- Ed Sheeran was seen in the crowd for Friday’s World Darts Championship action
- Pop star was all smiles as he watched Alexander Merkx beat Stephen Burton
Ed Sheeran was spotted in the crowd for day six of the PDC World Darts Championship.
Thousands of darts fans descended on Alexandra Palace for the afternoon session on Friday, less than a day after No 2 seed Michael Smith was knocked out.
Michael van Gerwen headlines Friday’s matches as he takes on James Hurrell in the second round.
And Sheeran was spotted in his seat early in the afternoon as he watched the day’s early action.
The pop star was all smiles as he watched caravan salesman Alexander Merkx beat window cleaner Stephen Burton 3-0.
Sheeran is no stranger to attending major sporting events having been spotted at a number of Ipswich matches this season.
There was a huge shock on in the World Championship on Thursday night as second seed Smith was knocked out after losing 3-2 to Kevin Doets in an epic match in the second round.
Smith – who won the tournament in January 2023 – whitewashed Doets in the first and third sets to take a 2-1 lead.
But the final set went all the way to a tie-break, which Doets eventually won 6-4 after missing three match darts.
Smith recorded a three-dart average of 96.93, while Doets averaged 96.90.
Doets – who beat Noa-Lynn van Leuven 3-1 in round one – will now face Krzysztof Ratajski, Richard Veenstra or Alexis Toylo in the last 32 after Christmas.
Luke Littler – named the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday – is looking to go one better from last year, when he was beaten in the final by Luke Humphries.
The 17-year-old will play his first match in this year’s tournament on Saturday when he faces Ryan Meikle, who beat Fallon Sherrock on Tuesday night.