Schedule Thursday afternoon at the World Darts Championship including Stephen Bunting, Joe Cullen and Chris Dobey

The 2024 World Darts Championship continues Thursday afternoon with the next three matches from the third round. It is primarily an English party, as five of the six players we will see on Thursday afternoon are of English nationality.

Only the first match of the afternoon features a player who does not have an English passport. After the defeats of Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens on Wednesday, Florian Hempel, together with his remaining compatriot Ricardo Pietreczko, must try to keep up the German honor in Alexandra Palace. That will not be easy, because with Stephen Bunting he meets the best player of the second round.

The former Lakeside champion overwhelmed Ryan Joyce in the second round 3-0 in sets thanks to a sublime average of 107.28. ‘The Bullet’ has been in excellent form for some time now. In the fall, he reached the semifinals at the Grand Slam of Darts and the quarterfinals at the Players Championship Finals. Hempel has already had the opportunity to play two matches during this tournament. Against both Dylan Slevin (3-1) and Dimitri van den Bergh (3-2), he managed to take three sets in a row from a deficit.

The second match of the afternoon is a friendly between Joe Cullen and Ryan Searle. Both Englishmen comfortably won their previous match. Cullen defeated Darren Penhall 3-0, and Searle was 3-1 too strong for Tomoya Goto. On the Pro Tour, Cullen and Searle have already faced each other five times. Three times Cullen won and twice Searle won.

In the final game of the afternoon, Ross Smith faces off with Chris Dobey. This looks set to be a great game, with the numbers sixteen and seventeen in the world rankings. Dobey has already had a wonderful game at Alexandra Palace. ‘Hollywood’ won 3-2 over William O’Connor after a spectacular match. Smith was responsible for the elimination of Niels Zonneveld (3-1). It will be the ninth meeting between Dobey and Smith. Both players managed to win from each other four times in the past. However, the most important showdown was won by Smith. ‘Smudger’ defeated Dobey 11-9 in the semifinals of the 2022 European Darts Championship, after which Smith would also surprisingly win his first major title.

Thursday, December 28

Afternoon session (from 12:30 p.m.)

3x Third Round

Florian Hempel v Stephen Bunting

Joe Cullen v Ryan Searle

Ross Smith v Chris Dobey