 2h ago

Just two of six seeds progressed to the third round of the World Darts Championship as Dirk van Duijvenbode, Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Chris Dobey all bowed out.

Three seeded players were in action on Saturday afternoon – and only one of them survived.

That man was Ryan Searle, who continued his flawless start with a whitewash win against Brendan Dolan in which he outscored his opponent and was ruthless in taking the chances he created.

After Sweden's Andreas Harrysson also cruised to a 3-0 win over Motomu Sakai, anyone backing the four favourites together was halfway to a wonderful winter winner, but then everything was turned on its head.

Everything about Motomu Sakai is Box Office - even the look on his opponent's faces 🤣pic.twitter.com/hLCNZ1yCmj
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) December 20, 2025

First, van Duijvenbode fell in five sets to James Hurrell, who held his nerve for one of the biggest victories of his career.

Van Duijvenbode had been excellent in coming through another five-setter in the first round but missed far too many key doubles, his final attempt at them often falling short in a performance typified by the break of throw he suffered at the beginning of the final set.

Throwing first having fought his way back to parity, the Dutchman opened the door with three missed darts for the leg as Hurrell pinned double four, then threw a brilliant, double-bull 132 finish to get within a leg of victory.

Van Duijvenbode survived two match darts to hold and force Hurrell to throw for the match, but the Englishman stood up to the test.

There was more of the same to come as Chisnall fought from 2-0 down to take Ricardo Pietreczko the distance, only to lose in a tie-break.

Chisnall began the final set with an 11-dart leg and looked for all the world like he'd taken control, but went on to miss double 16 for what would've been a match-winning 143 checkout.

More misses from Chisnall allowed Pietreczko to break in 19 darts for a 3-2 lead and he cruised through the following leg to seal a hard-fought win over an opponent still some way short of his best.

WE'RE GOING TO A TIEBREAK!

Ricardo Pietreczko takes out a massive dart on double eight, capitalising on a missed match dart from Dave Chisnall to take us to a tiebreaker!

📺 https://t.co/59TualjgND #WCDarts | R2 pic.twitter.com/vEnGcD523z
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2025

Dobey gunned down by Goldfinger

The run of seeded losers continued into the evening where Smith was beaten 3-1 by Niels Zonneveld in a high-quality contest.

Former world champion Smith scored well enough but his opponent was just a step ahead in all departments, which helped him produce a pivotal break of throw in the fifth leg of set three.

Having taken the lead and now throwing first in the fourth set, Zonneveld broke again to power through the finish line.

Dobey suffered the same fate as Smith, beaten 3-1 by Andrew Gilding.

Dobey made a bright start and raced to the first set but after Gilding took the lead, Hollywood couldn't claw his way back into the match.

He went 2-0 up in set four but missed three darts to wrap it up on his own throw, then bullseye to save the match, before Gilding pinned tops at the first attempt.

Despite a brilliant 167 checkout, doubles were the problem for Dobey as last year's semi-finalist failed to reach round three for the first time since 2018.

There were no alarms at least for Stephen Bunting, who conceded just two legs to Nitin Kumar in a regulation 3-0 win, despite being well below his best for much of the match.

Saturday World Championship results & Sunday schedule

Saturday December 20
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

Ryan Searle 3-0 Brendan Dolan
Andreas Harrysson 3-0 Motomu Sakai
Dirk van Duijvenbode 2-3 James Hurrell
Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricardo Pietreczko

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

Michael Smith 1-3 Niels Zonneveld
Chris Dobey 1-3 Andrew Gilding
Stephen Bunting 3-0 Nitin Kumar
Jonny Clayton receives bye

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

Ryan Joyce v Krzysztof Ratajski
Joe Cullen v Mensur Suljovic
Luke Woodhouse v Max Hopp
Rob Cross v Ian White

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

Martin Schindler v Keane Barry
Gerwyn Price v Wesley Plaisier
Luke Littler v David Davies
Damon Heta v Stefan Bellmont

Darts: Related content

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