World Darts Championship: Gerwyn Price powers past Adam Gawlas as Danny Noppert, Chris Dobey also win

Gerwyn Price powered into the second round of the World Darts Championship with a convincing 3-0 win over Adam Gawlas of the Czech Republic.

Price, the 2021 world champion, lost just two legs as he produced some of the best darts at this year's tournament so far, still leaving room for improvement on the doubles too.

The Welshman will face Wesley Plaisier of the Netherlands in the second round on Sunday and remains on course to face Luke Littler in the quarter-finals should the pair come through their respective sides of the draw.

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"I played pretty decent I think in that game, apart from the two legs I gave away. I thought I was alright," Price told Sky Sports Darts.

"I needed to improve to win this tournament, but for a first-round game that was okay. The first round is always difficult, but to play someone like Adam, he's slow, it's hard work to get your pace and get rhythm and get some flow into the game."

Price simply outscored Gawlas, who was making just his second World Darts Championship appearance, from the off with 13 and 12-darters on his way to clinching the opening set.

He teased a nine-darter at the start of the second set but lost the leg after missing six darts at double, then was broken by Gawlas after missing more doubles.

But, Price turned on the afterburners again by winning the next three legs, claiming the set with a 120 checkout, then made it six legs in a row by coasting through the last set with a second 120 checkout.

Sixth seed Danny Noppert is a dark horse for the tournament but was pushed by Dutch compatriot Jurjen van der Velde, who brought some spray to try and keep the Alexandra Palace wasps away.

However, the wasp appeared during the second set which Van der Velde actually won to level things up before Noppert won a tight third set which enabled him to kick on and claim a 3-1 victory.

Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko also won by the same scoreline in a close contest against Portugal's Jose de Sousa. Three of the four sets went to deciding legs and Pietreczko edged two of them, then found a final flourish.

Australian Joe Comito earned his first win at the World Darts Championship with a gritty 3-1 win over Germany's Niko Springer.

Dobey safely through as Soutar survives almighty scare

Alan Soutar missed an incredible 15 match darts before eventually stumbling over the line on double 16 against Teemu Harju after a sudden-death shootout.

The Scottish firefighter, who is currently training for the London Marathon, dominated the opening two sets but let his opponent back in for the first sudden-death decider of the tournament.

'Soots' averaged 91, hit nine 180s and nailed a highest checkout of 130 to scrape through in an epic contest. John Part's record of 18 missed match darts against Andy Hamilton from the Players Championship Finals in 2013 remains intact.

It wasn't a Hollywood display, but Chris Dobey is up and running with last year's semi-finalist running out a 3-1 winner against Xiaochen Zong with the aid of six 180s. Dobey's victory means he will take on 'Goldfinger' Andrew Gilding in round two

Scott Williams was back at his brilliant best on the world championship stage, defying a tricky opponent in Paolo Nebrida to win 3-0.

The 2024 semi-finalist struggled with his throw earlier in the season, but looks back to his brilliant flowing best with a 99.25 average, a no-look 180, and an exhibition 25, 25 no-look double 16 finish. Williams capped off a sublime victory in trademark style with a 92 out on two double 18s.

'Happy Feet' Justin Hood wasted little time in dispatching Nick Kenny in straight sets, averaging north of 99 to breeze through.

What's next?

Day 7 on Wednesday at the World Darts Championship sees just one session from 7pm, live on Sky Sports Darts.

Canada's Matt Campbell kicks things off against USA's Adam Seveda before we see Raymond van Barneveld face Switzerland's Stefan Bellmont.

'The Machine' James Wade takes on Japan's Ryusei Azemoto before Germany's Martin Schindler concludes the night with England's Stephen Burton.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live all the way through until Saturday, January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.

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