World Darts Championships: Day 2 Afternoon session - Rob Cross avoids upset - 180UK.com
Darts News PDC World Championships Sarah Leaver

World Darts Championships: Day 2 Afternoon session – Rob Cross avoids upset

12 December 2025
Charlie Elliott

By Sarah Leaver

Match 1: Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha

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Friday afternoon kicked off with the New Zealand number one Haupai Puha against Dutchman Niels Zonneveld, with the latter taking first blood in the session after a flurry of missed doubles from both players.

The first set went to Zonneveld after a poor run from Puha, but his struggles with the doubles continued, missing four chances at double 10 before finally hitting it. A maximum from Puha got himself back in the game, taking out double six to level the standings.

Despite keeping himself in it, Puha’s poor throwing allowed Zonneveld to take double tops and a two-set lead. After this the Dutchman thrived, quickly taking the three legs of the final set to defeat the New Zealander 3-0 to set up a second-round tie against Michael Smith.

Match 2: Ian White v Mervyn King

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Two veterans of the sport in Ian White and Mervyn King faced off in the World Championship for a set-up with either Rob Cross or Cor Dekker in the second round. A fairly even set ended with White taking out a mellow double four for the advantage.

White’s good form continued, taking the second set 3-0 despite a strong performance from King and a number of maximums from both players. The third set saw King miss numerous doubles to put himself a leg up, which gave White the opportunity to take his sixth consecutive leg.

King eventually won his own leg, equalising the score, but White came back once again – taking out 35 – to put himself one away from the second round. King once again managed to equalise the score, with help from numerous low-scoring throws from the Diamond and an improvement in his own hits, eventually taking the third set.

From this point on, King began to prosper, but another round of missed doubles gifted White the leg. King’s good form powered him on to take another set, levelling the match and taking it to a fifth and final set.

Despite King’s fightback and White’s comedown, the Diamond eventually won the match, defeating King 3-0 in the final set.

Match 3: Ryan Searle (20) v Chris Landman

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The first seeded player of the day Ryan Searle, known as “Heavy Metal”, took on Dutchman Chris Landman, and he kicked off with a bang (and a maximum). The quick firing Englishman took the first leg in spectacular style, and subsequently the second and third legs in similar fashion.

Landman could hardly get a look in during the second set, but he did manage to hit double 10 against the world number 20 to give himself a bit of momentum and confidence (with help from Searles’ poor eyesight) but Searle eventually took the second set.

The third set kicked off just as fast as the previous two, with Searle once again taking the first leg and edging ever closer to the crucial third set win. Hitting double tops for the second leg, it seemed inevitable that Searle would go on to win the match.

And that he did – Landman did his best to prevent the loss of the match, and his PDC Tour Card, but Searle was just too good.

Match 4: Rob Cross (17)  v Cor Dekker

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Facing another Ally Pally debutant, world-ranked 17th Rob Cross started on the weaker foot but still managed to take the first leg after Cor Dekker missed the vital double. Cross followed this with a maximum, gaining momentum to go on and win the next two legs, and the set.

However, his momentum didn’t last long, after taking the first leg of the second set Dekker fought back to get himself two legs, before Cross brought it back to 2-2, and then took out 40 to win the set.

Cross came out in his usual high-scoring form in the third set, winning two legs and then taking out a magnificent 170-finish to win the match 3-0 and set up a second-round match against Ian White.

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