KAI GOTTHARDT has booked his place in the PDC World Championship second round – despite a bizarre mishap in his win over Alan Soutar.
The 29-year-old German made his World Darts debut on Monday afternoon against the Scot at a packed Ally Pally.
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The current world No. 135, Gotthardt was a heavy underdog heading into the first-round contest.
He turned in a fantastic performance, reaching Round Two after a 3-1 win over the vastly experienced Soutar.
But a bizarre incident during the first set got social media buzzing and forced the match to be suspended.
Trailing 2-1 in legs, Gotthardt alerted the officials that he only had two working darts.
The sheepish German showed his arrows to caller George Noble, who immediately ushered him from the stage.
Gotthardt appeared to have snapped his barrel clean in half on one of his darts.
And on debut in the sport’s biggest event, he’d failed to bring a spare set on stage.
Sky Sports cameras showed the bemused debutant hunting for a new set in his dressing room.
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While a nonplussed Soutar enjoyed a back-and-forth with the capacity crowd after being left alone at the Oche.
One fan laughed on X: “3 legs into his debut and this happens. Crazy.”
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Another joked: “Not good marketing if he’s selling them.”
And a third added: “Ridiculous that he only took one set of darts on stage, and no spare barrels or flights.”
Sky commentator Chris Mason said on air: “I’ve seen points snap. Initially I thought it was the point that snapped. It was the actual barrel!
“The design of darts are a lot different now where they’re fusing different elements of tungsten together to make the darts heavier at the back or heavier at the front.
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“Sometimes when they’re being manufactured they may have had a weak spot.
“What most players will do is they’ll have a whole spare set in your case if a point snaps.
“But to walk off stage and grab a completely different set of darts mid-game, never seen that happen before, ever.”
Despite the mishap, Gotthardt returned to put in one of the performances of his career.
The 29-year-old posted an 89.10 average and enjoyed 34 visits posting 100 or more in the 3-1 victory.
Gotthardt will now face fan-favourite Stephen Bunting on Friday in the second round.
