Dave Chisnall crashed out of the World Darts Championship after suffering a dramatic first-leg loss to Ricky Evans, while former world champion Rob Cross was also knocked out of an impressive session at Alexandra Palace.
Chisnall won the opening set in a topsy-turvy match, but needed to recover from a 2-1 deficit to extend their epic encounter into the final set, with both players surviving darts to take them to an extra stage.
Evans fired 110 on his way to taking the lead once again and saw Chisnall recover from a shocking blunder in finishing over a ton to grab the shot, with 'Rapid Ricky' then winning the final stretch of the match to send another seed heading for an early exit.
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Actor Shaun Williamson performs a series of powerful shots for the Alexandra Palace crowd at the World Darts Championship.
An epic pre-Christmas session saw Daryl Gurney advance to the final decider against Florian Hempel and World Youth Champion Gian van Veen knocked out by Ricardo Petrichko, before Kroos was beaten 3-1 by Scott Williams in the final match of the evening.
Cross's early exit made him the 14th seed to exit in the second round, a new record for this stage of the competition, with Williams – who lost to eventual champion Luke Humphries in the semi-finals last year – the last to secure his place. In the last 32.
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A record 14 seeded players have now been eliminated from the second round of the World Darts Championship, take a look at our recap of the key moments from the second round.
A classic Christmas start in a stunning session
Evans brought the festive cheer with his Christmas-themed T-shirt and a Shakin' Stevens walking track, only for Chisnall to seize early control by opening with a 12-dart break and holding the shot in the next over.
Chisnall responded to Evans' stunning 126 shot and wasted 'Big Fish''s attempt by clinching the set with 15 arrows, but he missed a set shot on D5 in the final stretch of the second to allow 'Rapid Ricky' to break the putt and level.
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Moments after Chisnall had nearly 170 points, Evans scored a huge 126 to respond in the first set
Evans took a 13-bet lead in the third set, but saw Chisnall fight back with a clean sweep in the fourth set, with 'Cheese' having to come from behind on three occasions to lead the decider.
Both players missed darts during a chaotic closing period, with Evans extending the contest with a brilliant 110 shot to break the break, then finding a 17-dart to move leg wide.
Ricky Evans knocked out Dave Chisnall in a thrilling second round match at Alexandra Palace
Chisnall survived an ill-timed false finish to find the 'Mad House' on his next visit and pull the pack into the eleventh and final stage, where Evans took out the tops to claim 52nd place and spark wild celebrations.
“I played a world-class darts player there, and I played very well,” Evans He told Sky Sports. “It's nice to say I won a match and played well – it's usually boring! I wish I beat Cheezy 3-0 because then my bar would be a little slower!”
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Evans gave a brilliant and funny post-match interview with Abigail Davies and taunted the Alexandra Palace fans for supporting him throughout their win over Chisnall.
Journey escapes fear as Cross advances.
Another upset was on the cards when Gurney dropped a set to Hempel, who was on the verge of taking the second set to a decider when the Northern Irishman fired a 156 to break a 15-point lead and level the match.
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Daryl Gurney equalized his match with Florian Hempel by knocking out a big 156 to make the score 1-1.
Hempel took the third set in succession and moved within striking distance of victory during a tight fourth game, before Gurney hit 13 consecutive darts to level the match and then broke the German's serve early in the deciding set.
Gurney held the next shot en route to a hard-fought win, pitting him against seventh seed Johnny Clayton in the third round, while Cross was another big-name exit after a disappointing loss to Williams.
Rob Cross was another player who was eliminated in the second round
Cross held the shot in the final stretch of the opening set before Williams clinched the second set with a 14-dart catch in another deciding leg, with the contest also threatening to continue when Cross popped a 130 at the start of the third.
But Williams won the next three games to take a set lead, capitalizing on some poor finishing from Kroos, before securing victory in the next set – and avenging his loss to the Englishman two years ago – by taking out 14 bets on top at the final leg.
In another match, Van Veen missed eight darts to break his opponent's serve in a tense first leg, with Petrichko racing through the first set, although he responded with a stunning 12-dart return after 127 points on his way to leveling the match in the second set.
Pietreczko got back in front when he finished on 122 points in the third set he won on straight legs, then broke Van Veen with a 16 shot and held his shot in the next set to reach the third round for the second year in a row.
Clayton completes the final stage of the saga and rocks through it
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Johnny Clayton and Mickey Mansell competed in an epic final set that included three tons of finishes, a 10-dart leg, several dart throws, and a sudden-death finish
Earlier, it looked like Clayton was on his way to the finish line when he won six games in a row, but Mickey Mansell forced a deciding set and then hit stunning 136 and 154 runs to close in on victory.
The Welshman won the next two games to extend the contest and both players missed darts, leading to a penalty shootout in the final stage, where he took advantage of dart possession to find a way over the line.
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Mansell made 136 not out followed by a finish of 154 in the decider against Clayton
Elsewhere, Josh Rock beat Rhys Griffin 3-0, dropping just two games to set up a last-32 showdown with Chris Dobbie, while the other two seeds in Monday afternoon's clash also progressed.
Poland's top seed Krzysztof Ratajski beat Alexis Toilo 3-1 and Andrew Gelding beat Martin Lookman by the same score, Ratajski now faces Kevin Deutz – who surprised former world champion Michael Smith – and Gelding takes on Nathan Aspinall.
When will the third round take place?
Darts returns after Christmas on 27 December, with four successive days of doubles sessions at Alexandra Palace, with rounds three and four completed by 30 December.
World number one Luke Humphries takes on Nick Kenny in Friday's evening session, while reigning Premier League champion Luke Littler takes on Saturday night's headlines when he takes on Ian Whyte.
Elsewhere, Michael van Gerwen faces Brendan Dolan (Saturday) and fellow former world champion Gerwen Price faces Joe Cullen (Friday).
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Luke Littler won the final set against Ryan Mikel by just 32 arrows, setting up a third-round meeting with Ian White.
The players will have a night off on New Year's Eve before the quarter-finals, which will be held over two rounds on New Year's Day, with the semi-finals taking place on January 2 and the final on Friday, January 3.
The full daily schedule for this year's tournament can be found here here.
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