PDC World Championship: Ricky Evans beats James Wade as David Munyua exits in second round

Seventh seed James Wade suffered a fourth successive second-round exit at the PDC World Championship, losing a thrilling tie to fellow Englishman Ricky Evans.

Both players missed match darts in the deciding set, with world number 43 Evans eventually taking it 6-4 in the fifth.

Wade is the highest-ranked seed to be eliminated so far and his defeat, along with Wessel Nijman’s loss earlier on Monday, means 14 of the 32 seeded players have been knocked out.

Dutch 31st seed Nijman lost in straight sets to Germany’s Gabriel Clemens, who reached the semi-finals in 2023.

Elsewhere, Kenyan debutant David Munyua was unable to follow up his shock win over Mike de Decker in round one, winning just two legs in a 3-0 defeat by world number 40 Kevin Doets.

Scotland’s Darren Beveridge was beaten 3-1 by Latvia’s Madars Razma in Monday’s opening match.

Wade’s first-round victory was his first win at Alexandra Palace since 2022, when he reached the semi-finals for the fourth time.

Against Evans, the 42-year-old twice fought back from a set behind and was 2-0 down in legs in the decider before forcing a tie-break – meaning victory would need to be achieved by two clear legs.

Evans broke Wade’s throw in the fifth leg and although the left-hander responded immediately with a clinical 94 checkout to extend the match, Evans made sure he got the job done by breaking again before holding throw with a 99 finish.

«Imagine coming to the darts and winning 3-0 – what’s the point? Make it interesting,» said a joyous Evans on stage.

Munyua’s first-round win over 18th seed and former World Grand Prix winner De Decker has been one of the stories of the tournament so far.

After another entertaining walk-on, the 30-year-old – who works full-time as a vet – enjoyed huge support in the early stages against Dutchman Doets.

Munyua brought the fans to their feet with three 180s in the opening set, but Doets was able to take the sting out of the occasion by moving ahead.

Despite missing 23 of his 32 attempts at doubles in the match, he was a comfortable winner and will face either Nathan Aspinall or Leonard Gates in the last 32.

Number two seed and 2024 world champion Luke Humphries is among the players in second-round action during Monday’s evening session, which starts at 19:00 GMT.

Humphries will play 71-year-old Paul Lim, who became the oldest player to win a PDC World Championship match earlier in the tournament, with Clemens to meet the victor in round three.

European Championship winner Gian van Veen and former World Matchplay champion Aspinall will also be aiming to reach the third round.

From 19:00 GMT: