Defending champion Gerwyn Price survived a scare on Wednesday night as he came back from behind to beat Ritchie Edhouse in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship (Price 7/2 to win the title).
Wednesday 15th December Results:
Ritchie Edhouse 3-2 Peter Hudson (R1)
Ricky Evans 3-0 Nitin Kumar (R1)
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Matt Campbell (R1)
Gerwyn Price 3-1 Ritchie Edhouse (R2)
Thursday 16th December Order of Play:
Steve Lennon v Madars Razma (R1 – 12:30)
Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman (R1 – 12:30)
Chas Barstow v John Norman Jnr (R1 – 12:30)
Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans (R2 – 12:30)
William O’Connor v Danny Lauby (R1 – 19:00)
Ryan Meikle v Fabian Schmutzler (R1 – 19:00)
Ron Meulenkamp v Lisa Ashton (R1 – 19:00)
Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis (R2 – 19:00)
After beating Hudson in the first round, Edhouse returned to the stage at Alexandra Palace and won the first three legs against Price, one of Betfred’s five players to watch at Ally Pally this year.
Edhouse had hoped to kick on after winning the first set, but Price fought back to win the second and third sets, with a 130 checkout the highlight in the latter.
He then pushed on to seal the win, and Price admits he needs to sharpen up ahead of his next match.
Price told BBC Sport: “I don’t know about a scare, but I let myself down in the first set and put myself under pressure.
“I was a bit rusty in the first set and missed lots of doubles, which cost me.
“In the latter part of the game, I thought I played really well and showed what I am made of.”
Two-time world champion Adrian Lewis also had to come from a set down, as he beat Canadian Matt Campbell 3-1.
Lewis’ reward is a second-round contest with fellow two-time champ Gary Anderson on Thursday night (Anderson 4/7, Lewis 11/8).
Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney is also in action as he prepares to face England’s Ricky Evans.
Evans will be full of confidence, having thrown a 167 checkout to beat Nitin Kumar 3-0 on Wednesday.
Four-time women’s darts champion, Lisa Ashton, returns to the oche as she faces Ron Meulenkamp in the evening session (Meulenkamp 4/11, Ashton 21/10) on day two at Alexandra Palace.
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