On Friday afternoon,
Raymond van Barneveld will be one of the main attractions with a potential tie against Luke Littler awaiting the doyen of Dutch Darts at the PDC
World Darts Championship. He is joined by another Dutchman and
Jonny Clayton.
Berry van Peer will try to continue his dream debut at the World Darts Championship against
Damon Heta. He started the tournament with a 3-2 victory over Luke Woodhouse, after which he beat former junior world champion Josh Rock (3-1). With averages of 93 and 91, Van Peer did not even throw very high, but 'Bionic' proved very effective on finishing and that is what wins matches.
His opponent Heta defeated Martin Lukeman 3-1 in sets in his opening match. Heta and Van Peer have met six times on the Pro Tour. The winner of the duel between Heta and Van Peer will face Scott Williams in the fourth round of the World Darts Championship.
Van Barneveld will make his appearance at the end of the afternoon. The five-time world champion won 3-1 in sets against Radek Szaganski in his previous match and will now play Jim Williams, who eliminated Peter Wright in the second round. Van Barneveld said after his victory over Szaganski that he feels almost invincible with his new darts. Thanks to a specially designed set-up by darts manufacturer Target, 'Barney' noticed that all the stress in his head about the search for the perfect set of darts has disappeared. And with a mentally strong Van Barneveld, much is possible, even at the age of 56. Should Van Barneveld manage to win his match against Williams, the youngest participant in the World Darts Championship awaits at the last sixteen, 16-year-old prodigy Luke Littler.
There is also a clash between Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski. Both players had a mediocre start to the tournament. Clayton won 3-1 over Steve Lennon, but recorded an average of just 88. Ratajski needed an 89 average to push Jamie Hughes aside 3-1.
World Darts Championship 2024 schedule
Friday, Dec. 29
Afternoon session (from 12:30 p.m.)
3x Third Round
Damon Heta v Berry van Peer
Jonny Clayton v Krzysztof Ratajski
Jim Williams v Raymond van Barneveld