Dimitri Van den Bergh breezed his way through to the third round of the World Darts Championship with a convincing display against Lourence Ilagan inside Alexandra Palace on Saturday night.
The world number 15 laid down a marker with his impressive performance in round two against the Philippines star. Trebles were consistently found by Van den Bergh, who wonn the match in style with a stunning 164-finish on the bullseye.
The Belgian blew away his opponent in the first set with three strong legs and even better finishing. He continuously found trebles as Ilagan struggled in the opener, but the Filipino star steadily improved in the second set. His standout moment was prolonging the second set with a composed and perfectly manoeuvred 120. Unfortunately, Van den Bergh was able to double his advantage in the fifth leg as he found his preferred double 18 to finish.
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As Van den Bergh came into the final set, his confidence had grown as he was regularly hitting trebles as Ilagan found it difficult to respond, highlighting the gulf in class between the two players. The third set became even lighter for him as his incredible 164-finish showed.
Here is how the rest of day three’s evening session unfolded.
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Ryan Meikle 3-2 Lisa Ashton (R1)
Meikle stormed to a one-set lead as he proved too much to handle for Ashton, who seemed to still be struggling with form after some disappointing performances in the build-up to the World Darts Championship. She improved massively in the second set and laid down a marker by recording the match’s first 180 as she took the opening leg. There was little to separate the two players but Meikle was able to double his lead with one of his preferred double 10 finishes.
Ashton grew into the match as she capitalised on Meikle missing three finishes with a 117 checkout. She was then able to punish Meikle further. By missing a match dart on the bullseye, Ashton was able to pull a set back as the momentum in the match changed. Despite Ashton clawing her way back to 2-2, Meikle rallied to take the decider to book a meeting with Raymond van Barneveled in round two.
Cameron Menzies 3-1 Diogo Portela (R1)
Scotsman Cameron Menzies was able to overcome an inconsistent performance to defeat Diogo Portela and book his place in the second round. Menzies looked rather comfortable as he took the first set but suddenly dropped off in the second. He managed to double his lead but Portela was growing into the match and he took the third set to apply pressure to Menzies, who was constantly seen smacking his head after his visits. Despite not being at his best, Menzies was able to seal the victory in the fourth set but he will need to be a lot better in round two.
Josh Rock 3-1 Jose Justicia
Josh Rock had a dream debut at the World Darts Championship as he defeated Jose Justicia to book an exciting meeting with Callan Rydz in round two. The youth World Champion was dubbed as one to watch on his debut inside Alexandra Palace and he delivered. The Northern Irishman did have a few shaky visits here and there but he proved to be too much for Spaniard Justicia, who wasn’t at his best on the night. Rock certainly showed why he is being touted as a star of the future with some excellent finishing, and his round two meeting with Rydz is certainly not one to be missed.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
