Michael van Gerwen began his bid for a fourth PDC world title with a comfortable 3-0 victory against England’s James Hurrell.

Van Gerwen, champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019, has struggled for form of late and not won a major televised tournament this year. But the Dutchman eased past Hurrell, who beat Jim Long on his world championship debut on Tuesday, in winning each set 3-1.

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“I think I played OK, of course like everyone knows it’s been a tough year for me,” Van Gerwen, the No 3 seed, told Sky Sports after his second-round victory. “To stand up here and do the thing you want to do always takes a lot of energy.

“But overall I put in a good performance. My doubles were there, I was confident, and the most important thing is that I won the game.

“It wasn’t spectacular but I don’t really care because I won the game. It’s only the start of my campaign and there’s more to come.”

Sandro Eric Sosing was taken to hospital before his scheduled first-round match at the PDC World Darts Championship after suffering chest pains.

Sosing withdrew from his match against Ian White on medical advice after feeling unwell during practice. The 41-year-old is one of four Filipino players in the draw for the 2025 tournament at Alexandra Palace, having earned his place by reaching the PDC Asian Championship final in October, losing to compatriot Lourence Ilagan.

“Sandro Eric Sosing has withdrawn from his match with Ian White on medical grounds,” read a PDC statement published shortly before the game was due to begin on Friday afternoon.

“Sosing reported chest pains whilst practising and following an on site assessment by medical staff, he has been taken for further treatment.”

The absence of Sosing, who lost 3-0 to Lee Evans in the first round last year, means that the former quarter-finalist White receives a walkover and will face Ritchie Edhouse in the second round. The news cast a shadow over the afternoon session, which featured just three matches as a result.

Stephen Bunting, the eighth seed, was put under early pressure by Germany’s Kai Gotthardt, who took the first set 3-1 and had the chance to go two sets clear. But after mistakenly hitting a double-bull in his setup shot, Gotthardt missed three set darts at double eight and Bunting pounced with double 10 to level the match.

Bunting then broke his opponent’s throw with a 13-dart leg on his way to taking the third set, and took charge of the fourth with another break in the second leg.

The Masters champion closed out victory on double top to reach the third round, where he will face either Dirk van Duijvenbode or Madars Razma.

Ed Sheeran was in attendance at the Ally Pally, a change of scenery for the singer after being regularly spotted at Ipswich Town games. Sheeran, who owns a minority stake in the Suffolk club, was shown on the big screen and promptly serenaded by the crowd with his own personal chant: “Ipswich get battered, everywhere they go.”

Wessel Nijman, tipped by many observers as a dark horse for the world title after his impressive form this season, almost fell at the first hurdle before edging through a thriller against South Africa’s Cameron Carolissen. Nijman began in ominous fashion, taking the first set 3-0 as his opponent showed nerves in missing several doubles.

The second set was a tighter affair but the Dutchman took it in a deciding leg, only for his opponent to bounce back with a third-set whitewash. Carolissen moved ahead on averages as Nijman began to feel the pressure, and he set up a decider by checking out on double 16 against the throw.

The final set went with the throw until the decisive fifth leg, when Nijman pounced to take out 25 in two darts, booking a second-round meeting with Joe Cullen. In Fridaythe afternoon’s other game, Dutchman Alexander Merkx beat Stephen Burton 3-0 in a scrappy contest, with both players averaging below 80.