World Darts Championship: Day 5 Evening - Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jonny Clayton star at Ally Pally - 180UK.com
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World Darts Championship: Day 5 Evening – Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jonny Clayton star at Ally Pally

16 December 2025
Tom Sansom

By Sarah Leaver

The PDC World Darts Championship continued upon it’s meteoric pace, with the fifth day capped off by the evening session at Alexandra Palace. The first round stretches on with the pinnacle tournament in the world of oches and arrows heating up another bitterly cold London night.

Match 1: Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp

Max Hopp effortlessly won three legs on the bounce to win the first set, but Martin Lukeman found a 130-checkout to get a leg back in the second set. With the throw in his hand, Lukeman won another leg but was soon pegged back by Hopp who equalised the set.

The deciding leg went to Hopp after both players had multiple chances to take the set. The Englishman once again took the opening two legs, but Hopp came back just like in the second leg.

But this time Lukeman managed to keep his cool and win the set to halve the deficit. The roles reversed in the fourth set with Hopp winning the first two legs and the throw, which he used to his advantage as he took out double eight to win the match.

Result: Lukeman 1 Hopp 3

Match 2: Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) v Andy Baetens

29th seed Dirk van Duijvenbode won the first set after taking the lead before being knocked back by Andy Baetens – but the Belgian took the next two legs to go one up in the match.

The second set saw a little more of Baetens, with the Dutchman taking the first two legs. Van Duijvenbode got a leg back, but Baetens was too strong and won the second set with a 70 checkout.

Baetens came out firing in the third leg; despite going a leg down he won three in a row to take the set and give himself the advantage. He then hit a maximum visit and van Duijvenbode missed three chances at the double, gifting Baetens the leg.

Van Duijvenbode equalised, and this spurred him on to win the set to force a deciding set. The Dutchman kicked off the final set with a big fish finish, which inspired him to go on and take another leg, but Baetens didn’t give up, taking out a 142-finish to put the pressure on van Duijvenbode.

The 29th ranked Dutchman was too much in the end, taking a third leg and winning the match.

Result: van Duijvenbode 3 Baetens 2

Match 3: Jonny Clayton (5) v Adam Lipscombe

The night’s headline match saw world number five Jonny Clayton take on debutant Adam Lipscombe. The match started as expected, with Clayton taking the first leg, and even though he busted his score, three missed doubles from Lipscombe took the pressure off of the Welshman and allowed him to go 2-0 up.

After some more missed darts from Clayton, Lipscombe reduced the deficit and won the throw – but Clayton managed to get the job done and took the advantage.

Lipscombe took command of the second set, going two legs up as chances were few and far between for Clayton. The Englishman held the throw but didn’t use it to his benefit as Clayton got a leg back before equalising, but Clayton’s missed doubles allowed Lipscombe to level the score.

“The Ferret’s” luck seemed to improve, winning the third leg 3-1, taking out a 145-finish. Clayton tidied up in the fourth leg, going two legs up before being knocked back but he hit double 19 to send himself through to the second round.

Result: Clayton 3 Lipscombe 1

Match 4: Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock

Connor Scutt went two legs up against Simon Whitlock before the Aussie hit one back, but Scutt took the set not long after. Whitlock came back swinging in the second set, taking the first leg, “The Sniper” won the next two and then the Aussie equalised.

The deciding leg went in favour of Scutt, to put himself two sets to the good. “The Wizard” hit some strange combinations, previously using a 25 hit to take out 76, but he luckily hit double three to equalise the legs. Despite Scutt holding throw, Whitlock hit a 167-checkout to take the lead in the set, but Scutt equalised to put himself a leg away from the second round.

The Englishman fell at the last hurdle, missing four match darts to hand Whitlock the set. The fourth set was just as uncomfortable as the others for Scutt, with Whitlock powering through to force a deciding set.

The Aussie took the first leg, but Scutt fought to retake the lead and nearly hit a nine-darter while doing so. In the end, he finally checked out 20 to win the match.

Result: Scutt 3 Whitlock 2

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