Preview, order of play, how you can watch and predictions as Luke Littler returns to the stage

Predominant Occasion

It says a lot concerning the new order in darts that Michael van Gerwen is not going to take centre stage on Saturday evening on the World Championship.

As an alternative, Luke Littler would be the headline act at Alexandra Palace when he takes on Ian White of their third-round assembly.

It has been a outstanding 12 months for the 17-year-old who was halfway by way of his run to the ultimate this time final 12 months in addition to establishing himself as one of many largest names in sport regardless of his tender years.

Littler confirmed a hardly ever seen vulnerability in his opening match in opposition to Ryan Meikle final Saturday, nevertheless. He was fully out of types for the primary three units earlier than flicking a swap and producing an incredible 140.91 common within the fourth – the best one-set common within the historical past of the match.

LITTLER WINS WITH A RECORD BREAKING SET 🤯

An eleven darter, a ten darter and an eleven darter from Luke Littler as he averages 140.91 within the closing set to beat Ryan Meikle.

Merely ridiculous from this particular expertise 🙌

He’s into the Third Spherical! pic.twitter.com/0j9CQGYHKU

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 21, 2024

However he couldn’t full his on-stage interview, breaking down in tears and admitting he was affected by nerves.

That could be an element once more tomorrow, though he may very well be helped by the very fact he’s taking part in a well-recognized face with White additionally hailing from Littler’s residence city of Runcorn.

White, who beat Ritchie Edhouse within the second spherical, used to compete in opposition to Littler’s grandad within the north-west leagues.

The 54-year-old stated: “After I first began in darts, I performed in opposition to his grandad, Phil, in Runcorn.

“I used to beat him on a regular basis. He performed for the Albion. Native groups. We used to play in opposition to him a great deal of instances. We had banter.

“I’m wanting ahead to it. I can’t wait.”

Van Gerwen just isn’t the power he as soon as was and must navigate a difficult check in opposition to veteran Irishman Brendan Dolan in match two of the night session.

The Dutchman was a convincing 3-0 winner over James Burrell in his opener and confirmed flashes of the brilliance that carried him to a few world titles.

“I believe in patches I did effectively, however the tank remains to be full,” he stated.

“I believe I did sufficient, and that’s the one factor that issues, particularly figuring out that I didn’t have one of the best 12 months of my profession.

“I like to carry out on phases like this. It provides me quite a lot of vitality, and the ambiance undoubtedly gave me goosebumps.”

Order of Play – all third spherical matches

Afternoon session (from 1230 UK time)
Ryan Joyce v Ryan Searle
Scott Williams v Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Night session (from 1900 UK time)
Chris Dobey v Josh Rock
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Luke Littler v Ian White

Find out how to watch

The PDC World Championship is being screened on Sky Sports activities within the UK.
You possibly can watch the afternoon session on Sky Sports activities Darts and Predominant Occasion from 12:30 GMT. The night session is on Sky Sports activities Darts and Predominant Occasion from 1900.

Predictions

The fascination with Littler just isn’t a lot if he’ll win, however how he performs. He may have an excessive amount of firepower for White however his stunning bout of nerves in opposition to Meikle would have been an eye-opener for his rivals.

If he can show he accustomed composure then regular service will likely be resumed and his marketing campaign will likely be again on monitor. If not, then extra doubts will likely be raised as to his possibilities this 12 months.

Van Gerwen might discover it tough in opposition to world quantity 30 Dolan however must have sufficient to recover from the road.

The night session opens with an fascinating conflict between Dobey and Rock. Dobey is the bookmakers’ favorite for the match however we fancy Rock to trigger a minor upset.

Within the afternoon session, all three matches must be shut affairs.

However we’re going for wins for Searle, Williams and Gilding.