Gerwyn Price is the ninth seed at this year’s PDC World Championship
Gerwyn Price commenced his quest for a second PDC world title, securing a convincing straight-sets victory over Adam Gawlas.
Price, aged 40, conceded only two of the 11 legs played, maintaining a 96.44 average and hitting six 180s in a dominant first-round performance.
Gawlas, a Czech thrower and former UK Open semi-finalist, was significantly outscored by Price throughout the match and was limited to a mere three darts at doubles.
Five years after his world title win, Welshman Price stands as a prominent contender to lift the trophy once again, following a consistent year marked by several deep runs in major tournaments.
“I played pretty decent apart from the two legs I gave away,” the ninth seed, who was well-supported by the Alexandra Palace crowd, told Sky Sports.
“I’ll need to improve to win this tournament but, for a first-round game, that was OK.”
Sixth seed Danny Noppert also progressed to round two with a 3-1 victory against fellow Dutchman Jurjen van der Velde, who notably attempted to ward off Alexandra Palace wasps by using bug spray on stage before the match.
Noppert is set to face another debutant, England’s Justin Hood, who achieved a 99.59 average in a straight-sets win over Nick Kenny of Wales during the afternoon session.
Chris Dobey’s 3-1 win against China’s Xiaochen Zong ensured that all three seeded players in action on Tuesday advanced to the last 64.
The 35-year-old Englishman has consistently reached at least the quarter-finals in the past three World Championships, including a semi-final appearance last year, and will next face former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.
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Alan Soutar has twice reached the last 16 of the PDC World Championship
In the day’s opening match, Scotland’s Alan Soutar overcame Finnish debutant Teemu Harju in a sudden-death leg, despite missing 15 match darts.
In an epic contest lasting nearly an hour and a half, 33-year-old Harju also missed four match darts of his own in the sixth leg of the deciding set.
Soutar, 47, initially surged into a two-set lead without dropping a leg, averaging 107.36 at that stage and converting six of his first eight attempts at doubles.
However, while Harju maintained a steady level of play, Soutar’s overall three-dart average declined to around 90, and he was unable to capitalize on opportunities to close out the match.
Harju held the advantage of throwing first in the 11th and deciding leg of the fifth set at Alexandra Palace, but Soutar broke to secure the win – landing his first dart at double 16 to complete a 45 checkout.
The record for the most missed match darts in a major match is 18, held by three-time world champion John Part.
Part, who was wearing glasses on stage for the first time, missed a series of doubles in a defeat to Andy Hamilton at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead in 2013.
Soutar is now set to face European Championship winner and 10th seed Gian van Veen of the Netherlands in round two.
England’s Scott Williams, a semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace in 2024, hit nine of his 14 attempts at doubles in a fine display of finishing as he beat Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines 3-0, while Ricardo Pietreczko of Germany defeated Portugal’s former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa 3-1.
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World Darts Championship 2026 schedule and results
There is no afternoon session on Wednesday, meaning play will commence at 19:00 GMT with four first-round ties scheduled.
Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld and multiple major winner James Wade are among the players in action.
Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju
Nick Kenny 0-3 Justin Hood
Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida
Chris Dobey 3-1 Xiaochen Zong
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 Jose de Sousa
Danny Noppert 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Gerwyn Price 3-0 Adam Gawlas
Niko Springer v Joe Comito
From 19:00 GMT:
Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada
Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont
James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto
Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton