Darts results: Fallon Sherrock bows out in the first round of the PDC World Darts Championship

By Sporting Life

Darts

Mon December 18, 2023 · 11M ago

Fallon Sherrock's dreams of another fairytale run at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship are over following a first-round defeat to Jermaine Wattimena.

The Queen of the Palace, who was roared on by Cameron Menzies and the vast majority of the 3,000-strong Ally Pally crowd, raised the roof my taking the first set 3-2 but was ultimately reeled in by the Machine Gun.

Sherrock's scoring game was largely on point with six 180s compared to Wattimena's two but she missed 17 of her 23 darts at doubles including two in the deciding leg of the fourth set as she failed to take the match the distance.

The Women's World Matchplay champion had also spurned three in the previous leg when Wattimena responded with a 110 skin-saver and he can now celebrate his first win at this event since 2020/21.

“Obviously, I’m gutted with the result,” said Sherrock. “I had spells when I played well tonight but I missed chances at key moments and they cost me.

“Full credit to Jermaine, he was the better player on the night and he punished me when I missed chances.

“The Ally Pally stage is a special place for me and I will be back to hopefully make more positive memories here in the future.”

WONDERFUL WATTIMENA GOES THROUGH!

Big pressure match dealt with by Wattimena as he sees off Fallon Sherrock 3-1 to reach the Second Round!

📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD #WCDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/ONn7chkKVH
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Luke Humphries kicked off his bid for glory with a straight-sets success against Lee Evans.

Humphries has been the world’s form player since October, lifting World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals titles to catapult himself to a career-high of world number three.

This saw Humphries arrive in the capital as the pre-tournament favourite, and he extended his remarkable winning run on the televised stage to 14 matches with a hard-fought victory over Evans.

The 28-year-old signalled his intent with back-to-back 14-darters on his way to claiming the opening set, before Evans raised the roof with the first 170 checkout of the tournament midway through set two.

After doubling his lead in a second-set decider, Humphries extraordinarily survived nine set darts to book his place in round three, with Evans missing a trio of set darts at double in three consecutive legs.

"I wasn't at my best there, but the most important thing for me is that it felt good," claimed Humphries - a three-time World Championship quarter-finalist.

"I just wanted to get through my first game, because that's often the toughest, and I know I won't play like that in the next round.

"When I come back again after Christmas, I will be ready to go. It's going to be really tough, but if I play like I can, I think it is going to take a big performance to beat me."

Rockstar playing the right notes

Joe Cullen also moved through to round three in straight sets, overcoming DPA Order of Merit winner Darren Penhall, who plans to walk away from the sport following this event.

Cullen crashed in six maximums, converted nine of his 17 attempts at a double and produced a spectacular 160 checkout to cap off an impressive all-round display.

“I couldn't have wished for it to go any better,” admitted the former Masters champion.

“I was a little bit nervous going up on stage today which doesn’t normally happen, so when Darren hit a 13-darter in the first leg, I thought: ‘I don’t need this!’

“I think I grew into the game and although it wasn’t my best performance, it didn’t need to be, because Darren didn’t play like I know he can.”

Campbell overcomes Ilagan

Elsewhere, Matt Campbell celebrated his maiden victory on the iconic Alexandra Palace stage with a dramatic deciding-set victory against Philippines’ number one Lourence Ilagan.

Campbell had lost his previous four encounters in the sport’s flagship event, although he appeared poised to snap that streak after winning six of the opening eight legs to establish a two-set cushion.

Ilagan fought back magnificently, conjuring up set-winning 100 and 104 checkouts to restore parity at two apiece, having also landed a 153 checkout to open set four.

However, Campbell sealed his progress in sensational style, reeling off legs of 14, 12 and 12 darts in the fifth and decisive set, which included a match-winning 128 outshot.

“Credit to Lourence. He took out some beautiful finishes, but I’m happy to get over the line,” reflected Campbell, a former World Cup of Darts quarter-finalist.

“I felt the pressure from the very first three darts of the match. I put more pressure on myself than anybody else can, but thankfully I kept my cool.”

Ricky Evans will face World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall for a place in round three, after kicking off Sunday’s action with a straight-sets success against South Africa’s Simon Adams.

Loving the way Simon Adams leaves 170 against Ricky Evans 🤣 pic.twitter.com/V627FDdWaH
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) December 17, 2023

Adams seized the early initiative in an edgy opening set, but Evans responded with a sequence of eight straight legs to triumph, featuring 121, 89 and 112 combinations in a high-quality second set.

Florian Hempel will renew his rivalry with Dimitri Van den Bergh on the sport’s biggest stage, courtesy of an impressive comeback victory against debutant Dylan Slevin.

Following a tentative start to the contest, a superb 167 checkout from Slevin in set two sparked both players into life, but it was Hempel who ran out a 3-1 winner with five 180s and a 91 average.

Niels Zonneveld defied some late finishing-line nerves to secure his first victory at the World Championship, closing out a hard-fought 3-1 win against two-time quarter-finalist Darren Webster.

Webster recovered from a nightmare start to threaten an unlikely comeback, only to squander six darts to force a decider in a dramatic conclusion to the contest.

Meanwhile, Jim Williams won nine consecutive legs in breezing past Guyana’s Norman Madhoo, wrapping up proceedings with an 11-darter to set up a second round tie against two-time winner Peter Wright.