PDC World Darts Championship results: James Wade's fired up celebrations against Seigo Asada spark controversy

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Wade sparks controversy

James Wade came through a titanic five-set clash with Seigo Asada to reach round three of the PDC World Darts Championship – but victory was overshadowed by his fired up celebrations and post-match comments.

The Machine got right in the face of his Japanese opponent when winning the second set, prompting commentator Wayne Mardle to later brand his ‘nasty’ behaviour like 'bullying'.

Wade admitted to Sky Sports in a bizarre post-match interview that he "wanted to hurt him, I wanted to really hurt him in his face" and also that it was "for my son and a little bit for the UK".

As far as the match went, it was an absorbing affair, with Wade twice having to bounce back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to force a deciding set.

Three-time PDC Asian Tour event winner Asada averaged 107 in the first set and hit a match high 130 checkout on the bullseye as he won it 3-1 to take early control.

Another ton plus checkout of 104 saw him win the opening leg of the second but he then spurned a dart for the set and Wade levelled.

Asada was not fazed and kept his cool to edge the third set 3-2 only for the 35-year-old Englishman to take the next 3-1 and restore parity once again.

The pair went leg for leg in the decider until it reached 2-2, at which point either player had to win by two legs in order to progress.

Asada, who the crowd were now rooting for in large numbers, missed a dart at double 11 to break Wade, who made him pay with a 56 checkout before finishing from 86 to complete his comeback.

Wade averaged 94 which was less than his opponent's 98 while the Japanese star also fired more 180s with six compared to the Machine's one and weighed in with the highest checkout of 130.

But that won't bother this year's European and World Series of Darts Finals champion as he books his place in the third round.

Tipped-up Smith eases to victory

Michael Smith got his PDC World Darts Championship up and running with an entertaining 3-1 victory over Ron Meulenkamp.

Bully Boy, tipped up at 16/1 on Sporting Life, is widely expected to mount a serious title challenge at Alexandra Palace and it looked like he’d power through in straight sets after going 2-0 up thanks to heavy scoring and a superb 132 checkout on the bullseye.

However Meulenkamp, who produced a stunning comeback in the previous round against Diogo Portela when 2-0 down, threatened to repeat the trick when he took the third set 3-1 and then won the opening leg of the next.

But back came Smith with the aid of a 12-darter completed with an 81 checkout on the bullseye to book his place in the next round.

Both men averaged 94 and the St Helens man threw seven 180s compared to Meulenkamp’s six but the biggest difference was the finishing, with Smith ending up with a 50% checkout percentage. The Dutch youngster only hit seven of his 22 attempts.

Joyce relentless in Wizard whitewash

Ryan Joyce caused the latest shock at the PDC World Darts Championship by whitewashing the eighth seed Simon Whitlock 3-0 as his dream debut continued.

The 33-year-old from Newcastle only joined the PDC tour at the start of 2018 after previously working for Matalan but a consistent season of results earned him a spot at Alexandra Palace.

Having brushed aside Anastasia Dobromyslova with the minimum of fuss in the opening round, many felt the challenge of Whitlock would be too much but he only lost four legs in a convincing victory.

Joyce averaged 90 compared to his opponent’s 88 while he hit most 180s with five and also managed the highest checkout of the match with a finish of 109.

The affable Geordie, who pinned nine of his 19 attempts at doubles as Whitlock missed 18 of his, will now play Alan Norris or Steve Lennon in the next round.

O'Connor edges out Wilson

William O’Connor produced one of the finest victories of his career to defeat James Wilson and reach the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship for the first time.

The Irishman, playing in just his second World Championship, wasn’t too happy with his performance in the previous round against Yordie Meeuwisse but he raised the bar tremendously against the Jammy Dodger with an average of 99.

Wilson contributed to a thoroughly entertaining affair and was averaging over 112 when his 160 checkout won him an opening set which also featured a 147 finish from his opponent.

O’Connor responded in style as a 110 checkout put him on course to level the scores at 1-1 but after moving 2-1 up in sets, he missed a match dart on tops for a 3-1 victory.

