Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Column CM154
More Wasps (or… Days 3 and 4 of the PDC World Championship)
A debutant opened the third day – Welshman David Davies faced Mario Vandenbogaerde, who, however, couldn’t live up to his nickname “Super Mario.”
Though Davies was a World Championship debutant, he has experience as a member of the Welsh National Team, on the Challenge Tour, and as a reserve on the Pro Tour. He was a little bit nervous on the Alexandra Palace stage, though it didn’t prove to be a problem. Vandenbogaerde threw a 180 in the very first leg, but Davies won the leg and then the first set in the deciding leg.
The level of play continued quite modestly, but Davies improved significantly in the second set – and also had a better hitting rate on the doubles than Vandenbogaerde, and took a 2-0 lead. The final set went into a dramatic deciding leg, in which both players struggled to find a finish. Finally, Davies hit, and Vandenbogaerde not only lost the match but likely his Tour Card as well.
In the second match with Cam Crabtree the next debutant came on stage – and the match turned out to be a very one-sided affair as Andrew Gilding dominated from the start. Crabtree failed to win a leg in the first two sets but then surprisingly won the third set – despite Gilding’s 161 finish in the second leg. In the final set Crabtree’s performance dropped again and Gilding won 3-1.
Boris Krcmar started the next match well, taking the first two legs against Luke Woodhouse. Woodhouse then threw his first 180 and another in quick succession, but missed his 85 finish, and Krcmar snatched the entire set with a 121 checkout. After that, Woodhouse was simply too strong – even though the third set went to a deciding leg, in which both players had opportunities but struggled with their doubles. Woodhouse won it and he also won the fourth leg for a 3-1 victory.
And look who landed on Krcmar! The Ally Pally wasp – it appears it’s just one of many.
Concluding the afternoon session was the match between Gary Anderson and Adam Hunt. It certainly wasn’t a match for Anderson fans with weak nerves…
On paper, it had looked like a favourable draw for Anderson, as Hunt had barely made an impression on the tour so far. But Hunt took the first leg and the second, while Anderson, although he threw a 180 in each of the first two legs, didn’t hit his first double until the third. The set went into a deciding leg, where Anderson threw another 180 and a 98 finish to win the set. Hunt won the next two sets, but Anderson managed to level the score at 2-2, as he was now hitting more of his doubles. In the fifth set Hunt simply refused to give up but Anderson finally managed to cross the finish line first.
After all the drama the legend Paul Lim took to the stage for the first match of the evening – enthusiastically cheered by the crowd which consequently booed his opponent Jeffrey de Graaf…
The entire match revolved around Lim, who took the first set. De Graaf secured the second set to level. Set three went to a deciding leg, in which de Graaf busted his score allowing Lim to delight the crowd with the set win. After that de Graaf got the needle. He managed to win another leg, but Lim then closed out the match and deservedly won thanks to his excellent finishing.
The next match was quite one-sided as Nijman made the strong-playing Karel Sedlacek look weak and raced through the game at breakneck speed, winning 3-0. Sedlacek managed to win at least one leg in each set.
The third match of the evening was Luke Humphries vs. Ted Evetts. This match, too, looked like an easy one for Humphries on paper. He stormed through the first set and won it comfortably. But then Evetts managed to win a leg here and there, and Humphries suddenly struggled to hit his doubles. Humphries won the second set, Evetts the third. After that, Evetts’ game faltered, while Humphries visibly pulled himself together and won the match 3-1.
Once again the wasp had unerringly chosen the loser – Humphries plucked it from Evetts’ shirt.
To conclude the evening, a one-sided match followed between Gabriel Clemens and the American Alex Spellman. The first set was, in terms of the averages they played, one to forget from both players. But Clemens in particular, improved his game, thrilling the crowd with a 170 finish out of the blue and a 180 in the third leg. With that Clemens set the tone for the match and dominated it while his American opponent never managed to play more than an 83 average. It was a commanding 3-0 victory for the German, who was bothered by a wasp during the winner’s interview on stage.
Even wasps can be mistaken.
On the fourth day of the tournament, I took the afternoon off and went into the city instead. Given the packed Underground and the crowds in the city under bright sunshine – it was certainly very Christmassy – there was even artificial snow around the Covent Garden Christmas tree – but not really any more relaxing or quieter than being at Ally Pally. I didn’t seem to have missed much, though – except for a surprisingly strong performance from Joe Cullen, given his recent showings, and the very first victory by an Indian player at a PDC World Championship.
The evening session began with the appearance of the second German debutant, Lukas Wenig, who played against Wesley Plaisier. The first set seemed a bit like both players were still finding their feet in the tournament and the game, but Plaisier, in particular, improved quickly and Wenig only had one dart at a double in the first set-which he missed. In the second set, Wenig threw his first 180 and his game had also improved, so the set went to a deciding leg where Wenig scored better and leveled the score at 1-1. Plaisier took the third set again, this time winning the deciding leg and then dominating the final set. It wasn’t a bad debut for the German, but his performance wasn’t (yet) good enough to compete against a player like Plaisier.
In the second match of the evening, Dimitri van den Bergh was outmatched by the Scottish qualifier Darren Beveridge. Beveridge certainly played very well but van den Bergh averaged just over 80 and barely hit a double. So he ended up winning only a single leg and was eliminated 0-3. van den Bergh has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to make a comeback.
The third match of the evening was puzzling. Bunting came onto the stage still chewing, perhaps even gum, and practically snatched the first two sets in passing. After that, apart from the occasional maximum, he was barely present, while Bialecki – bothered by a wasp – secured sets 3 and 4 without much trouble. In the fifth set, Bunting finally grasped the gravity of the situation, but couldn’t easily recover from his lack of concentration and was a bit lucky that Bialecki seemed overwhelmed by the circumstances and slowly but surely lost his composure. At 2-2 in the final set, the match went to a tie-break, and Bunting with all his experience managed to win. Against a more experienced player, things could have gone really wrong for Bunting.
Finally, James Hurrell faced Stowe Buntz. We’ve definitely seen Buntz play much better. Both players were quite inconsistent with the American also struggling with his doubles. Perhaps the match between Bunting and Bialecki simply had been too gripping and everybody was tired. When Buntz finally found his rhythm, his doubles let him down and he failed to draw 2-2. Hurrell then won the match 3-1, and an exciting day of darts ended somewhat lacklusterly – and very late.
