PREVIEW PDC World Darts Championship 2026 Sunday afternoon: Joe Cullen, Max Hopp and Rob Cross in action

The second round of the World Darts Championship is already in full swing. On Sunday afternoon, the next four second-round matches are on the schedule at Alexandra Palace in London.

First up is the feared giant-killer Ryan Joyce, who faces Krzysztof Ratajski. Joe Cullen takes on Mensur Suljovic, while Luke Woodhouse meets Max Hopp. The afternoon closes with Rob Cross against Ian White.
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A clash between two players who were at least untroubled after their first round. Ryan Joyce cruised past Owen Bates, who could only nick one leg off “Relentless.” The Englishman lived up to his nickname and was ruthlessly clinical on the doubles. Joyce needed just fourteen darts at double to land his nine legs, a phenomenal 64.3 percent checkout rate.

Ratajski also wrapped up his opener quickly. “The Polish Eagle” faced Alexis Toylo at the Worlds for the second year running. While the Filipino took a set last year, the Warsaw thrower sealed the deal this time in three straight. Ratajski delivered an excellent display with a 97.67 average and a 50 percent checkout rate.

Only once has Ratajski posted a higher average at the World Championship. At the 2021 edition, the Pole logged a 100.41. His opponent then? None other than Ryan Joyce. That was also a last-64 match, and Ratajski won 3-0. “The Polish Eagle” holds a positive record against his upcoming English opponent, having won five of their eight previous meetings.

On the world ranking, Ratajski has already made gains at this Worlds, moving past Raymond van Barneveld and Martin Lukeman to 35th. A strong run at Ally Pally could see Ratajski push for a swift return to the PDC Order of Merit top 32. Joyce started the tournament as world number 24, a position he hopes to maintain or improve. The top 24 after the World Championship are automatically seeded into the Winmau World Masters main draw.

On paper, Joe Cullen was expected to face a tricky test against Bradley Brooks, but “The Rockstar” eased past his younger compatriot without issue. The former Masters champion whitewashed Brooks 3-0 in sets, conceding just two legs. Cullen’s level was strong too, averaging 99.33 with five 180s and a 50 percent checkout.

Mensur Suljovic claimed his first win on the Alexandra Palace stage in three years. It wasn’t brilliant from “The Gentle” against David Cameron, but the Canadian was dispatched with solid play, 3-1 in sets. Doubles are usually the Austrian’s strong suit, but the finishing against Cameron left something to be desired at just 32 percent. That will have to improve to have a real shot against Cullen.

This will be the eleventh official meeting between Cullen and Suljovic. Their first clash came back in 2014 at a Euro Tour event in Sindelfingen, where Cullen walked off the stage as the winner. Looking at the overall head-to-head, however, the edge lies with Suljovic. The former major winner leads 6-4.

A win would aid Cullen’s push to return to the world’s top 32. Suljovic, meanwhile, has spent this year fighting to keep his PDC Tour Card. He succeeded in that task, and the more pounds “The Gentle” banks at this tournament, the easier that job becomes next year heading toward 2027.

Luke Woodhouse faced a potential banana skin in Boris Krcmar at the Worlds. “The Shed” even fell a set behind to the Croatian, but Woodhouse still booked a last-64 spot with a 3-1 win. The Englishman will need to lift his level to mount a serious run here. Against Krcmar, Woodhouse managed only a 90.22 average with a 30.6 percent checkout.

Max Hopp made a successful return to Ally Pally, the venue where he once stepped on stage as a 16-year-old prodigy. From 2013 through 2021 he played eight World Darts Championships, but then ‘The Maximiser’ missed four editions. On his comeback Hopp impressed with a 3-1 sets win over Martin Lukeman. Against Woodhouse, a good player but certainly not a world beater, the German will undoubtedly fancy his chances to make his Worlds return even better.

In 2013 and 2014 Hopp and Woodhouse met on the Challenge Tour, the PDC’s second tier. It then took until 2022 before they faced each other again. Woodhouse won 6-5 against Hopp then, although that was the Englishman’s only victory over his upcoming opponent. This year Hopp beat Woodhouse at a Euro Tour event, giving the German a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head.

Woodhouse is virtually 22nd on the PDC Order of Merit, three spots higher than where he started the tournament. Thanks to his win over Lukeman, Max Hopp has virtually climbed twelve places and, in his first Tour Card year, sits provisionally in 81st.

This afternoon session closes with an all-English clash between Rob Cross and Ian White. Ahead of the tournament there were doubts about ‘Voltage’s’ form after a very poor year by his standards. Nevertheless, the former world champion had no issues with Cor Dekker, winning 3-0 in sets.

His opponent White needed the full five sets to secure a place in the second round. ‘The Diamond’ led 2-0 in sets in the veterans’ clash against Mervyn King, but to his alarm King fought back to 2-2 in sets. In the deciding set White stood up again. However, the Stoke-on-Trent thrower will not have felt great about his display, as his 81.13 average and 29.5 percent checkout rate were well below par.

Cross and White have met nine times before, though it has been a while. Their last encounter was in 2019, in a Euro Tour semi-final. White took that one 7-5. Cross, however, leads the head-to-head 5-4.

On the world rankings White has already climbed one spot virtually, now sitting 50th. With a win over Cross he would at least also move past Jeffrey de Graaf. Cross has a semi-final from two years ago to defend and has actually dropped four places virtually. ‘Voltage’ will hope to limit the damage as much as possible this tournament.