2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Sunday evening session including Clayton, Henderson and De Zwaan

After the four Dutchmen to grace the World Championship this afternoon, we have one more in the evening.

Sadly, there won't be a Martijn Kleermaker performance to digest, with the big Dutchman's positive COVID-19 test throwing the largest of spanners into his World Championship plans. Even more remarkable is that Josh Payne, who was in reserve, has also been ruled out.

That all adds up to progression for Cameron Carolissen, who joins Devon Petersen and makes this the first World Championship to be populated by multiple South Africans - and now guarantees a second round spot for both. Carolissen has earned an extra £7,500 simply by not contracting a virus, but the real prize is having a go against 25th seed Danny Noppert at the Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.

Most importantly, we'll all hope that Kleermaker has a safe Christmas and is ready to go when the 2021 season starts; while he's of course feeling hurt at this missed opportunity, it's more than likely that he'll have this chance again in a year's time.

Because of all that, we have just the three games to savour this evening.

It's about time we said goodbye to the first round, and we do so with an all-English tie. Keegan Brown has spent a lot of his year on the front line battling COVID-19, but now his attentions are deservedly more self-centred.

Brown's first hurdle is a sizeable one, in the form of Ryan Meikle. A World Championship debut for the Ipswich leftie didn't go to plan, with Yuki Yamada winning a year back, but a lot has happened since than. Meikle will definitely be a handful, and whoever wins will be out to claim the scalp of Dave Chisnall.

Two second round games end Sunday night, starting with a return to the oche for Ryan Searle. The Somerset star was pushed hard by Danny Lauby, but quality scoring guided him into the second round.

There, he'll face another player who's capable of bursting into exceptional form at opportune moments. Jeffrey de Zwaan could've gone a long, long way last year, but for an inspired showing from eventual champion Peter Wright. The Black Cobra will have a lot more in mind this time around, and this provides a perfect chance to gain momentum, or the biggest of banana skins.

John Henderson's back after making supremely heavy going over what should've been a routine win over Marko Kantele. Put simply, 2020 has yet to see a version of the Highlander which can make a big dent in the most important tournaments; now is the time to put that right, or it'll be time to focus on 2021.

Jonny Clayton has had a fairly sound year, all told, topped off by that World Cup of Darts triumph. The Ferret is capable of yet more, and will fancy a crack against Joe Cullen or Wayne Jones. He'll play his standard, solid game against Hendo, who needs to cut out those stray darts and put on the sort of performance he's been known to produce on big stages before.

2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule

Sunday December 20

Evening Session (18:00 GMT)

Cameron Carolissen w/o Martijn Kleermaker (R1)

18:10 Keegan Brown v Ryan Meikle (R1)

19:10 Jeffrey de Zwaan v Ryan Searle (R2)

20:10 Jonny Clayton v John Henderson (R2)

2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Sunday evening session including Clayton, Henderson and De Zwaan

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