But former champion Raymond van Barneveld became the latest high-profile seed to exit the competition early after being brushed aside by Nick Kenny on an upset on day seven.
The Dutchman has had to wait to get his campaign up and running but he did so in comfortable fashion, beating James Hurrell 3-0.
It ensured he did not follow second seed Michael Smith in crashing out, after Kevin Doets edged a five-set thriller against the former world champion.
Stephen Bunting was in danger of following Smith out the exit door, with Kai Gotthardt having darts to take a two-set lead on Friday. Crowd favourite Bunting battled back, though, to ensure he will be returning after Christmas.
It is Christian Kist who has got the Ally Pally fans going the most this week, as he produced the first nine-darter of the tournament. That perfect leg was still not enough for him to get past Madars Razma.
Peter Wright kicked off his bid for a third world title with victory over Wesley Plaisier, while Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall have also progressed.
Winning start: Defending champion Luke Humphries beat Thibault Tricole 3-0 in his opening match
Bradley Collyer/PA Wire
World Darts Championship schedule and latest results
(Seeds in brackets, all times GMT)
Thibault Tricole 3-1 Joe Comito
Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 Stefan Bellmont
Keane Barry 3-0 Kim Huybrechts
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wesley Plaisier 3-2 Ryusei Azemoto
Luke Woodhouse 3-0 Lourence Ilagan
Alan Soutar 1-3 Kai Gotthardt
Jermaine Wattimena 3-0 James Wade (16)
Niels Zonneveld 1-3 Robert Owen
Connor Scutt 3-0 Ben Robb
Cameron Menzies 3-1 Leonard Gates
(10) Gerwyn Price 3-0 Keane Barry
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
James Hurrell 3-0 Jim Long
Kevin Doets 3-1 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Ryan Joyce 3-1 Darius Labanauskas
Luke Woodhouse 3-1 Mike De Decker
Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 Rashad Sweeting
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-0 Xiaochen Zong
Ryan Meikle 3-2 Fallon Sherrock
(17) Peter Wright 3-1 Wesley Plaisier
Paolo Nebrida 3-2 Jim Williams
Madars Razma 3-1 Christian Kist
Ricky Evans 3-2 Gordon Mathers
(12) Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Leonard Gates
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Chris Landman 1-3 Lok Yin Lee
Callan Rydz 3-0 Romeo Grbavac
Martin Lukeman 3-1 Nitin Kumar
(27) Gabriel Clemens 1-3 Robert Owen
Nick Kenny 3-0 Stowe Buntz
Mensur Suljovic 2-3 Matt Campbell
Scott Williams 3-1 Niko Springer
(2) Michael Smith 2-3 Kevin Doets
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Alexander Merkx 3-0 vs Stephen Burton
Wessel Nijman 3-2 Cameron Carolissen
Ian White bt Sandro Eric Sosing (walkover)
(8) Stephen Bunting 3-1 Kai Gotthardt
Mickey Mansell 3-1 Tomoya Goto
Florian Hempel 3-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
William O’Connor 1-3 Dylan Slevin
(3) Michael van Gerwen 3-0 James Hurrell
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Karel Sedlacek 0-3 Rhys Griffin
Richard Veenstra 0-3 Alexis Toylo
(30) Brendan Dolan 3-0 Lok Yin Lee
(15) Chris Dobey 3-1 Alexander Merkx
(13) Danny Noppert 1-3 Ryan Joyce
(32) Raymond van Barneveld 1-3 Nick Kenny
(9) Damon Heta 3-1 Connor Scutt
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(20) Ryan Searle v Matt Campbell
(25) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma
(23) Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman
(29) Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White
(22) Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz
(19) Ross Smith v Paolo Nebrida
(11) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dylan Slevin
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
(31) Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo
(21) Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman
(18) Josh Rock v Rhys Griffin
(7) Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell
(28) Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko
(26) Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel
(5) Rob Cross v Scott Williams
(6) Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Third Round (x1), Fourth Round (x2)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Thursday, January 2 (7.30pm)
How can I watch the World Darts Championship?
TV channel: The tournament will be covered live in full on Sky Sports. Both the afternoon and evening sessions will be shown on Sky Sports Darts, with many sessions also on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers will be able to watch the game through the Sky Go app.
World Darts Championship latest odds
Odds via Betfair. Subject to change
