PDC World Darts Championship Round-up | Sluggish Chris Dobey unconvincing in victory as Scott Williams Waltzes to commanding triumph

Chris Dobey got his PDC World Darts Championship campaign underway with a an udner-par performance against Ziaochen Zong. He proved to still be good enough, fending off the Chinese darter 3-1.

Zong started the brighter but still found himself lose all three legs in the first set. Some big scoring saw him sneak ahead but he only had a darts for a double on his throw in the second leg. He missed four at double 12 as Dobey ruthlessly punished him on tops. Hollywood then wrapped up the set on double eight to take the early advantage.

Dobey commenced set two with a break as he looked like he would walk away with it. Zong had other ideas and instantly broke back on double 12. The eighth seed threatened another break after pinning six perfect darts but would lose the leg when Zong went the scenic route when left 48, opting double 16 for double 12. He was not so clinical in the next leg, missing six darts for the set. He was fortunate to see his opponent throw away nine darts to draw level as Zong found double one.

The pair started the third set with holds. Dobey then upped the level, pinning double 16 and 18 for a brace of 13-darters to wrap up the third set. He continued to be wasteful on the doubles as Zong took the lead in the fourth set. The Premier League regular would then take command, breaking the throw before finishing with an 11-darter to survive a scare. He sets up a tie in the second round against Andrew Gilding.

Scott Williams waltzed his way to a 3-0 victory over Paolo Nebrida, dropping just two legs in the process. A 16-darter from Nebrida was enough to hold before he narrowly missed double 10 for a 140 finish. Williams punished him with a 72 checkout in two before finding two 25’s to set up double 16 which he found with no issue. He found it again for a 100% checkout rate and more importantly the first set.

Williams continued to motor away from his opponent. He missed his first dart of the match on double four but found double two instantly after. He then pounced on a mistake by ‘Pow’ to take out 100 for a break. The Englishman sealed the set with no issue, on a six-leg winning streak.

He made it seven after finding double two for the third time in this tie. Nebrida got his first leg on the board since the opening leg, but it was not enough to topple Shaggy off his perch. He was loving life on the big stage, and gave the crowd a treat to finish on after pinning double 18 twice to complete a phenomenal performance.

Alan Soutar sprant out of the blocks but was drawn into an intense battle against debutant Teemu Harju. 19 match darts were missed in the tie which went the distant, but Soots managed to pip his opponent to the post 3-2.

Soutar started with a 106 checkout, breaking the Harju throw after the Finland native missed the big number to leave a double. The Scot followed that with an outstanding 130 outshot on double eight, moving further away from his opponent. He would comfortably claim the set, averaging just under 110 while boasting a 75% checkout rate.

The quality continued into the second set. Harju finally had a dart at double for a 117 checkout but missed tops by a distant. Soutar missed just his second dart of the match ahead of finding double 10 for a 12-darter. He then took out 72 and 62 in two to move him two sets ahead.

Harju’s chance for a leg finally arose after a missed dart at tops from Soutar. He pinned double 16 for his first leg on the Ally Pally stage. He later backed this up with an 84 finish on double 11 to move one away. Unbelievably, it was Soutar’s first leg in the match where he did not have a dart at a double, showing his dominance up to this point. Harju would then capitalise on this drop off in form from his opponent to wrap up the third set. More sloppiness from Soutar along with a helping hand from the Ally Pally wasp allowed Harju to stay in the match, forcing another last-leg decider. Soots raced ahead and looked like he had the tie sealed. Despite his lead, he squandered 10 match darts, most of them poorly thrown. Harju, who also missed four set darts, dragged himself back into it as he pinned tops on the fifth occasion.

The two were comfortably holding their throw, leading them to a tiebreak situation in a final set which had seemed impossible at the start. Harju created a golden opportunity to win the match, missing tops for a 103 outshot before spurning three more match darts. Soutar brough it level, but the match just kept going. A clutch 104 outshot by Harju forced the score to 4-4 before four more missed darts on the outer ring from Soutar saw the game go to a last-leg decider. He finally got the job done after 15(!) missed match darts.

Justin Hood marked his debut at the World Championship with an eye-catching 3-0 win over Nick Kenny. Hood was the brighter in the early legs. He broke the throw on double 16 before narrowly missing double 18 for a 115 checkout. He came back and found that target to win his first set on the Ally Pally stage in demanding style, averaging over 107.

Happy Feet continued to impress, going seven into the perfect leg as he secured another break. Kenny got his first leg on the board as he broke back before utilising double 20 twice for a 100 outshot. The Englishman then came storming back into the set, clinching the next two legs to seal the set and double his advantage.

The Welshman looked like he was in command of the third set as he broke after taking out 77 in two. Nevertheless, this would be his last leg he claimed in this year’s event. Hood broke back before taking out 104 on double 16 to glide within one of triumph.