Chris Dobey, Michael Smith among seeds dumped out of PDC World Championship

Chris Dobey has been dumped out of the PDC World Championship after suffering a second-round defeat to Andrew Gilding.

The eighth seed had reached the last eight on his most recent three visits to the Alexandra Palace and he looked on course for another win when taking the first set.

However, Gilding - a former UK Open champion - was outstanding during the next three sets, averaging 104.86 and 109.11 in the second and third to open up an advantage.

Despite eight missed doubles in the fourth, the 55-year-old still averaged 99.4 to earn a place in the last 32 for the first time since 2017 with a 3-1 win.

GILDING ELIMINATES CHRIS DOBEY ❌

What a performance from Andrew Gilding, as he averages just short of 100 in a big win over eighth seed Chris Dobey!

? https://t.co/59TualjODb #WCDarts | R2 pic.twitter.com/gEdSvnZ3rJ

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2025

Former world champion Michael Smith was also eliminated on Saturday night as he went down 3-1 to Niels Zonneveld.

Smith, now down in 28th place in the PDC Order of Merit, appeared to have the momentum after levelling the match with a 107.43 average in the second set.

Missed doubles cost him in the third, however, and after edging back in front, Zonneveld was unflappable in the fourth as he took it 3-0 despite Smith averaging in excess of 101.

While Dobey will drop outside of the world's top 10, Smith could lose his spot in the top 32 come the end of the tournament.

Fourth seed Stephen Bunting had a more productive evening as he cruised to a 3-0 win over Indian qualifier Nitin Kumar.

Bunting only dropped two legs in a game where his opponent averaged just 75.18, while he also posted a 52.94% checkout rate to emphatically advance through to the third round.