Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen has withdrawn from the World Darts Championship after testing positive for COVID-19.

Van Gerwen had been scheduled to face England's Chris Dobey for a place in the fourth round tonight.

He is the latest player to be forced out of the Professional Darts Corporation event after contracting COVID-19.

The other two - Vincent van der Voort and Raymond van Barneveld - are also from The Netherlands.

Dobey receives a bye into the next round following Van Gerwen's withdrawal.

In the afternoon session, England's Mervyn King whitewashed Steve Lennon of Ireland to reach the last 16.

King, a two-time world champion on the British Darts Organisation circuit, punished Lennon for his mistakes in a 4-0 thrashing at Alexandra Palace.

𝗞𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗞𝗢'𝘀 𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡!🇳🇱 Martijn Kleermaker's dream debut continues as he defeats Joe Cullen! The Dutch Giant nailed the bull to win a tense tie-break having led 3-0. pic.twitter.com/aUth1tkn6O

Australian Raymond Smith awaits for King in the fourth round.

"He missed a lot of doubles," said King.

"I gave him a lot of chances and he didn't take them.

"Then I took my chances.

"It was not a fantastic game but I was just a little bit more on it than he was.

"If I play the way I want to play, I will have a lot of fun up there."

Ryan Searle of England is also through after a comeback victory over Danny Noppert of The Netherlands.

Searle trailed 2-0 but roared back by winning six straight legs on his way to a 4-2 victory.

Dutch debutant Martijn Kleermaker continued his fairytale start to the tournament as he progressed thanks to a narrow 4-3 triumph in his clash with England's Joe Cullen.

In the evening session, 2018 world champion Rob Cross of England defeated Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney 4-3 in a high-quality encounter at Alexandra Palace in London.

Five of the seven sets went to deciding legs while the players scored 23 180s between them.

Cross took a 3-1 lead before Gurney roared back to force a deciding set, which Cross took with a 170 checkout.

The evening's other match saw Scotland's Peter Wright, the 2020 world champion, come from 2-0 down to defeat Australia's Damon Heta 4-2.

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Since joining insidethegames.biz in 2015, Liam Morgan has reported on location from several international multi-sport events, including the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and three Youth Olympic Games. 

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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody. 

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Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since. 

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Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

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Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

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