Waites aiming high ahead of Aspinall encounter

Scott Waites (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Scott Waites believes that he is "not far off" his top form as he prepares to take on Nathan Aspinall in the William Hill World Darts Championship on Wednesday.

Two-time Lakeside Champion Waites made his Alexandra Palace debut in a classic first round tie against Matt Campbell on Saturday, producing an 11-darter in a sudden-death leg to edge into the last 64.

Waites had joined the PDC circuit full-time in January when he won a Tour Card at Qualifying School, and feels that he is close to the form which has seen him claim big-stage silverware across the past decade.

"From January to maybe mid-March, I was playing really good darts all the time," said Waites, the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts winner.

"Then the coronavirus hit, you can't go out and practice like you normally do, everything changes in your life. I've got a three-year-old daughter and everything revolves around her.

"It's weird trying to incorporate a family life as well as a serious darts career. Towards the back-end of the year you've got to make sure that you put a bit of time and effort in to get to a standard where you can compete with all these guys.

"I think I'm not far off but I'm not there yet. I can give everyone a good game but on my day I don't see why I can't beat anybody. I think I can take Nathan all the way and I look forward to that game."

The World Championship's late move behind closed doors denied Waites the chance to play in front of a capacity Alexandra Palace crowd - although he still rose to the occasion in round one.

"I'd love to play on that stage with 3,000 people behind us," he added. "You want the atmosphere and that makes the game.

"My game with Matt was one of the best games of darts I've ever played in my life, but when the crowd is behind you that does make a massive difference as well."

Global coverage of the £2.5 million tournament is headlined by the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel, while the PDC's international broadcast partners will include RTL7 in the Netherlands, DAZN in various territories, Fox Sports in Australia, Sky Sport in New Zealand, PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers and at matchroom.live.

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William Hill World Darts Championship
Wednesday December 23
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)

4x Second Round
Ricky Evans v Mickey Mansell (R2)
Gary Anderson v Madars Razma (R2)
Stephen Bunting v Andy Boulton (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v Matthew Edgar (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round                        
Dave Chisnall v Keegan Brown (R2)
Jermaine Wattimena v Nick Kenny (R2)
Nathan Aspinall v Scott Waites (R2)
Michael Smith v Jason Lowe (R2)