Santa Shocker! Peter Wright's Exit Throws Bottom Half Of William Hill World Darts Championship Draw Wide Open

Peter Wright certainly got into the festive spirit last night as the colourful Scotsman donned a magnificent Santa Claus outfit in his second round clash against Toni Alcinas at the William Hill World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace.  However, 'Snakebite' had very little to celebrate on Sunday evening as he crashed out 3-1 to the sparkling Spaniard as his dreams of a first world title went up in flames.

Heading into the match as a red-hot favourite, Wright was expected to cruise past Alcinas, who reached the last-16 of this tournament last year, but the number three seed Wright failed to sparkle on his doubles and could only land eight of his 31 attempts at doubles which ultimately secured his fate, as Alcinas bagged 9 of his 21 attempts and he stormed into round three to set up a clash with Benito van de Pas or Jim Long.

Wright's exit has blown open the bottom half of the draw and the fourth quarter is now there for taking with the likes of Gerwyn Price and Joe Cullen eyeing up a magnificent opportunity to progress to the semi-finals.  Wright had been a red-hot favourite to dominate the bottom quarter of the draw, but his defeat will now mean a whole host of players will fancy their chances of progressing to the final four.

On a magnificent weekend of action at the Alexandra Palace, Michael van Gerwen cemented his place at the head of the outright betting - albeit after the poor Dutchman was doused in a pint of beer before his win over Alan Tabern, but the Dutch favourite will face a tough third round test against Max Hopp, who impressed when beating Danny Noppert in his second round clash.