Schedule Wednesday afternoon World Darts Championship 2024 including Ross Smith, William O'Connor and Owen Bates

We have reached the sixth matchday of the World Darts Championship in London. Wednesday afternoon there are again four intriguing matches on the program.

One of Radek Szaganski or Marko Kantele will go on to face Raymond van Barneveld in round 2. They will meet in the first match of the afternoon. Szaganski will make his debut at Alexandra Palace after surprisingly winning a Pro Tour tournament earlier this year. Finnish darter Kantele has competed in Ally Pally four times before, but has never made it past the first round.

Steve Lennon then faces off with Owen Bates in the second match of the session. The latter in particular has been the subject of considerable controversy. Bates carried the nickname 'Master', which thus creates the word combination 'MasterBates' if you put it together. However, this nickname was not allowed to be used at the World Darts Championship. So Bates will appear nicknameless in action at this World Darts Championship. Lennon is the virtual number 66 in the world rankings and must win this match to retain his Tour Card.

William O'Connor and Bhav Patel will decide between themselves who will be Chris Dobey's opponent in the second round. For O'Connor it will be his seventh consecutive World Championship appearance, while Patel makes his debut. The dart player from India did not qualify for this tournament, but advanced because his compatriot Prakash Jiwa was caught match-fixing.

At the end of the afternoon, it was Niels Zonneveld's turn. With a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Darren Webster, the Dutchman secured his first ever World Championship victory. Now he will face Ross Smith, number sixteen on the ranking list.

Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele (R1)

Steve Lennon v Owen Bates (R1)

William O'Connor v Bhav Patel (R1)

Ross Smith v Niels Zonneveld (R2)