Britain’s Dom Taylor has been suspended from the World Darts Championship after failing a drug test, the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) said on Friday, handing opponent Jonny Clayton a free pass to the third round.
The DRA, the sport’s governing body, said Taylor returned an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted on 14 December, one day before the tournament got under way at Alexandra Palace.
“As a result of this and in line with relevant DRA processes, Dom Taylor has been suspended from participating in any DRA-regulated events with immediate effect,” the DRA said. “This matter will now be the subject of a disciplinary process in line with the relevant DRA anti-doping rules.”
Taylor beat Oskar Lukasiak to move into the second round and he was scheduled to face Clayton, who will now receive a bye. It is the second time Taylor has failed a drugs test. He was banned for a month by the DRA in January for a failed drugs test in November last year.
That suspension came during the Players Championship Finals and led to him missing the World Championship. He was in line to receive a two-year ban but it was reduced as the substance was not performance-enhancing and was taken outside of competition.
Meanwhile, Beau Greaves just missed out on a first win at the worlds after a 3-2 defeat by Daryl Gurney. The 21-year-old from Doncaster, making her second appearance on the Alexandra Palace stage, hit a 10-dart leg to level the match against the 22nd seed. But Gurney pulled off the biggest checkout of the match, a 144, to break in the deciding set before wrapping up victory despite winning 10 total legs to Greaves’ 11.
“For me, she’s the best woman dart player on the planet,” Gurney said on Sky Sports. “If there’s going to be a dart player that can win the World Championships or any majors, that’s the player you want to look to. Even from a man’s point of view, that woman has got some cojones.
“Obviously everybody says that she was the favourite coming into the game, but sometimes I showed my class, I showed my composure, and I got over the finish line.”
Ireland’s William O’Connor – who beat Greaves in her only previous appearance at Ally Pally in 2022 – averaged 102.3 in a 3-0 win over Krzysztof Kciuk of Poland to earn a shot at three-time champion Michael van Gerwen in round two.
Josh Rock survived a minor scare before overcoming Gemma Hayter 3-1 and booking his place in the second round at Alexandra Palace. The Northern Irishman, touted by many as a tip for the title after a stunning 2025 season, cruised into a two-set lead before Hayter seized the third and pushed him to the limit as she pressed for parity in the fourth.
Rock, a 2025 World Cup winner alongside Gurney, missed 10 darts at doubles in a below-par first set but appeared to have shrugged off his early nerves as he cruised through the second. But Hayter, who qualified by finishing fifth on the 2025 Women’s Series order of merit, stepped up to seize the third set and battled to a deciding leg in the fourth before Rock belatedly got the job done with an 81 checkout.
American showman Lenny Gates joined Rock in round two after chiselling out a 3-2 win over another Northern Irishman, Mickey Mansell. Mansell won a marathon 33-dart leg to take the first leg of the fourth set, but despite taking the tie into a decider, he could do nothing to stop Gates dancing to a popular victory.
Ryan Meikle had no trouble dispatching Argentina’s Jesus Salate 3-0, while Dutchman Kevin Doets came from a set down to defeat Matthew Dennant 3-1.
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