Ricky Evans beat Dave Chisnall in a sudden-death decider in an absorbing game which had a bit of everything, including a dramatic miscount at a vital moment.
Sixth seed Chisnall thought he’d won the penultimate leg of the match when hitting double 16 for a 131 finish but had needed tops for 139, just the latest twist in a game full of them.
While he composed himself to take out double one with his last dart, Chisnall was slowly away in the deciding leg as Evans threw first and opened with a two-treble 137.
A hundred points ahead with the darts, Evans appeared set to boss the leg but Chisnall clawed his way back and had a look at 170 for an unlikely win, but when only the first treble landed, it was over to Rapid Ricky.
Evans hit single 12, double 20 with the minimum of fuss as another big name fell by the wayside.
“I played a world-class darts player there,” said Evans. “It’s nice to say I’ve won a game and played well. Normally it’s poo! I can say poo…
“Look at this man! I don’t understand it, why are they cheering me on?
“It just shows, what am I doing the other 11 months of the year? I’m like a Scott Williams prodigy – us gingers, we’re always good on stage.
“I don’t even get this treatment in my own household! Thank you very, very much, you’ve made a very fat guy very happy!
“Merry Christmas, you weirdos!”
Earlier in the evening, there was another upset as Ricardo Pietreczko denied Gian van Veen, the young star who still awaits his first victory on the Alexandra Palace stage.
Pietreczko won the match with his finishing, hitting 10 of 18 doubles versus just four from 17 for van Veen, who many felt was a potential title contender prior to this surprise defeat.
Daryl Gurney fought hard to beat Florian Hempel from 1-0 and 2-1 down in a match every bit as tight as those which went the full distance. Both players hit five maximums, both won 10 legs from 22 darts at double, but only one could win and Gurney narrowly scraped through.
Clayton wins battle to sudden death
Jonny Clayton won a sudden-death leg in the deciding set to edge past Mickey Mansell and book his place in the third round of the PDC World Championship after an epic contest at Alexandra Palace.
Mansell, who impressed on his run to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts, had claimed the opening set against the darts as Clayton was made to pay for missed doubles.
The Welshman, though, stormed back to swiftly level as he rattled off six straight legs – including a 100 checkout with a tops-tops finish – to turn the match around.
Despite plenty of wayward throwing, Northern Irishman Mansell dug in during the fourth set and capitalised on some low scoring from Clayton to level things up at 2-2.
Mansell then landed successive monster finishes of 136 and 154 to seemingly leave seventh seed Clayton on the brink of a shock early exit.
The Ferret, though, held with a 70 checkout before a clinical 114 finish sent the decider on.
Former Premier League winner Clayton spurned three match darts – one on the bull and two on double eight – allowing Mansell to level back at 3-3.
Mansell broke to edge in front and missed his own shot for the match at tops, with Clayton recovering to square things up then holding for a 5-4 lead.
Helped by his first 180 of the match, Mansell forced a sudden-death leg – which Clayton, with advantage of throwing first, eventually wrapped up on double five following a gruelling encounter which lasted more than an hour.
In the opening match of Monday’s afternoon session, PDC Asian Tour leader Alexis Toylo saw his hopes ended with a 3-1 defeat to Krzysztof Ratajski.
Filipino star Toylo had marked his tournament debut with a first-round win over Richard Veenstra, but despite a big 160 finish in the opening set, he found it tough going against the Polish 31st seed.
Ratajski ground out a 2-0 lead before fending off any hopes of a comeback from Toylo to secure a showdown against Kevin Doets, who caused an upset in the last round by beating number two seed Michael Smith.
Former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding threw six maximums as he beat Grand Slam of Darts runner-up Martin Lukeman 3-1 to reach the third round for the first time, where he will play Nathan Aspinall.
Josh Rock, the 18th seed, coasted to a 3-0 victory over Welsh debutant Rhys Griffin – missing a possible nine-dart finish in the third set when he failed to hit a seventh treble 20.
Rock – who claimed a first European Tour title at the Dutch Championship earlier this year – goes on to meet Chris Dobey, the 2023 Masters champion, for a place in the last 16.
Monday results
Monday December 23
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
- Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Toylo (R2)
- Andrew Gilding 3-1 Martin Lukeman (R2)
- Josh Rock 3-0 Rhys Griffin (R2)
- Jonny Clayton 3-2 Micky Mansell (R2)
Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
- Gian van Veen 1-3 Ricardo Pietreczko (R2)
- Daryl Gurney 3-2 Florian Hempel (R2)
- Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricky Evans (R2)
- Rob Cross v Scott Williams (R2)
