By Sarah Leaver
Round three of the PDC World Darts Championship 2026 was well underway at the Alexandra Palace after its annual Christmas break.
MATCH 1: Wesley Plaisier vs Kryzsztof Ratajski
After a short break for Christmas, the darts returned with a third-round tie between Wesley Plaisier and Kryzsztof Ratajski, in which Plaisier took the first set of the round with the Pole barely having a look-in. The Dutchman held throw, but Ratajski took control of the match to win three consecutive legs to level the sets.
Plaisier won two legs on the bounce before being pegged back by Ratajski, but the Pole couldn’t find the double to break the throw, and Plaisier hit double 10 to win a second set.
The Dutchman extended his set-lead against the pole, but despite this Ratajski fought back to take two legs in the fifth set, before Plaisier brought it back to 2-2 to put himself a leg away from the fourth round.
However, Ratajski took out 117 to get himself back in the game, before a deciding leg went in his favour to force a final set.
Nothing could separate the two up until now, but the Pole completed the ultimate comeback against Plaisier, coming from 3-1 down to book himself a place in the fourth round.
Result: Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Kryzsztof Ratajski
MATCH 2: Andrew Gilding vs Luke Woodhouse
Andrew “Goldfinger” Gilding took on 25th seed Luke Woodhouse in the afternoon’s second match, with the 55-year-old taking first blood. Woodhouse struggled to hit his doubles but eventually hit double tops to level the legs. The first set went in favour of Woodhouse despite some pushback from Gilding.
The second set was relatively even, but Gilding took the equaliser with the help of a 152-checkout and Woodhouse’s failed double attempts.
Woodhouse improved in the third set, winning three legs on the spin to go 2-1 up. He then extended his lead after easily taking another set.
The fifth set went to a deciding leg in which Woodhouse threw first, an advantage he took to the fullest as he checked out 90 to win the match and set up a fourth-round tie with Kryzsztof Ratajski.
Result: Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse
MATCH 3: Jonny Clayton vs Niels Zonneveld
Jonny Clayton took the first leg in his match against Niels Zonneveld, before eventually winning the set after going all the way to a decider. Zonneveld took his opportunity with the throw in the second set, winning three legs on the bounce to equalise the sets.
Clayton bounced back with a straight-set win against the Dutchman, who then found his spark again to take out a 126-finish to take a two-leg lead, and then won the final leg to once again level the standings.
Zonneveld won a fourth consecutive leg before being pegged back by Clayton. The set then went to a deciding leg which was won by the Welshman after checking out double 12.
A second afternoon match went to a deciding set after Zonneveld hit back at Clayton once more, but the Welshman finally got the better of his opponent to win the match after winning the three final legs on the spin.
Result: Jonny Clayton 4-3 Niels Zonneveld