Gerwyn Price, Danny Noppert and Chris Dobey all safely negotiated their round one games on day six at the 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

Price, who won the Sid Waddell Trophy in 2021, breezed past the Czech Republic’s Adam Gawlas, in a game where The Iceman was barely tested.

Noppert and Dobey were both made to work a bit more, but still were victorious 3-1 against Jurjen van der Velde and Xiaochen Zong respectively.

By contrast, Alan Soutar went 2-0 up in the opening match of day six, but had to survive match darts against debutant Teemu Harju. In the end, Soots won a marathon game in a sudden death leg, the first of the 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

There were also wins for Joe Comito, Ricardo Pietreczko, Justin Hood and Scott Williams.

Iceman and Freeze avoid upsets in Ally Pally cauldron

Since winning that World title, Price has only added the 2021 Grand Slam to his major TV ranking collection. Now, back to somewhere near his best, he’s looking to go to the last four at Ally Pally for the first time since the year he ruled the world.

Price always looked in control against Gawlas, winning the first set in 45 darts and not giving his opponent a chance at a double. Gawlas did hold twice in set two, but so did Price, forcing a deciding leg and arguably determining whether the match would continue as a contest.

In it, the former World Youth Championship finalist saw his scoring disappear at a crucial time, as Price pinged a 120 checkout for a 15 dart break and a 2-0 lead. 47 darts later, he had 120 for the match and a 15 dart hold, which he popped again to close out the win and set up a meeting with Wesley Plaisier in the next round.

Noppert was tested more significantly than The Iceman, but The Freeze hit seven 180s in his defeat of fellow Dutchman van der Velde.

The former UK Open champion won the opening set in a deciding leg, before van der Velde equalised, taking out 65 to clinch set two.

Noppy’s class though shined through in the deciding leg of set three, as he hit an 88 outshot on the bull to reestablish the lead, after missing multiple set darts the leg before. He then produced the best spell of the contest, hitting a 135 to win leg one of set four, before finding back to back 13 darters to end the contest.

Dobey delivers against Zong, Soutar almost stunned by Harju

Chris Dobey was a semi finalist at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship 12 months ago, and started his campaign to clinch a maiden World title with a 3-1 win over China’s Xiaochen Zong despite hitting 10/37 on the outer ring.

Hollywood produced a clean sweep first set, racing through it in 49 darts. He then won the first leg of set two, before The Pandman produced his best darts of the match, reeling off three straight legs in 53 darts to level.

After both held to start set three, Dobey, a former Masters winner, found two straight 13 dart legs to move back in front. Zong won the opening leg of set four, but Hollywood again won three straight legs to set up a round two meeting with Andrew Gilding, finishing with an 11 dart leg.

The longest match of day six came at the beginning of the day, as Alan Soutar won the first sudden death decider against debutant Teemu Harju of Finland.

Soots looked in control for the first two sets, winning both 3-0 to put himself on course for a seemingly comfortable victory. However, with the winning line in sight, nerves seemed to get the better of him, and Harju took full advantage.

The third stanza went to a deciding leg, which the Finnish player won in 16 darts on double 16. The fourth set also went the distance, where Soutar missed an astonishing 10 match darts, to allow Harju to break in 26 darts on tops and improbably force a decider.

Both players held throw in the first four legs, sending the match into extra time. Harju held in the fifth leg, but then missed four match darts of his own, as Soots held on double four to extend the contest. The Scotsman then broke in leg seven, before missing another match dart, as Harju pinged a 104 outshot under the biggest pressure.

Soutar again took control, breaking in the ninth leg with a 112 outshot, but missed another four match darts in leg 10, as Harju hit 76 to go into a sudden death shootout. There, at the 16th time of asking, Soutar hit the winning dart, finding double 16 to end a tight and tense affair and set up a round two tie with Gian van Veen.

What else happened?

The biggest shock of the day came in the last match, as Joe Comito, who lost to Thibault Tricole 12 months ago in round one, defeated highly fancied German Niko Springer 3-1.

The Australian won the first set, before Springer equalised as both held their throw. Springer though looked tense throughout the contest, and it showed as the match wore on. Comito won set three, finishing with a stunning 155 checkout, before breaking in the third leg of set four to move one leg away from victory.

His scoring deserted him in leg four, allowing Springer to level and force a deciding leg. Both missed darts to clinch the fourth, but Comito, after squandering three match darts beforehand, hit double 10 to stun the German, who won on the Euro Tour earlier this season.

It wasn’t all a bad night for German darts though, as Ricardo Pietreczko defeated former Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa 3-1. Pikachu won the opening two sets in deciding legs, including an 11 darter to clinch set two.

De Sousa won set three in the last leg to close the gap to one, but a 13 dart break in leg three sandwiched in between two holds of throw, gave Pietreczko victory. For de Sousa, it means he’s lost his Tour Card, and will have to go to Q-School to regain it.

Justin Hood had a remarkable Paddy Power World Darts Championship debut, as he defeated Nick Kenny 3-0. Hood averaged 99.6 for the contest and dropped just three legs to Welshman Kenny, winning the match with an 80 checkout. He takes on Noppert in round two.

Finally, many thought Scott Williams would have trouble against Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines, but Shaggy comfortably saw off Pow 3-0. Williams lost just two legs in the match and was clinical on the outer ring, hitting nine of his 14 attempts at a double, including a double double 18 finish for a 12 darter to close out the match.

2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship Day Six Results

Afternoon Session 

Round One x4

Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju

Justin Hood 3-0 Nick Kenny

Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida

Chris Dobey 3-1 Xiaochen Zong

Evening Session 

Round One x4

Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 Jose de Sousa

Danny Noppert 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde

Gerwyn Price 3-0 Adam Gawlas

Joe Comito 3-1 Niko Springer