Heta 1 (0) – 1 (0) Woodhouse
Heta narrowly misses out on tops for a 116 checkout to break Woodhouse’s throw.
Woodhouse then misses a double of his own but Heta squanders THREE chances at D10.
Woodhouse takes the opportunity to return to the oche and hold his throw.
Scrappy leg.
Heta 1 (0) – 0 (0) Woodhouse
Heta checks out on double 16 to take the opening set after kicking things off with a maximum.
Strong scoring from both players at the start of this match.
Here come the players
Damon Heta and Luke Woodhouse are making their way out as the world championships return after Christmas.
The crowd is pumping. We are almost ready to go.
First up today
Damon Heta kicks off today’s action imminently at Ally Pally.
He will face Luke Woodhouse in an interesting match-up, before Johnny Clayton takes on Daryl Gurney.
Biggest stories so far
What has happened so far then at this year’s world championships?
Here are the biggest stories from the opening week at Ally Pally.
A lot more to come over the next seven days as we close in on crowning the 2025 champion.
World Darts Championship – top stories
READ MORE on all the build-up to the Ally Pally extravaganza…
All the info:
News, features and interviews:
Littler apologises for nine-dart miss
Luke Littler apologised to a World Darts Championship fan after failing to hit a money-spinning nine-darter.
Each time a darts star hits the magical figure, a fan will end up bagging a whopping £60,000.
The teenager appeared destined to make a nine-darter in the opening set against Ryan Meikle.
But with just his favourite double 12 left on the board, Littler somehow missed the target.
And Littler has now apologised for failing to get his final dart over the line.
He said: “It’s definitely becoming a frustration in a good way. As soon as you make the switch to the treble 19, your eyes light up.
“I heard the camera pan around to the winner, so I’m sorry whoever you are! I’ll try again.”