Preview PDC World Darts Championship 2026 Thursday afternoon: 'Showman' Scott Williams and Chris Dobey headline

Two debutants take to the stage on Tuesday afternoon at the World Darts Championship. For Teemu Harju and Justin Hood, it will be their first time stepping onto the Alexandra Palace stage. Scott Williams and Chris Dobey are also in action.

The afternoon session opens with a clash between Alan Soutar and Teemu Harju, before Nick Kenny faces Justin Hood. Scott Williams locks horns with Paolo Nebrida, while Chris Dobey closes the afternoon against Xiaochen Zong.
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This is a crucial World Championship qualification for Alan Soutar, as his appearance in London secures the Scot a Tour Card for another year. He missed this tournament two years ago, so he has no prize money to defend. Soots did reasonably well on the floor this year, reaching the quarterfinals three times. Soutar mainly relied on the floor events, as he qualified for only two of the fourteen Euro Tours. That remains a point of focus heading into 2026. The 47-year-old, a dog trainer and firefighter in daily life, has played the World Darts Championship three times before. In 2022 and 2023 he impressively reached the fourth round, but last year Soutar went out in the opening round.

Teemu Harju has had a few chances to prove himself on the Euro Tour in recent years, but now the Finn finally gets his big debut at the World Darts Championship. He owes this appearance to strong performances on the Nordic & Baltic Tour, where he won two events to secure his spot in London. As a bonus, Harju also claimed the overall title at the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship. The 33-year-old from Harjavalta, Finland, is still waiting for his first win on the PDC main circuit.

As Harju does not hold a PDC Tour Card, it is no surprise that these two players are meeting for the first time in their careers.

Nick Kenny returns to the place where he achieved the highlight of his career twelve months ago. That was not his 3-0 win over Stowe Buntz in the first round, but his emphatic 3-1 victory over darts legend Raymond van Barneveld in the second round. The Welshman returned after Christmas as a result, before Luke Humphries ended Kenny’s run. The 32-year-old reached a floor semifinal early in the season and made several last-16 appearances, which put him in a fairly comfortable position to qualify for this tournament.

The second debutant today is Justin Hood. The Englishman played the BDO World Championship in 2020, but now finally gets to showcase himself on the big PDC stage. Hood has had a solid first season on the Pro Tour, highlighted by a quarterfinal. Thanks to strong floor results, Happy Feet also qualified for the Players Championship Finals, where a fine win over Damon Heta took him into the second round.

They have not met on the floor this year, but they did face off at Q-School in 2020. Kenny came out on top there with a 5-3 victory.

This is a significant tournament for Scott Williams, as he has a 2024 semifinal to defend. That run included surprise wins over Danny Noppert and Michael van Gerwen, with Shaggy banking a hefty £100,000 in prize money. An early exit would therefore cost the Englishman a sizeable chunk on the world rankings. Williams is the type who generally performs better on TV, but qualifying for the majors via the floor has often been the issue for the now 35-year-old. This year he did somewhat better on the floor compared to previous seasons. He reached one final and made four semifinals at Players Championship events.

Paolo Nebrida, however, is not an opponent Williams can afford to underestimate. Nebrida has been one of the top players on the Asian circuit for several years and broke through on the big stage last year. He knocked out Jim Williams and Ross Smith at the World Darts Championship to reach the last 32. It took the Filipino plenty of effort to secure a return to Ally Pally, as he finished only seventh on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit. Because Lourence Ilagan and Alexis Toylo reached the final of the PDC Asian Championship, that seventh place still proved enough for Nebrida.

The final match of the session features Chris Dobey, who has built an impressive track record at Alexandra Palace in recent years. In the past seven editions, Hollywood failed to reach the last 16 only once, with last year’s semifinal the standout. Dobey could not build on that semifinal on the 2025 majors. He did, however, enjoy significant success on the Pro Tour with three Players Championship titles.

Xiaochen Zong has long been regarded as China’s best darter, and he maintained that status again this year. The Pandaman won the PDC China Championship to secure his return to London. This will be Zong’s fifth World Darts Championship appearance, but he has yet to win a match at Ally Pally. The 27-year-old came closest in 2020, when he lost 3-2 in sets to Kyle Anderson.