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00:11 GMT - That's it from day four at Alexandra Palace. Thanks for joining us this evening - we'll be back tomorrow for more!
23:57 GMT - Aspinall got knocked out this stage last year, and that may have played on his mind as the 12th seed allowed Gates to keep the match going despite having darts to finish the American off. Aspinall is a two-time semi-finalists in this tournament, but will have to play a lot better than that if he has any hope of getting to that same stage this year.
23:47 GMT - GAME OVER! Nathan Aspinall has not played at his best tonight, but he's done enough to beat Leonard Gates. Aspinall missed a match dart in his penultimate visit, but couldn't convert, and needed two darts to finish things off and book his place in the third round of the World Darts Championship.
23:43 GMT - Gates breaks Aspinall! The American now has the throw to see if he can push this to a five-set match.
23:40 GMT - Aspinall wins the third leg and now only needs to win one of the next two legs in order to win this match. It's his throw and he starts with a 180...
23:38 GMT - Gates closes out 88 to win the second leg. He refuses to go down without a fight.
23:32 GMT - He's making hard work of it out there, is Aspinall. He steps up to finish 25 but can't do it despite having all three darts at it. However, Gates can't close the leg out and Aspinall finally checks out four with his second dart. He looks a bit deflated with his own performance.
23:28 GMT - Aspinall has a 2-1 lead in the third set but he's being made to work by Gates, who has hit two 180s to keep the pressure on his opponent.
23:19 GMT - Gates has won the second set! Impressive from the American, but you'd have to say it also says a lot about Aspinall, who had two visits to close out that set and take a 2-0 lead. As it is, it's 1-1 as the players trot off for a break.
23:14 GMT - Gates is proving he is worth his place out there as he breaks Aspinall to force a deciding leg for which the American has the throw.
23:09 GMT - Aspinall has a chance to checkout 140 and hits two triple 20s, but then misses the crucial double ten. Gates steps up and makes him pay by levelling the set up at 1-1.
23:00 GMT - Aspinall shows his class to close out 114 to win the leg and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
22:54 GMT - Ominous signs here for Gates as Aspinall flies through the first two legs.
22:46 GMT - Here come the two men who are taking part in the final match of the night as Nathan Aspinall faces Leonard Gates.
22:39 GMT - He's done it! Rapid Ricky Evans holds his nerve to win the leg and he's beaten Gordon Mathers 3-2. He was sluggish at times, but he found his form when it mattered.
22:37 GMT - Rapid Ricky leads the deciding set 2-1 and he's on throw.
22:33 GMT - Evans breaks Mathers in the first leg of the deciding set.
22:30 GMT - Rapid Ricky has a dart to win the leg but he misses. Mathers then steps up, and makes no mistake as he wins the leg to send this tie into a deciding set.
22:22 GMT - A 180 during one visit gives Rapid Ricky the edge, and he converts to win the third set and take a 2-1 lead at Ally Pally.
22:20 GMT - Rapid Ricky looks out of sorts for much of the third set, but he closes out 68 with a triple 20 and double four in no time at all to live up to his name and take a 2-1 lead with his throw to come.
22:08 GMT - The second set goes to a clinical Mathers! Impressive stuff there, breaking Rapid Ricky twice.
22:06 GMT - Mathers has taken a 2-0 lead in the match after breaking Evans' throw and then holding his nerve to hold his own.
21:57 GMT - Rapid Ricky is living up to his name and has already won the first set! He's 1-0 up early on against Mathers.
21:46 GMT - Here come Ricky Evans and Gordon Mathers...
21:35 GMT - GAME OVER! Razma has won! Kist hit the first nine-darter of this year's tournament to win the opening set, but Razma took control from then on, winning the next three sets to seal a 3-1 victory.
21:33 GMT - Kist wins the fourth leg, but can Razma hold his throw to win the match? He starts with a 180 in his first visit!
21:31 GMT - Kist wins the second leg, but can't close out the third as Razma seals a 2-1 lead in the fourth set. The Latvian now needs just one of the last two legs of this set to win the match.
21:27 GMT - Razma wins the first leg of the fourth set to put one foot into the next round. Kist may have thrown a nine-darter, but it's been all his opponent since then.
21:24 GMT - Razma has won six of the last eight legs to take a 2-1 lead in the match. He has the throw in this set as well, which could prove crucial.