Wilson, who also weighed in with a 128 finish, made him pay to force a decider only for the Limerick thrower to go on and wrap up the contest with a two-dart 90 checkout.

Dolan destroys Cullen

Brendan Dolan hit a 170 checkout as he thrashed Joe Cullen 3-0 for the loss of just one leg to cause a second-round upset at the PDC World Darts Championship.

Cullen was the 2/7 favourite to get through here and also well fancied to progress far at the World Championship for the first time after an impressive season but his shocking record at Alexandra Palace goes on.

The Bradford man, who had only tasted victory once in seven previous appearances albeit mostly due to being drawn against tough opponents, missed 16 of his 17 darts at doubles and Dolan duly punished him to win nine of the 10 legs played.

The Northern Irishman, playing in his 11th consecutive World Championship, averaged 93 compared to Cullen's 85 and although he didn't hit a single 180 (his opponent managed three), he hit two 100+ checkouts, including the biggest fish of all, and made nine of his 24 double attempts.

Hurricane Huybrechts in a hurry

Kim Huybrechts produced one of his most scintillating displays to thrash Daniel Larsson 3-0 without dropping a leg.

The Belgian, who is so often hard to predict due to his unpredictability, was even on course to break Michael van Gerwen's World Championship average record of 114.05 when he led 2-0 in sets.

Huybrechts, who only allowed his opponent seven darts at doubles, ended up with an average of 103, six 180s and a checkout percentage of 43%.

On this form Huybrechts will be hard to stop, but don't be surprised if a different Hurricane turns up next time.

Debut delight for Malicdem

Philippines star Noel Malicdem enjoyed a dream Alexandra Palace debut as he edged out Jeffrey De Graaf 3-2 with a battling performance.

The 41-year-old, who won two events and hit a nine-dart finish on the PDC Asian Tour in 2018, only averaged 85 but it was just about enough against the Dutchman who really struggled with his scoring throughout the contest.

De Graaf managed just 78, which is particularly low when you consider he hit eight of his 18 attempts at doubles, and although he managed to lead 2-1 in sets, he'd go on to lose six of the next seven legs.

Malicdem's highlights were a 96 checkout to win the fourth set and a finish from 91 on the bullseye in the second leg of the fifth set.

He will take on Australia's Kyle Anderson in the second round on Friday.

Aspinall eases past Nentjes

Nathan Aspinall took advantage of Geert Nentjes' poor finishing to claim a comfortable 3-0 victory in the first round.

Aspinall, who won his maiden PDC title in a Players Championship event back September, took each of the first two sets 3-1 and edged the third in a decider, finishing with an average of 88 that was 10 points higher than his opponent.

Both players were making their World Championship debuts but Nentjes, 20, struggled particularly on his doubles, managing just four from 27.

He led 2-1 in the third set but spurned four darts to take it as Aspinall finished the job with a 13-darter to set up a clash with Gerwyn Price on Friday.

Wednesday's results & Thursday schedule

Wednesday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Nathan Aspinall 3-2 Geert Nentjes (R1)
• Jeffrey de Graaf 2-3 Noel Malicdem (R1)
• Joe Cullen 0-3 Brendan Dolan (R2)
• Kim Huybrechts 3-0 Daniel Larsson (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• James Wilson 2-3 William O’Connor (R2)
• Simon Whitlock 0-3 Ryan Joyce (R2)
• Michael Smith 3-1 Ron Meulenkamp (R2)
• James Wade 3-2 Seigo Asada (R2)

Thursday December 20
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Jermaine Wattimena v Michael Barnard (R2)
• Alan Norris v Steve Lennon (R2)
• Stephen Bunting v Luke Humphries (R2)
• Steve Beaton v Chris Dobey (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Cristo Reyes v Rowby-John Rodriguez (R2)
• Mervyn King v Jan Dekker (R2)
• Adrian Lewis v Ted Evetts (R2)
• Mensur Suljovic v Ryan Searle (R2)

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