Gerwyn Price became the latest high-profile casualty at the PDC world darts championship on Friday, letting a 2-0 lead slip as he lost to the world No 73, Nathan Aspinall.

The Welsh No 6 seed was seen by many as an outside chance to reach the final after his victory over Gary Anderson at the Grand Slam of Darts, and looked to be cruising into the third round after winning both of the first two sets 3-2.

Price had a match dart at the bullseye in the third set, but missed – and then saw the outsider clean up a 91 checkout to snatch the set. That marked a dramatic turnaround as Aspinall took six of the next seven legs to stun Price and delight the Alexandra Palace crowd.

“I can’t describe the way I’m feeling now,” Aspinall told Sky Sports. “I’m so, so happy. It’s unreal. At 2-0 down, I still believed in myself. Now, hopefully, I can go deep in the competition.”

Price has divided opinion with his aggressive on-stage demeanour, and clashed with Anderson during their final earlier this month. “The crowd played a massive part [tonight],” Aspinall said. “I’m not stupid - they got on his back. [Price] does that to himself, to be fair.”

Another seed fell immediately afterwards, as Price’s compatriot Jonny Clayton lost 3-1 to Dimitri van den Bergh. This was one encounter where the unseeded player was arguably a slight favourite, with the Belgian reaching the quarter-finals here last year.

Van den Bergh lived up to his billing as one of the game’s hottest prospects, averaging 104.45 and hitting eight maximums to set up a third-round tie against Luke Humphries. The two-time world youth champion may fancy his chances of progressing further, with only two top-16 players – Rob Cross and Michael Smith – left on his side of the draw.

Quick Guide PDC world darts championship draw Show Third round (1) Michael van Gerwen v (32) Max Hopp

(16) Adrian Lewis v Darius Labanauskas

Ryan Joyce v (25) Alan Norris

(9) James Wade v Keegan Brown



(5) Daryl Gurney v (28) Jamie Lewis

(12) Dave Chisnall v (21) Kim Huybrechts

(4) Gary Anderson v (29) Jermaine Wattimena

Vincent van der Voort v Chris Dobey



(2) Rob Cross v (31) Cristo Reyes

Dimitri van den Bergh v Luke Humphries

Ryan Searle v William O'Connor

(10) Michael Smith v (23) John Henderson



Nathan Aspinall v (27) Kyle Anderson

Devon Petersen v (22) Steve West

Toni Alcinas v (30) Benito van de Pas

Brendan Dolan v (19) Mervyn King



Earlier, South Africa’s Devon Petersen rallied from two sets down to knock out the No 11 seed, England’s Ian White, in another dramatic comeback victory.

White had cruised into a two-set lead in their second-round match but Petersen stormed back, checking out from 76 to win the third set and taking the fourth when White missed three darts at double 20.

The deciding fifth set saw missed doubles and big finishes, with Petersen taking out 110 and White 106 to share the first two legs. Petersen then finished from 125 before breaking White, who missed two more darts at double top, and sealing the win with a clinical 113 finish.

Devon Petersen is into the third round after beating Ian White 3-2. Photograph: Steven Paston/PA

The former BDO world champion Jelle Klaasen joined White in making an early exit, losing 3-1 to Keegan Brown. The Dutchman was well below his best despite taking the first set, and Brown, who won the world youth title in 2014, rallied to reach the third round.

Brown will be one of at 13 unseeded players in the last 32 and will next play James Wade, who is likely to receive a mixed reception after his controversial win over Seigo Asada earlier this week.

In the afternoon session Benito van de Pas came through another tie-break match to end Jim Long’s fairytale run.

Canada’s Long, who came through the North American qualifiers despite not having a world ranking, had a match dart in the deciding set but the Dutchman eventually prevailed after nailing a 150 finish.

Van de Pas took the opening two sets, losing just two legs, but Long fought back to take the next. ‘Big Ben’ then had three darts to claim a 3-1 triumph but could not hit his doubles. Long missed a shot at double 20 to win the deciding set 4-2, and the No 30 seed punished him to set up a third-round tie with Spain’s Toni Alcinas.

In Friday’s other matches, Australia’s Kyle Anderson was pushed all the way by the Philippines’ Noel Malicdem before grinding out a 3-1 win, while Scotland’s John Henderson won another five-setter, taking out 120 to seal a 3-2 win over Gabriel Clemens.