21:09 GMT - Razma has won the second set 3-1 to level this match up at one set apiece.
20:43 GMT - NINE DARTER! Christian Kist has hit a nine darter to win the opening set against Madars Razma! What a statement.
20:53 GMT - Not much to separate these two early on as we have gone into a deciding fifth leg in the opening set.
20:45 GMT - Not a long turnaround as Madars Razma and Christian Kist make their way to the stage. We'll have updates of the second game shortly.
20:35 GMT - GAME OVER! Nebrida has won! Williams had a visit to win it, but fluffed his lines from the outset to leave the door open for his opponent, and as a result loses the fifth leg to lose the final set and the match 3-2. What drama to open the night's action!
20:31 GMT - Wow! Williams misses five match darts and Nebrida has forced a deciding leg in the deciding fifth set!
20:28 GMT - Williams has won the third leg on his throw, and now just has to win one of the last two legs in order to progress.
20:21 GMT - Incredible! Williams hits a 180 with his penultimate visit and then closes out to sweep the fourth set and force a deciding fifth set.
20:18 GMT - Williams has hit back to win the first two legs of the fourth set. He's close to sending this match into a final-set decider.
20:11 GMT - Williams fought back to win the third leg, but Nebrida has won the fourth to win the set and take a 2-1 lead in this match. Williams has it all to do now.
20:06 GMT - Williams has taken his eye off the ball a little, and Nebrida responds by closing out 79 to go 2-0 up in the third set.
19:54 GMT - A lot better from Wales' Williams, who wins the second set 3-1 to level things up at 1-1. He's visibly relieved after that one.
19:40 GMT - Williams has just missed three shots at double 16 to win the set, and Nebrida has obliged by hitting back to win the opening set.
19:32 GMT - Williams has broken back as well as winning the third leg with a bull checkout. Impressive stuff from the Welshman.
19:26 GMT - Nebrida is out the blocks early, throwing treble 20s with each of his first four darts. He has subsequently opened this match by breaking Williams' throw in the first leg of the day.
19:22 GMT - We are now underway in the opening match between Wales' Jim Williams and Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines. Will we see a British name through to the next round?
18:57 GMT - In other news, last night Luke Littler was crowned as the 2024 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and was also named runner-up in the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.
"It's a huge honour for me to win Young Sports Personality of the Year and finish second for Sports Personality," Littler said.
"The support this year has been amazing and I want to say thank you to everyone who voted and sent messages."
Click here for the full story.
18:51 GMT - We had to give up on either of the two checking out with a double, so we had closest to the bull decides the winner and Beckett duly claimed a famous victory.
18:42 GMT - Comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan are actually the first match of the night. We'll spare you the leg-by-leg updates, though, as Beckett has just thrown one, one and zero for a grand total of two. Maybe just catch the highlights on Sky Sports later on.
18:31 GMT - We are about half an hour away from our opening match between Wales' Jim Williams and Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines.
18:12 GMT - Can Nathan Aspinall put down a marker with a big performance tonight?
17:53 GMT - Who did it best?!
17:41 GMT - In the big news from last night, Peter Wright began his quest for a third World Darts Championship title with a hard-fought victory over Wesley Plaisier.
Despite a mid-game surge from the Dutchman, Wright prevailed, securing his first televised ranking win since March's UK Open.
"The crowd got me through that whole match," Wright admitted in his post-match press conference.
"The support did spur me on. I didn't want to let them down, I didn't want to let my family down, and thankfully I got away with it tonight.
"It's nice to see Jermaine (Wattimena) playing some fantastic darts, so I’ve got to step up, but class is permanent, and form is temporary."
Click here for the full story.
17:28 GMT - Here's a recap of Gates' winning evening first time out:
17:16 GMT - The big match tonight sees Nathan Aspinall take on Leonard Gates, who beat Cameron Menzies 3-1 in his first outing at Alexandra Palace.
"It's a wonderful feeling to come back and get through my first round," Gates told the PDC.
"The energy and the atmosphere is possibly even better than when I was here last time. It's phenomenal.
"I really can't explain what the support means. You can feel that energy in your body, and that's a great motivation for me."
16:51 GMT - Here's what we have to look forward to this evening:
Nathan Aspinall v Leonard Gates
16:27 GMT - Good evening and welcome to Flashscore's Darts Tracker on day four of the 2024/25 World Darts Championship!