23:23
Wright off the roll
That would have tasted good to Huybrechts: Because Wright doesn’t check the 156, he has the chance to make a 147. The T19 also sits, then he throws past the T18. Snakebite, however, leaves three leg darts and misses the D4 twice. That throws Huybrechts around his ears – 2: 1 for the seed list 31.
23:20
Huybrechts gets loud
In terms of play, the whole thing is not exactly of high quality. Wright is at an average of 75 points, Huybrechts at about 85 in this set. So the Belgian can also afford to miss the D16 with 68 points remaining. Exactly at this moment, Snakebite exchanges his darts again and has to watch as Huybrechts bag the 2:1 with his fourth dart on doubles.
23:17
The 1:1 for Wright
Wright can’t be really happy. The Scot does not score consistently and has already changed his dart set. However, he cannot take the 132 with him, but he still has the opportunity to check the 68 on the D16. However, he omits this – luckily for him, Huybrechts also makes two mistakes on the D16. This time Wright hits and checks to 1:1.
23:14
The third round is in progress
Huybrechts opens the third set with his own throw. Before the break, the 37-year-old was able to increase his average significantly and also increase the checkout rate. He misses the high finish – but Wright can’t check the 167 either, so the Hurricane easily makes it 1-0.
23:07
The next quick sentence
That was Snakebite’s opportunity: With 95 rest he gets a chance to bullseye, but throws well wide. Huybrechts thanks him, hits the D10 to win the set and cheers himself on loudly.
23:05
Unilateral Leg
The Belgian is picking up the pace now. Thanks to good scoring, he surpasses Wright again, closes the second leg via the D20 and now has a good chance of winning the second set. Wright doesn’t really keep up.
23:03
Huybrechts signed up
Now more pressure from Huybrechts. The Hurricane leaves 170 points thanks to a strong 171. However, he throws the arrow past the bullseye and thus just misses the Big Fish: Over 16, D16 he then takes his first leg of the evening with him.
22:56
That was fast
Huybrechts misses the first real exclamation mark: After T20, T18 he misses the bullseye again. But because Wright doesn’t get the same number checked either, the Belgian gets new opportunities. On the last dart on the D8, however, he throws into the D16 and throws himself over – and Wright bags the first set without any real effort.
10:54 p.m
Wright pulls away
Since Snakebite has miscalculated: With the 159 he has a bogey number. Nevertheless, he can go again and checks the 60 via the D20, because Huybrechts does not catch the bullseye with his 129 points.
22:51
And let’s go
Huybrechts starts, but Wright is quickly ahead in scoring and has 116 points on the clock. About 19 and T20 he gets the chance to D20, but misses just like Huybrechts a little later on the D18 when trying to check 119. In the end, Wright breaks to a double with his fourth dart.
22:46
Not for long
Both players run in, Wright puts in his typical dance. It’s starting soon.
10:43 p.m
head to head
In a direct comparison, Huybrechts has to fight against the statistics today. The 37-year-old was only able to win four of a total of 17 encounters with Wright, 13 went to the man from Scotland. It should be exciting to see in which form the two players present themselves today.
10:37 p.m
Fast number
Huybrecht’s first game at this year’s World Championship proves that this will be necessary. The Belgian took South Africa’s Grant Sampson out of the tournament in no time at all (3-0) – and of course he’s now hoping for the really big coup. The Hurricane last made it past the third round at the 2020 World Cup, losing to Luke Humphries in the round of 16. Today he wants to do it again and at the same time cause a surprise.
22:36
Without problems
Snakebite didn’t have any serious problems in his opening match against Mickey Mansell – and that wasn’t just due to his own performance. An average of less than 90 points was enough for the defending champion to make it through to the third round (3:0 in the sets). Mansell, on the other hand, only played an average of 77 points – it’s clear that he couldn’t really endanger Wright with that. Let’s see if the Scot can still improve today.
10:33 p.m
Hello!
Good evening and welcome to the end of the evening session of the Darts World Championship 2023! With Peter Wright, the reigning champion intervenes in the action today. The Scot will face Belgian Kim Huybrechts. After the game between Gerwyn Price and Raymon van Barneveld, this is the throw-off.