After all the talk, it's time for Beau Greaves to walk the walk -- the highly rated 21-year-old makes her return to the Alexandra Palace oche on Friday as she takes on Daryl Gurney and you can follow it all live with ESPN.
Greaves made her debut in 2022 but lost 3-0 against William O'Connor and has focused on dominating in the women's game until now. She beat Luke Littler in October, but if she beats Gurney, Greaves will become just the second woman to have won a match at the PDC World Darts Championship.
Nathan Aspinall also begins his World Darts Championship campaign as he faces Lourence Ilagan.
Friday's matches and results:
Afternoon session
Kevin Doets 3-1 Matthew Dennant
Ryan Meikle 3-0 Jesus Salate
Mickey Mansell 2-3 Leonard Gates
(11) Josh Rock 3-1 Gemma Hayter
Evening session
William O'Connor 3-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
(22) Daryl Gurney vs. Beau Greaves
(15) Nathan Aspinall vs. Lourence Ilagan
Keane Barry vs. Tim Pusey
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The ever-popular Leonard Gates lit up Friday's afternoon session with a 3-2 win over Mickey Mansell, while Josh Rock was made to work hard for a spot in the second round by the impressive Gemma Hayter.
The World Darts Championship seems to get bigger ever year and this one is no different. The expanded field is competing for a share of the £5 million total prize pot which contains a £1 million cheque for the winner. It's double the amount Luke Littler pocketed for beating Michael van Gerwen in January.