Van Barneveld beats Williams to set up last-16 tie against Littler

Raymond van Barneveld beat Jim Williams 4-1 to set up a last-16 tie against Luke Littler on Saturday.

Van Barneveld has not reached this stage of the competition since the 2018 tournament and is 40 years older than 16-year-old Littler.

Littler has got the darting world talking with his incredible run to the fourth round on debut and is third favourite to win the whole event, only behind Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries.

Van Barneveld did not show too much spark but won the key legs including a dramatic first set where Williams missed five set darts.

The Welshman levelled up by taking the next set but Van Barneveld won the next six legs of the match to go 3-1 up and was on course for a run of nine consecutive legs as he went 2-0 up in the fifth set, only for Williams to fight back to 2-2 and send it to a deciding leg.

Throwing first, Van Barneveld held his nerve and found D8 to get over the line but faces a big challenge against the rising superstar Littler next.

“I will love to play Luke Littler. When I was 16, I was playing with Lego and Playmobil! We didn’t have internet or whatever,” said Van Barneveld.

“This guy is amazing and how it will be tomorrow [Saturday] to play this guy – I’m looking forward so much to that game.

“He’s a quality player, we have the same sponsor – I can’t wait to meet him.”

Heta fights back and Clayton wins

Elsewhere, Damon Heta roared back from two sets down to beat Berry van Peer 4-3 in a rollercoaster match.

Heta went 3-2 ahead and was on course to win four consecutive sets, only for the Dutchman to turn the tables with a 108 checkout and an 11-dart leg to take the match into a decider.

A scrappy first leg in the seventh set went the way of Heta, as he broke the throw, which set the Australian up to win the set 3-1 and book a place in the last 16 where he will face Scott Williams.

Jonny Clayton was not at his best but took a 4-2 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski and will play former world champion Rob Cross on Saturday.

Anderson, MVG and Smith headline Friday night

Later on Friday night, two-time world champion Gary Anderson rounds off the third round action against Croatia’s Boris Krcmar from 7pm on Sky Sports Darts.

Michael van Gerwen then takes on Stephen Bunting and the fourth round begins with reigning champion Michael Smith going up against ‘Hollywood’ Chris Dobey.

The last 16 will conclude on Saturday December 30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final taking place from January 1-3.

The sport’s biggest event sees the remaining players compete for the Sid Waddell Trophy and £2.5m in prize money at Alexandra Palace. You can watch all the action live on our dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel.

Watch the World Darts Championship all the way until the final on January 3, 2024 – live on Sky Sports Darts. Stream Sky Sports with a NOW Sports Month Membership