Darts results: Lisa Ashton loses 3-2 in first round of World Championship

Meikle broke throw in the first leg of the match despite being clear second favourite with the crowd, and when he took out 87 to take the second set it appeared as though a straightforward win was on the cards.

But after the youngster missed bullseye for a whitewash win, Ashton took out 70 to get on the board before a gutsy 74 in a deciding leg for the fourth set saw her draw level.

Ashton then had the darts for the deciding set but a trio of 140s from Meikle saw him break at the first attempt and from there he galloped to the line, taking out 109 to get within a leg and then hitting tops to fall over the line somewhat.

"I felt like I was cruising, I felt good. It's easy to say once you've done. I held it together, and I'm just so pleased I came through," said Meikle.

"I always knew, Lisa, she's capable of 110 (average), a purple patch. Once I missed darts at double she came alive, and I was under serious pressure from the crowd and everything. I'm just so happy to come through."

"You're under pressure playing Lisa (but) I've had a bit of advice the last few months, and I listened to Willie (O'Connor) last night when he beat Beau (Greaves) - you've got to think of it as another game of darts. The more pressure you put on yourself, you're more in danger."

Dimitri Van den Bergh laid down a marker to his title rivals by producing the highest average and highest checkout of the tournament so far in a 3-0 whitewash of Lourence Ilagan late on Saturday night at Alexandra Palace.

The former World Matchplay champion averaged 97.20, dropping just two legs in a comprehensive victory which was sealed with a 164 checkout.

"I feel comfortable playing on the Ally Pally stage, even though I haven't always got the results," said Van den Bergh, who was dumped out in his opening game of last year's event.

"I knew I was playing well but I made the mistake of looking at my set-by-set averages during the game. I'm pleased with how I played, but there is so much more to come from me.

"I'm on the up, I'm happy with my new darts. Today is a good start, hopefully the start of something special."

Rock steady

Meanwhile, Jock Rock defeated Jose Justicia 3-1 on his highly-anticipated World Championship debut.

The World Youth Champion, who hit a nine-darter at November's Grand Slam of Darts, was pegged back to 1-1 by his Spanish opponent but kept his composure to win the last two sets, pinning a 150 checkout along the way.

"My performance wasn't great, a 93 average is not my game at all," said Rock, who will meet Callan Rydz in round two.

"I said I wasn't going to feel the pressure but I did once I got up there; I think I coped with it okay.

"My confidence is sky-high, I won't complain about the pressure of being one of the favourites because that is a positive.

"I'm eager to perform how I know I can in the next game, I'm confident I can have a good run here."

Cameron Menzies also won on his Ally Pally debut by defeating Brazil's Diogo Portela 3-1.

Soutar: Today is my day

Alan Soutar whitewashed seeded Daryl Gurney to reach the third round of the World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

The Scotsman had come through his first-round game with the minimum of fuss and repeated the 3-0 scoreline here, but it didn't quite tell the story of a match which saw each set go the distance.

Soutar held throw to take the first and broke to win the second, conjuring a 14-dart leg finished off on double 10 as Gurney paid the price for three poor visits in the middle of the leg.

Set three followed a similar pattern only this time Gurney appeared likely to steal it when leaving himself on 20 after 12 darts, only for Soutar to take out 160 in a grandstand finish to sum up the contest.

Soutar's win made it two successful tips from two for Chris Hammer, who also advised Adam Gawlas as a marginal underdog ahead of his 3-2 defeat of Richie Burnett.

Soutar, who will work for the fire service over the Christmas break, will return to face Ryan Searle in round three.

"I'm absolutely buzzing, Daryl is a tough player but he missed loads of chances and let me in," Soutar reflected.

"He's a seed for a reason, he's 24th in the world, he's a lot better player than me but today is my day.

"I feel like I'm playing the darts of my life recently and I'm getting used to playing on the big stage now."

Luke of the draw

Martin Lukeman enjoyed a stress-free debut as he breezed past Nobuhiro Yamamoto in straight sets.

A breakout star of 2022, Lukeman dropped just three legs against Japan's Yamamoto, who went six darts into an unlikely nine-darter in the third set.

"I felt comfortable in the game but he was a bit of a slow player, so it took me a little while to get into it," admitted Lukeman, who will meet Martin Schindler in round two.

"I won and that's all that matters, I'm looking forward to the Martin Schindler game now.

"It felt brilliant being up there; I thought it was going to be same as other TV events I've played in but this is completely different.

"Now I've played one game up there I feel adjusted to my surroundings ahead the next one."

Wizzard survives

Simon Whitlock kicked off his 20th World Championship campaign by surviving a huge scare from Christian Perez.

Former World Championship runner-up Whitlock eventually ran out a 3-2 winner after Perez spurned crucial doubles in the deciding set.

With the final set tied at 1-1, Perez missed nine darts at double as Whitlock won a 30-dart leg before following it up with a 13-dart break of throw to get over the winning line and set up a second round meeting with Jose de Sousa.

"That was a real battle, Christian played really well and it could've gone either way," Whitlock conceded.

"I think I stayed calm, used my experience and just got lucky really.

"I came through it okay but I will have to be much better against Jose, he's an amazing player and I know it's going to be a really tough game."

World Championship: Saturday results

Saturday December 17
Afternoon Session (11am GMT)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Martin Lukeman 3-0 Nobuhiro Yamamoto (R1)
• Simon Whitlock 3-2 Christian Perez (R1)
• Adam Gawlas 3-2 Richie Burnett (R1)
• Daryl Gurney 0-3 Alan Soutar (R2)

Evening Session (8pm GMT)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Ryan Meikle 3-0 Lisa Ashton (R1)
• Cameron Menzies 3-1 Diogo Portela (R1)
• Josh Rock 3-1 Jose Justicia (R1)
• Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-0 Lourence Ilagan (R2)

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