Dave Chisnall became the latest high-profile seed to exit the PDC World Championship, losing to Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko despite hitting 11 maximums. The 21st seed missed a match dart in the deciding set, paying the price for wayward doubles as Pietreczko advanced to the third round.
Former world champion Michael Smith also crashed out, beaten 3-1 by Dutch qualifier Niels Zonneveld. The 2023 champion missed a dart at double top for the third set, allowing Zonneveld to seize control. Smith then attempted a 170 finish but missed, and Zonneveld sealed a memorable victory.
Eighth seed Chris Dobey fell to a superb display from 55-year-old Andrew Gilding, who averaged over 99 and hit a 10-dart leg in a 3-1 win. 'How do I feel? Amazing,' said Gilding. 'I felt really bad in practice, but that's usually a good sign.'
James Hurrell caused another upset, edging 29th seed Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-2, despite missing two match darts. Hurrell will next face fourth seed Stephen Bunting, who avoided the shocks with a 3-0 victory over India's Nitin Kumar.
Sweden's Andreas Harrysson ended the run of crowd favourite Motomu Sakai, admitting he was worried by the Japanese player's energetic walk-on. Harrysson won 3-0 after previously defeating 12th seed Ross Smith.
