Nathan Aspinall overcame a nervous display to beat Croatia’s Boris Krcmar and reach the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London.
The Stockport pro lapped up the typically-boisterous support of the Ally Pally crowd heading into the match but gave up the very first game when throwing first as he took time to settle.
After finally finding a double at the eighth time of asking to register his first leg at 2-1, he then made the most of Krcmar missing two darts for the set to go level at two apiece. And with the Croatian still rocking in the decider, Aspinall landed a double 10 to close out the first set.
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Another slow start in the second set saw Aspinall fall behind but he responded with an 11-dart leg. Both players missed big chances as the status quo continued into another deciding leg, with Krcmar eventually landing a set-winning double after countless opportunities.
A newly-confident Krcmar came out after the break to take the advantage away from the Brit with a 102 finish, but a 10-darter in the next leg immediately redressed the balance. He then made the most of a miscount by the big Croatian on 104, closing out for the set with 82 to regain the lead.
With Krcmar going through another difficult patch, Aspinall went in for the kill, completing a third-set sweep with his third match dart.
That win means A LOT to Danny Baggish who whitewashes Matt Campbell in impressive fashion and he's through to face Mervyn King in the second round!
Up next 👉 Nathan Aspinall v Boris Krcmar
#WCDarts | R1
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The stand-out performance of Sunday night’s first round games came from Scott ‘Shaggy’ Williams, who hit 10 180s on his way to a 3-1 victory over fellow Englishman Ryan Joyce. Former quarter-finalist Joyce was in fantastic form himself, recording a three-dart average of a tournament-leading 103.04 but somehow still going down to defeat.
For tournament debutant Williams, the win set up a second-round clash on Friday with regular practice partner Rob Cross, who won this event back in 2018.
There were also victories for Belgium’s Mike De Decker, who saw off Canadian Jeff Smith by three sets to one, and world number 95 Danny Baggish. The American beat Canada’s Matt Campbell in straight sets and now faces Mervyn King on Wednesday in his continued battle to remain on the pro circuit.
In the earlier session, two-time former world champion Adrian Lewis was dumped out at the second-round stage for the third year running, falling to a 3-0 loss to Australia’s Damon Heta. There were also first-round victories for Madars Razma, Karel Sedlacek and Luke Woodhouse, with Latvia’ Razma the only winner to drop a set.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
