PDC World Darts Championship day six: Adrian Lewis defeated by Kevin Munch in round one

Darts

Tue December 19, 2017 · 7y ago

A review of the action on the sixth day of the PDC World Darts Championship as two-time former champion Adrian Lewis crashed out in round one.

Lewis blown away by The Dragon

Two-time PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis suffered a shock defeat on Tuesday night when defeated 3-1 by little-known German thrower Kevin Munch.

Nicknamed The Dragon, Munch was making just his second championships appearance after losing out to Steve Farmer on his only previous Ally Pally outing in 2012 but the left-hander stunned Lewis with a series of big checkouts en route to a famous victory over the 2011 and 2012 hero.

Lewis took the first set but that was as good as it got for Jackpot.

Munch levelled things up by taking the second set and showed his intention to take the advantage by throwing two 180s in a row to start the third.

The German started to believe in the upset as he took out 158 and 118 checkouts on the way to going 2-1 up and he collected the win by bagging double eight for a famous success.

Sky Bet offer Munch at 300/1 to spring an even bigger surprise by winning the tournament.

Munch told Sky Sports: "I cannot believe what I’ve just done. I’m over the moon.

"I must say thank you to the crowd. This is unbelievable."

🎯 You probably hadn't heard of Kevin Munch before tonight 🤷‍♂️

But he's just knocked two-time world champion Adrian Lewis out in the first round 😲

In the words of Wayne Mardle "the world has gone mad" #LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/1qXmXGyWeE
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) December 19, 2017

Simple for Barney

Raymond van Barneveld started his PDC World Darts Championship campaign a 3-0 victory over Richard North in the first round at Alexandra Palace.

Barney, who won the top prize in the PDC in 2007 after four previous world titles with the BDO, was never in trouble as he took out an 81 checkout to land the first set without dropping a leg.

The Dutchman moved to the brink of victory in style but missed two match darts when faced with a 74 checkout for victory.

North took the third set to a deciding leg but Barney made no mistake when presented with double 20 to progress to a meeting with Australia's Kyle Anderson in round two.

Van Barneveld is 50/1 with Sky Bet to lift the trophy.

"This tournament is special to me," van Barneveld told Sky Sports after winning with an impressive three-dart average of 102.

"Maybe I have kept all the energy for the next two weeks. I fly back to Holland in the morning and will focus on Kyle Anderson. He’s good at double and high finished. I will really look forward to that match.

"I still have it (the hunger). You saw it tonight as this means the world to me. The World Championship is the best."

Happy with the win against @RichardNorth180 Now on to Saturday to play @KyleDarts Great guy should be a great match ! Looking forward ! Thanks for your support pic.twitter.com/s1lm6A3Sqa
— Raymond v Barneveld (@Raybar180) December 19, 2017

Henderson through with ease

John Henderson progressed to round two of the PDC World Darts Championship with a simple 3-0 success against Finland's Marko Kantele on Tuesday evening.

The 29th seed was pushed in the first set before taking out a fantastic checkout in the deciding leg to take the advantage.

Henderson followed up with a 121 checkout to seal a win to nil in the second set and he made sure of the victory by dropping just one leg in the third.

Next up for the Highlander is a clash with fourth seed Daryl Gurney, who got the better of the Scot in the semi-finals of October's Grand Prix in Dublin.

Henderson insists though the rematch at Alexandra Palace isn't about revenge.

"I don’t look it as revenge," Henderson told Sky Sports.

"Daryl’s a nice guy and playing well. It will be a great game and the best man will win."

On Tuesday night's win, Henderson commented: "I feel as though I played OK. I know Marko from back in the BDO days and he can play a lot better."