Former world champion Michael Smith crashed out of the PDC World Darts Championship after a 3-1 defeat to Dutchman Niels Zonneveld at Alexandra Palace. The 2023 champion missed a dart at double top for the third set, allowing Zonneveld to seal it with double ten and move ahead.
Smith then attempted a 170 finish but missed, and Zonneveld hit a 180 and a 77 checkout to break for 2-0 in the fourth set before closing out the match. Zonneveld, who will face fifth seed Johnny Clayton, said: "It means the world. I dreamed about this as a boy and now it came true."
Dave Chisnall, the 21st seed, was eliminated by Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko despite hitting 11 maximums. Chisnall missed a match dart in the final set after a remarkable recovery. Eighth seed Chris Dobey also fell, beaten 3-1 by Andrew Gilding, who averaged 99.01 and produced a 10-dart leg.
Dirk van Duijvenbode, the 29th seed, lost 3-2 to James Hurrell, who missed two match darts for a whitewash but held his nerve. Hurrell will meet fourth seed Stephen Bunting, who cruised past India's Nitin Kumar 3-0.
In other matches, Ryan Searle defeated Brendan Dolan in straight sets with an average above 98, while crowd favourite Motomu Sakai lost 3-0 to Sweden's Andreas Harrysson, who admitted concern over Sakai's exuberant walk-on.
