2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Thursday December 17, evening session including Lewis and De Sousa

Thursday, 17 December 2020 at 18:00

There are four more eye-catching ties to enjoy on Thursday evening at the PDC World Darts Championship Including Jamie Lewis and de Sousa.

What a fantastic story we have to start with as well. Jamie Lewis stunned the world three years ago by making the World Championship semi-finals. After that, it all went wrong. Now, the redemption arc is complete, with the Welshman back at the Alexandra Palace and with his Tour status back in his hands.

Lewis could even book a second round meeting with Gerwyn Price - but Luke Woodhouse will feel like that spot is his to grab. Woody has had a few moments to savour, like beating Paul Lim and Michael Smith in this event last year. The Englishman will look to recapture the form that guided him to the third round of the Players Championship Finals.

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One of the very best showings at those Players Championship Finals was by a man who plummeted out in the first round. Soft-tip fans have been vaunting the talents of Boris Krcmar for a long time; everyone got the chance to see it in Coventry. The hulking Croat thrower has a ton of scoring power.

This could be an explosive encounter with The Bomb. Ron Meulenkamp is back for a fifth shot at this tournament, having gone out in the first round in 2014 and 2016, and in the second round in 2018 and 2019. If the pattern holds, he could take out both Krcmar and Vincent van der Voort. This hasn't exactly been a year for following trends, mind.

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Ryan Searle has established himself as one of the better players on the circuit, arriving here as one of the very best Pro Tour qualifiers. The Somerset star was a little unfortunate not to send Gary Anderson packing last year, and would be more than a match for Jeffrey de Zwaan if he were to win this first round tie.

That's not accounting for Danny Lauby, however. The American is a fixture on the CDC, and this provides him an opportunity to continue knocking on the door of the big time. A teacher by trade, Lauby will be hoping to teach Searle a lesson. And if he can, he'll have won a World Championship game at the first try - something that dad Dan Lauby couldn't do in four attempts around the turn of the century.

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The last game of the evening will be a real tungsten tussle. Ross Smith would be a dangerous foe for anyone; his performance against David Evans showed that to be true, even if the 3-0 scoreline was a bit harsh on Evans. The Essex man will hopefully use the momentum to take the game to his second round opponent.

It's a big task for Smith, with the World Matchplay champion in his crosshairs. Jose de Sousa has never done well at the World Championship, but this time he's the 14th seed with major success on his CV. The Portuguese icon might be mad as a box of frogs, but what he lacks in mathematical prowess, he makes up for in prodigious scoring and an eye for a big finish. He could go the distance, but then again, he could fall to a fierce foe in Smith.