Scott Williams shines on World Championship debut and joins Aspinall and Heta in the Sunday winner’s circle
Scott Williams shines on World Championship debut and joins Aspinall and Heta in the Sunday winner’s circle
On Sunday, Damon Heta and Nathan Aspinall advanced to the third round of the Cazoo World Darts Championship, as Scott Williams and Ryan Joyce served up the tournament’s best match so far.
Heta defeated two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis in straight sets, while Aspinall defeated Boris Krcmar 3-1.
Heta, Australia’s World Cup hero, delivered his best performance on the Alexandra Palace stage, dismantling an out-of-sorts Lewis.
After a poor run of form in televised events in recent months, Heta silenced his critics with a victory that moves him into the world’s top 16 provisionally.
“A win on TV was always coming, I’m glad to have got the job done today,” said Heta.
“There are a lot of players above me who have a lot to lose but I’ve got everything to gain.
‘I embraced playing Adrian because he is a name to be reckoned with and I think I rose to the occasion.
“I never would’ve imagined being in the top 16 when I started this journey three years ago, this is just the start for me.”
Aspinall, a two-time semi-finalist, continued his strong record at Ally Pally, defeating Krcmar to maintain his record of never losing in the tournament before the Christmas break.
After the first two sets were shared, Krcmar landed a 102 checkout to take the lead, but Aspinall reeled off six consecutive legs to defeat the Croatian.
“I never make it easy,” Aspinall laughed. “I think I robbed the first set to be fair, but credit to Boris he played a great game.
“I dug deep, my finishing wasn’t quite there but I found a way to win.
“The crowd were amazing, it took me five minutes to get over my walk-on – the crowd were singing my walk-on song well after the music had stopped, it gave me goosebumps.
“But I played really well, I’m very happy with my performance.”
In other headlines, Williams and Joyce put on one of the best first-round matches ever seen on the Ally Pally stage.
Former quarter-finalist Joyce’s 103.04 was insufficient to overcome 2022 breakout star Williams, who hit ten 180s and a 164 checkout on his way to an impressive debut victory.
Williams made his presence known on the Ally Pally stage with an average just shy of 116 to take the opening set, before Joyce responded in equally impressive fashion.
Despite continuing to average over 112 for much of the match, Williams won the set three decider to retake the lead.
Joyce took the lead in the fourth round, but Williams came back with three legs to set up a meeting with former World Champion Rob Cross.
“I felt awesome today and that came out on the stage, I know what I’m capable of,” said Williams.
“The first set I felt absolutely fantastic, then all of a sudden I started missing but then thankfully it came back.
“I’ve been practicing with Rob [Cross] recently and he’s been playing like he did when he won the Worlds.
“We’re good mates but we’re both here to do a job, it should be a good game.”
Danny Baggish dominated Matt Campbell 3-0 in a battle of two of North America’s best players.
Baggish, who reached the third round two years ago, produced his best game on the sport’s biggest stage yet again, whitewashing his Canadian opponent.
Cambell’s countryman Jeff Smith, who lost 3-1 to Belgium’s Mike De Decker, will also be returning home.
The in-form De Decker drew attention with a convincing performance in which he fired eight 180s and hit half of his double attempts.
Madars Razma will face two-time World Champion Gary Anderson in the final after defeating Prakash Jiwa 3-1.
Jiwa, an Indian qualifier, missed darts to win the first set but made amends in the second set to level the match.
Jiwa led 2-1 in the third set before World Grand Prix quarter-finalist Razma exploded, winning five consecutive legs to seal his passage.
Karel Sedlacek’s 3-0 thrashing of Raymond Smith was one of the tournament’s best performances so far.
In what was widely billed as a ’50-50′ tie, Sedlacek averaged 98.72 to defeat Australia’s Smith, who reached the last 16 of the event last year.
Gerwyn Price, the world number one, will begin his campaign against Luke Woodhouse, who defeated Vladyslav Omelchenko, the first Ukrainian player to compete at the World Championship, 3-0.
Woodhouse delivered a professional performance, landing three ton-plus checkouts, but the biggest finish of the match came from Omelchenko, who raised the roof with a 143.
Monday will feature another double session, with former runner-up Simon Whitlock taking on Jose de Sousa in the afternoon and Price taking on Woodhouse in the evening.
Results
Sunday December 18
Afternoon Session
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Madars Razma 3-1 Prakash Jiwa (3-2, 2-3, 3-2, 3-0) (R1)
Karel Sedlacek 3-0 Raymond Smith (3-2, 3-0, 3-2) (R1)
Luke Woodhouse 3-0 Vladyslav Omelchenko (3-0, 3-2, 3-1) (R1)
Damon Heta 3-0 Adrian Lewis (3-1, 3-2, 3-1) (R2)
Evening Session
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mike De Decker 3-1 Jeff Smith (3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2) (R1)
Scott Williams 3-1 Ryan Joyce (3-1, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1) (R1)
Danny Baggish 3-0 Matt Campbell (3-1, 3-2, 3-2) (R1)
Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Boris Krcmar (3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-0) (R2)
Monday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Andrew Gilding v Robert Owen (R1)
Danny Jansen v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Niels Zonneveld v Lewy Williams (R1)
Jose de Sousa v Simon Whitlock (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Geert Nentjes v Leonard Gates (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse v David Cameron (R1)
Steve Beaton v Danny van Trijp (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Luke Woodhouse (R2)