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Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen says Peter Wright should retire following his emphatic defeat in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship.

Two-time world champion Wright won just two legs and averaged below 80 as he was surprisingly beaten by debutant Arno Merk on Tuesday.

Van Gerwen said he was “not surprised by his performance” given the Scotsman’s inconsistent recent record and added that “it’s time for him to retire anyway”.

The 36-year-old Dutchman beat William O’Connor to reach the third round at Alexandra Palace.

Wright, who became world champion in 2020 and 2022, has not made it past the quarter-finals of any televised ranking tournament in the past two years.

The 55-year-old last won a European Tour event in 2024 and a Players Championship in 2022.

Wright was not selected for the 2025 Premier League Darts season and failed to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time since 2012.

The Dutchman’s comments follow Wright’s recent suggestion that Van Gerwen’s “vision is probably going”., external

Englishman James Wade began his PDC World Darts Championship campaign with a 3-0 triumph over Ryusei Azemoto, while Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock first-round exit.

Five-time world champion Van Barneveld looked out of sorts as he went down in straight sets to Stefan Bellmont, the first Swiss winner at Alexandra Palace.

Seventh seed Wade only let one leg slip in a dominant victory against Japan’s Azemoto.

“Tonight showed the practice I’ve been doing. It wasn’t spectacular but when I really needed to hit something, it happened,” said four-time semi-finalist Wade.

He finished with an average of 94.75, compared to Azemoto’s 84.42, and the 42-year-old will take on Ricky Evans in the second round on Monday.

Van Barneveld looked a shadow of the player who won four BDO world titles before lifting the PDC crown in 2007.

The 58-year-old Dutchman took the opening leg but then lost eight in succession.

Despite a higher average than his opponent, he checked out just 25% of his doubles while Bellmont hit 39%.

American debutant Adam Sevada came out on top in the the first game on Wednesday, seeing off Canadian Matt Campbell 3-1.

It was tight for much of their encounter but Sevada’s marginally better performance on doubles made the difference as he won 11 legs to Campbell’s six.

European champion Gian van Veen has booked his place in the second round of the PDC World Championship but 12th seed Ross Smith suffered a shock first-round exit.

Expectations are high for Van Veen after a successful 2025 and, after falling at the first hurdle in his two previous visits to Alexandra Palace, there will have been an element of relief following his 3-1 win over Spain’s Cristo Reyes.

The Dutch 10th seed, a two-time world youth champion, battled to victory in the first set despite being short of his best before stepping it up in the second, averaging 107, to go 2-0 up.

Reyes hit back in the third after taking out 167 to win the first leg and earned a break in the fourth, only for Van Veen to show his grit and come back to secure his first win at the tournament.

“Finally across that line,” the 23-year-old, who averaged 98.91, told Sky Sports.

“Today, walking on this stage, you feel like a 16-year-old again – I was so nervous! But as soon as the first darts went in, I was like ‘OK, you belong here’.”

But while Van Veen can prepare for round two, Smith is heading home after a 3-2 loss to 50-year-old debutant Andreas Harrysson of Sweden.

Smith missed six match darts in the fourth set and was made to pay as Harryson pressed on to win the deciding set by three legs to one.

Also in the evening session, England’s Ricky Evans beat Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung 3-0 and Australian 16th seed Damon Heta earned a 3-1 win over Ireland’s Steve Lennon.