beats

World number 86 Justin Hood beat sixth seed Danny Noppert in an Alexandra Palace classic as three more seeds exited the PDC World Championship on the final day of competition before the Christmas break.

Hood won a sudden-death leg of a high-quality match to progress to the last 32, having missed a dart at the bull to win in straight sets.

Noppert fought back to force a decider and, helped by some clutch ton-plus finishes throughout, created a victory chance for himself in a dramatic final set.

But Hood, the 32-year-old debutant, held his nerve in the final leg to land a 78 finish, setting up a third-round tie with fellow English left-hander Ryan Meikle.

Both players averaged more than 102 and hit more than 40% of their attempts at doubles.

Hood told Sky Sports: “It was a good game and I knew it would be because Danny is a class player.

“I don’t worry about the pressure, I just throw the darts and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough. Tonight it was.”

Seventeen of the 32 seeds have been knocked out in the opening two rounds of the tournament, with Noppert the highest-ranked player to fall so far.

Also beaten on Tuesday were two-time former champion Peter Wright, who lost in straight sets to German debutant Arno Merk, and Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney, who came out on the wrong side of a deciding set with England’s Callan Rydz.

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.

Alfie Burden beat Stuart Bingham 63-8 to win the Snooker Shoot Out and claim his first ranking title in Blackpool.

He turns 49 on Sunday but started the celebrations early by climbing on the table to huge cheers once victory was confirmed at Blackpool Tower Circus.

Burden, who won the World Seniors Championship in May, takes home the £50,000 prize.

“I’ve had a 30-year career and it has been mainly downs – I’ve underperformed – but tonight is a night for me,” Burden told TNT Sports.

“I’d like to thank all my family and friends for all the belief they’ve had in me. This is a special moment and I’m going to cherish it.”

Bingham finished runner-up at the Snooker Shoot Out in 2014 but passed up the opportunity to mount a fightback from 56-7 with three minutes on the clock.

The 2015 World Champion put away a red but was well wide of the mark when going at the blue.

“He looked so cool and calm all the way through. He played brilliantly from the start,” Bingham told TNT Sports.

Snooker Shoot Out is a single-frame game with a maximum length of 10 minutes and players facing a shot clock.

Players have 15 seconds to complete each shot in the first five minutes of the match and 10 seconds during the final five minutes.

Elsewhere on the opening night, 2023 world champion Michael Smith beat Women’s World Matchplay winner Lisa Ashton 3-0.

Ashton, who had the majority of the crowd on her side, won two of the first three legs but Englishman Smith, 35, then put together a run of seven successive legs on his way to securing a spot in the last 64.

“That first set was nerve-wracking,” Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live. “As soon as I walked out, the crowd was on me straight away.

“I expected it but I thought if I go 1-0 down, it was going to get worse and worse.

“I tried to force things that weren’t there, but when I took that first set, it was happy days. I started to settle in then and nearly threw it away in the last set, but we’ll take the win.”

German debutant Arno Merk and Latvia’s Madars Razma also made it through to round two with 3-1 wins against Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts and Dutchman Jamai van den Herik respectively.

A total of 128 players are competing in the World Championship, up from 96 last year, for an increased first prize of £1m.

The first round is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 19 December, with the final taking place on Saturday, 3 January 2026.