2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Sunday afternoon session including Whitlock and Van den Bergh

Dimitri van den Bergh and Simon Whitlock are among those ready to welcome us back to the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship.

Yes, it's Dartmas II; with the leftovers tucked in the fridge and the tree's days firmly numbered, the time has come to get the darts back on. The PDC World Darts Championship gifted us some highlights across the first two rounds. Round three starts here, with lots more drama in the offing.

And what a humdinger of an opening session it'll be on Sunday afternoon. The six players taking part are among the very best outside that absolute top echelon; it's a role Simon Whitlock is familiar with. The Aussie looks in decent shape, and performed well to outgun the terrier-like Darius Labanauskas.

Whitlock will have to be ready for another firm examination, as Krzysztof Ratajski stares down a spot in the last 16. Like his opponent, the Polish Eagle got out of the blocks quickly with a ton-plus average, punishing Ryan Joyce at all the right moments. This should be a hard-fought, attritional, ultimately brilliant encounter.

Kim Huybrechts might have saved his best stuff for the PDC World Darts Championship. At the end of a pretty frustrating season, the Belgian is averaging a smidgen under 103 across two games, one a simple win over Di Zhuang, one a remarkable smash-and-grab against Ian White - who actually performed quite well.

If Huybrechts keeps up his pre-Christmas form, Ryan Searle will have to throw everything at him to have a chance. Searle has become one of the best players to watch on the circuit; an unhesitant player with an eye for the doubles (ironically, given his sight issues), Heavy Metal often puts on a good show. He was too good for Jeffrey de Zwaan, and will be out to do the same to the Hurricane.

Dimitri van den Bergh started like a train at the World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam. He's done much the same at the PDC World Championship, smashing out an average over 105 as Paul Lim watched on helplessly. It's the sort of ominous form that has made him a major champion. Nevertheless, van den Bergh will know that big challenges lie ahead.

The first of them is Jermaine Wattimena, one of the players who will feel that a big, impactful major run is just around the corner. Wattimena didn't have too much to worry about against Nick Kenny, but also has a couple of gears left to find. As Van Den Bergh has done so spectacularly, the Machine Gun's success hinges on him learning to keep his cool in big moments - and this, right here, is a big one.

2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule

Sunday December 27

Afternoon Session (12:00 GMT)

12:15 Krzysztof Ratajski v Simon Whitlock

13:30 Kim Huybrechts v Ryan Searle

14:45 Dimitri Van den Bergh v Jermaine Wattimena