Chisnall safely through in World Darts Championship

Morecambe-based Dave Chisnall has made it safely through to the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship, following an entertaining 3-1 win over Andrew Gilding at the Alexandra Palace.

Despite Chisnall averaging 105.38 at the start of the match, Gilding was even quicker out of the blocks, to take the opening set 3-0, without Chisnall having a single dart at a double.

This was before a blistering second set from Chizzy saw him level the match with an incredible 118.66 average, including a 99 checkout a 3 leg set whitewash.

A more nervous third set saw the averages drop for both players, but Chisnall started to excerpt his authority on the encounter in the deciding leg with a 62 checkout, to take the set 3 legs to 2 and move into a 2-1 set lead.

An edgy fourth set saw Chisnall miss a 121 checkout to be broken by Gilding in the second leg, before Chizzy broke straight back, then held his throw by pinning double top, to move within a leg of the match.

Chisnall wrapped up the contest in the deciding leg, and after Gilding missed a 150 checkout, he finished 58 to break one last time, and take the game by 3 sets to 1, ending with a match average of 97.87 , including 7 180s.

Chisnall will face either American Leonard Gates, or Englishman Stephen Bunting in the next round.

Chizzy is currently ranked 12th in the world on the Professional Darts Corporation Order of Merit, and reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 2021, before last year having to withdraw during the event due to a positive Covid-19 test.

The 42-year-old's form this year has been encouraging, as he reached the televised Masters Final in January, and won the Belgian Darts Open in May defeating Gilding in the final.

The Cazoo PDC World Darts Championship is being televised on Sky Sports Darts.