PDC World Darts Championship Round-up | Ross Smith spurns six match darts enroute to damaging defeat as van Veen finally wins first Ally Pally match

Ross Smith’s PDC World Darts Championship woes continue after he missed six match darts and spurned a 2-1 lead against Andreas Harrysson to become the first seed to lose this year, going out 3-2.

Smith had never made it past the third round at Ally Pally and had a tough test in Harrysson who was debuting at the Palace. Smith could not find his range on the outer ring in the first two legs. ‘Dirty Harry’ was loving life on his debut, nailing tops twice to go one away from the set. However, Smith finally backed the scoring with clinical finishing. Harrysson would miss a set dart for a showing tops-tops checkout, with Smith finding a satisfying bull to take out 87 and win the first set.

Harrysson continued to show his class on the doubles, once again punishing Smith for sloppy darts. He found himself 2-0 up again but was pegged back by Smith in what seemed like a repeat. The Englishman almost completed the comeback but failed to find tops. Harrysson was at the other end of the board, pinning double 19 to bring this tie all square.

Smith found the going easy on his throw, with 13 and 14 darters seeing him go 2-1 ahead. That one leg he lost was due to a terrific 146 outshot from the Swede. Another 13-darter would see Smudger regain the lead in the match. He would continue this upturn in form, which included a 104 checkout, as it looked like Dirty Harry had finally been cracked. However, six missed match darts allowed Harrysson to come back and win the set in dramatic fashion.

He would continue this clinical form as he raced into a 2-0 lead, making it five legs on the bounce. When at 2-1, Harrysson missed a match dart at tops, allowing Smith the chance to stay in the tie. He failed to hit the same target as Harrysson crawled over the line on double five.

Gian van Veen had never won at the PDC World Darts Championship before. This perplexing record has been abolished after coming through a tough match against the impressive Cristo Reyes 3-1. Reyes, who was making his first World Championship appearance since 2020, missed four doubles in the first two legs. Van Veen was more clinical, breaking early on. The Spaniard would find double 16 for a 13-darter but could do nothing about van Veen racing into a one set lead.

Van Veen would move up a couple of levels in the second set. He began with a 13-darter before Reyes missed a dart at tops, which opened the door for another break on double 13. He was averaging over 122 in the set as he looked to wrap it up with an 11-darter but had to settle for a 15-darter.

The Spartan produced a show stopping 167 checkout to commence the third set. He then doubled his lead and eventually claimed the set. It was the least he deserved after producing some moments of brilliance. He continued his positive spell as he took out 80 in two for a break. This left him to throw for a final leg decider, in which he almost claimed after missing double 19 for a 158 finish. The Giant let out a roar when pinning double 16 and found that same target to seal victory. The European champion has been touted to go deep into the event, and has broken new ground in his hunt for World Championship glory.

Damon Heta started excelelntly but fell off throughout the match as he managed to get the better of Steve Lennon 3-1. From the start, the Australian number one looked like his old self. He began with a break of throw before checkouts of 144 and 110 saw him sprint into a 1-0 lead.

Lennon reacted well to losing the first set, breaking straight after the break. A 14-dart break back by Heta was the perfect reaction before a bounce-out from his opponent opened the door to move one away from a two-set advantage. He completed this by taking out 100 in three, continuing his clinical form on the outer ring.

After taking out 61 in two, it looked like The Heat would run away with it. Nevertheless, Lennon started a fightback. Double 16 was his friend as he broke back before holding for the first time in the match. With the third set at 2-2, Lennon wired double 11 for a 121 checkout to save his skin. It looked like that was it for Scuba Steve, but three match darts were thrown away by Heta. Lennon recovered and won the set. The former World Cup champion would reset and recover after what could have been a damaging turn of events. He swept up all the legs in the fourth and subsequently final set to send him through.

Ricky Evans once again proved to be a great spectacle on the Ally Pally stage. He managed to produce the quality when needed to defeat Man Lok Leung 3-0. Evans exploded out of the blocks. After bringing the festive entertainment on the walk-on, it was down to business where he took out a stunning 134 checkout along with averaging over a ton when clinching the first set.

The recent Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist almost added 137, 126 and 121 checkouts to the catalogue. He got over the line in most of them legs, finding a 13-darter to go 2-1. However, ‘Hugo’ pushed him to the end. He missed a set dart at tops and would regret that missed chance as Evans shows him how it is done to double his advantage.

While his level did drop from the first set onwards, Evans was able to get over the line. This continued to occur in the third set where Lok Leung nailed an 11-darter to comeback from2-0 down in the set. The Englishman would not let this one slip, taking out 84 in two as he cemented his spot in round two once more at the World Championship. He would follow this with a bizarre interview where he admitted his hatred for Christmas and gravy.