2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Tuesday afternoon session including Cullen, Whitlock and Lewis

Tuesday, 22 December 2020 at 08:30

Four more seeds get their PDC World Darts Championship going on Tuesday afternoon including Cullen, Whitlock and Lewis

Two years ago, Brendan Dolan and Joe Cullen met in the second round at the Ally Pally. This time, the pair feature as seeds in the first two games of this session. Dolan will be aware that he's got £50,000 in ranking money to defend from his run to the quarter-finals in that 2019 World Championship, and with Gerwyn Price up next (and probably not misfiring again), he'll have to set himself up with a good win here.

Dolan might have pictured having Mike de Decker in round two, but instead it's the Japanese sensation, Edward Foulkes. If he keeps playing as he did in the first round, Wales might have to invoke the grandfather clause and claim Foulkes as their own. He's said that he's not feeling any pressure, which bodes well for a concerted effort at taking out the 30th seed.

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Without wanting to be too harsh, Joe Cullen's World Championship record is probably the worst in the field, when you take his immense quality into account. His record of 10 successive failures to get past the second round is the sort of stat you have to double-take at. But this is a brand new year, he's playing well and grabbed two titles in 2020. Throw in the carrot of a third round game against close friend Jonny Clayton, and you'd back Cullen to emulate Krzysztof Ratajski and Jose de Sousa by defying poor previous form.

Wayne Jones will be hoping to pile on the misery. The Wolverhampton thrower was given a stern test by Ciaran Teehan, but as the game rattled towards what seemed likely to be a tense finale, he called on his years of experience to breeze through the deciding set. Jones will stay on Cullen's coattails for as long as he can here.

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What a year Simon Whitlock has ended up having. Two major semi-finals (including the World Grand Prix, which he technically didn't qualify for) and two TV quarter-finals signify an upturn in form for the Aussie. A good run at the Ally Pally would cement his resurgence, and the 51-year-old will be expected to trouble anyone who faces him.

His first target is Darius Labanauskas, who lost just two legs while showing Chengan Liu the door. You know what you'll get with the Lithuanian - he won't put in big three-figure averages, but will never go missing. Set play is all about taking chances when they appear, and if Labanauskas can pounce at the right moments, he can put the Wizard on the ropes.

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We finish with what should be a big, loud, sweaty affair between two players who'll score profusely if they get in the flow. Damon Heta was only ever going to be felled by a strong performance, and Danny Baggish duly provided it. This is a massive moment for the Floridian, who'll be well backed if (or when) he heads for Q-School.

While a two-time world champion is never a perfect opponent on paper, there's not much for Baggish to fear when playing Adrian Lewis. We haven't seen Jackpot's best on a consistent basis for a long time now. All of his games at last year's World Championship went to a deciding set - Baggish will go down that same road if he can keep up with whatever Lewis throws at him.