Michael Smith was knocked out in round two for the second year running ©Getty Images

Fourth seed Michael Smith was knocked out of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championship as another major upset unfolded at London's Alexandra Palace.

Smith, the runner-up two years ago, lost 3-1 to fellow Englishman Jason Lowe.

Lowe, 48, raced into a two-set lead and held his nerve after Smith won the third.

Ending with a three-dart average of 96.24, Lowe won the fourth set 3-0 to book his place in round three for the first time.

Smith is the highest-ranked player to exit the competition this year, and the only seed to lose today.

Sixth seed Nathan Aspinall survived a scare, coming from two sets down to defeat Scott Waites in an all-English clash.

Scot Gary Anderson - a two-time for world champion - beat Latvian Madars Razma 3-1, averaging 96.89.

A third-round match versus Austria's Mensur Suljović awaits, and is the round's standout tie.

England's Dave Chisnall, Ricky Evans and Stephen Bunting all won second-round matches today, as did Dutch 24th seed Jermaine Wattimena.

Wattimena will play Belgium's Dimitri Van den Bergh in another appealing - and likely speedy - third-round match-up.

The World Darts Championship will now take a break for Christmas and resume on December 28.