It has been a joyous journey for Irish players at the PDC World Darts Championship so far.
Local man Steve Lennon eventually found a way past tricky opposition in the form of the unseeded Madars Razma on the second day of the tournament despite dropping a set in a nervy 3-1 victory.
However, the 28-year-old put in his finest display on the Alexandra Palace stage to date in his 3-1 victory against Polish 12th seed Krzysztof Ratajski as he advanced to the third round for the first time in his career at the fifth time of asking.
Lennon’s World Cup teammate Willie O’Connor has been in fine form in North London throughout the course of the opening week also.
A defeat of America’s Danny Lauby in a last leg shootout in the deciding set of a memorable encounter saw O’Connor set up a second round battle with 2020 Premier League champion Glen Durrant.
Much like Lennon, the Limerick native put in a performance to match the occasion as he dropped only one leg on his way to a 3-0 dismantling of the three-time BDO world champion.
While O’Connor and Lennon have secured safe passage to the last 32 at the ‘Ally Pally’, it was not to be for Meath teenager Keane Barry as he fell short in a high quality second round tie against current Premier League champion Jonny Clayton on a scoreline of 3-2.
So, what do the two remaining Irish players left in the competition have to look forward to after Christmas?
O’Connor takes on former World finalist Michael Smith in the second game of Monday’s afternoon session.
In a race to four sets, ‘Bully Boy’ Smith will be the clear favourite to make the fourth round but ‘The Magpie’ knows that if he can maintain the high standard that he has showcased in his previous two games, he will be able to hold his own against the English man.
Carlow’s Lennon is the first game of the afternoon session on Tuesday where he will face former Grand Slam runner-up Mervyn King.
The pathway to the latter stages of the tournament has opened up for the in-form Lennon. Should he get the better of King, he has a last 16 clash with either Raymond Smith or Florian Hempel to look forward to.
With both of those players being unseeded, Lennon will know that he may not get such an opportunity to go deep in a tournament of this magnitude for quite some time.
World Darts Championship third round fixtures:
Monday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Ross Smith v Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Michael Smith v William O’Connor
Florian Hempel v Raymond Smith
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
James Wade v Vincent Van der Voort
Gerwyn Price v Kim Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton v Gabriel Clemens
Tuesday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Steve Lennon v Mervyn King
Ryan Searle v Danny Noppert
Joe Cullen v Martijn Kleermaker
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright v Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen v Chris Dobey
Wednesday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Jose De Sousa v Alan Soutar
Dave Chisnall v Luke Humphries
Nathan Aspinall v Brendan Dolan
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round
Gary Anderson v Ian White
