Hannes Schnier and Reece Colley move into second round at Lakeside

Hannes Schnier and Reece Colley have secured a spot in the second round of the men's tournament at the WDF World Championship at Lakeside. Both players needed a three-setter to do so.

It was Schnier's first match at a world championship in nearly 16 years. In December 2018, he lost a preliminary round match to Shi Yongsheng at the PDC World Darts Championship.

The Austrian was able to win the match and showed a good level of play, with an average of 90.91. Schnier opened the match with a 13-darter and went on to win the set 3-1 thanks to a 19-darter and a 16-darter.

Schnier then threw an 80 finish in the first leg of the second set. However, Kadar responded with a 17-darter and then produced a 164 finish to break his opponent. Schnier immediately posted a rebreak, but thanks to an 18-darter, the set went 3-2 to the Romanian.

A third set had to bring the decision. Schnier started the third set excellently with an 81 finish for a break and then kept his own leg with a 12-darter. However, Kadar made it exciting again by coming back to 2-2, but then missed two matchdarts in the leg-decider. Schnier then seized his chance and threw his fifth matchdart into the double 20.

The English friendly between Colley and Darren Johnson turned out to be a triumph for Colley. The latter was able to win the first set 3-0. The first leg was only decided after a 26-darter, before Colley produced a 17-darter and an 18-darter.

In the second set, the roles were reversed. Johnson threw out 73 to take the first leg and then saw his compatriot miss many darts on the dice. Through two 19-darters, Johnson evened the score after two sets.

In the final set, Colley took the lead with a 64 finish before Johnson made it 1-1 with a 16-darter. Colley then held his own leg, which meant Johnson had to hold his own leg as well to stay in the match. Johnson was only 88 after five innings, while Colley tied the game with a 13-darter.