Seventh seed James Wade suffered his fourth consecutive exit in the second round of the PDC World Championship, losing to fellow Briton Ricky Evans in a thrilling match.
In the deciding set, both players missed match darts, and Evans, ranked 43rd in the world, finally won the match 6-4 in the fifth set.
advertise
Wade was the highest-ranked seed to be eliminated so far, and his defeat, along with Wessel Niemann’s loss earlier on Monday, means 14 of the 32 seeded players have been eliminated.
Niemann, the 31st seed from the Netherlands, lost in straight sets to Gabriel Clemens of Germany, who reached the semifinals in 2023.
Elsewhere, Kenyan rookie David Munyua failed to defeat Mike de Decker in the first round, winning only two legs before beating world number 40 Kevin Doets 3-0.
In Monday’s opener, Scotland’s Darren Beveridge lost 3-1 to Latvian Madas Razma.
Wade’s first-round win was his first at Alexandra Palace since 2022, when he reached the semi-finals for the fourth time.
advertise
Against Evans, the 42-year-old twice fought back from a set down and forced a tie-break from 2-0 down in the deciding set, meaning victory required a two-game lead.
Evans broke Wade’s pass in the fifth over and although the left-hander immediately extended the game with a clinical checkout of 94, Evans made sure he got the job done by breaking through again before finishing with a 99 finish.
“Imagine going into a darts tournament and winning 3-0 – what’s the point? Make it fun,” said a delighted Evans on stage.
David Munyua reaches second round of World Championships, pocketing £25,000 [PA Media]
Munyua’s first-round victory over No. 18 seed and former World Grand Prix champion Dedecker has been one of the stories of the tournament so far.
advertise
After another entertaining walk-on, the 30-year-old full-time vet received a huge boost in the early stages of the match against Dutchman Dotz.
Munia brought the fans to their feet with three 180s in the first set, but Dotz calmed the sting of the match by continuing to lead.
Despite missing 23 of his 32 double attempts in this match, he is still a comfortable winner and will face either Nathan Aspinall or Leonard Gates in the final 32.
Second seed and 2024 world champion Luke Humphries is among the players in the second round starting at 19:00 GMT on Monday evening.
advertise
Humphries will face 71-year-old Paul Lim, who became the oldest player to win a PDC World Championship match earlier in the tournament, and Clemens will meet the winner in the third round.
European Championship champion Gian van Veen and former World Matchplay champion Aspinall are also hoping to reach the third round.
Monday’s results and fixtures
-
Darren Beveridge 1-3 Madas Razma
-
Wessel Niemann 0-3 Gabriel Clemens
-
David Monyua 0-3 Kevin Doates
-
James Wade 2-3 Ricky Evans
Starting at 19:00 GMT:
-
Gian van Veen v Alan Souttar
-
Nathan Aspinall v Leonard Gates
-
Luke Humphreys v Paul Lin
-
Charlie Manby v Adam Servada
