World Darts Championship: Nathan Aspinall hits magic win as Christian Kist hits nine in defeat | Darts news

A nervous Nathan Aspinall stumbled in his World Darts Championship opener, passing Leonard Gates on the same night Christian Kist hit a nine-game winner in defeat.

Aspinall, who suffered a setback at the same time last year, narrowly avoided an upset throughout, maintaining his post-Christmas progress with a 3-1 win.

Gates, who had a tearful victory over Cameron Menzies in his first match on Monday, showed glimpses of the match he shared before Aspinall’s arrival.

“I’m relieved to face this. It was a very tough match,” said Aspinall, who will face Andrew Gilding, Martin Lukeman or Nitin Kumar in the last 32.

“I felt really good coming into the tournament but I pushed myself to do better tonight. I’ve been under a lot of scrutiny the last few months because I haven’t been playing well.

“I came to prove how good I am and go deep into the competition. It wasn’t pretty, but I won the game and now I can enjoy Christmas and come back strong after the break.”

The American looked 106 to break in the first set, only for Aspinall to improve to 114 in the next leg to take the opener.

But the 12th seed was very poor in losing the second set, with an average of less than 80. Despite such difficulties, he would have had two arrows at the top to take a two-set lead but he changed his lines when Gates instead settled things.

Aspinall had little success in the final two sets but survived for a few moments, including holding off a couple of shots as Gates threatened to force a decider.

The runner-up semi-finalist will know he will have to play his best if he is to have another run at Alexandra Palace.

Kist makes nine miracles but loses

Kist’s ninth darter was his 15th at the Worlds and the first since the “I can’t talk” best leg from Michael Smith in the 2023 final.

The Dutchman, however, was unable to overcome his incredible moment to win the first set as his opponent. Madar Razma he stayed strong and won the next three sets to set up a match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Kist wins a total of £60,000 for his nine players, as did the lucky fan of the Ally Pally series, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to raise awareness of the occasion.

“Nine minutes was an amazing moment, hitting twice 12 felt amazing. It was a lovely moment for everyone and I hope Kris enjoys the money,” said Kist.

“Maybe I’ll go on vacation next month with the prize money. I lost the game but I’m a little disappointed going into the first round.”

Ricky Evans he was far from his ‘quickness’ as he worked hard in his opening match with Gordon Mathers, forced to be the final pick.

Evans eventually prevailed to set up a second-round clash with sixth-seeded Dave Chisnall when he produced a 109, the first ton-plus finish in a sloppy clash.

In the opening match of the night, young Jim Williams missed five shots en route to a 3-2 loss in his first match against. Paolo Nebrida.

To make matters worse for Wales, he missed three more shots to take the opening spot on the way. Ross Smith awaits Nebrida in the next round.

What’s next?

It’s another day’s action on Thursday, December 19 as the evening section returns, live on Sky Sports Darts from 12.30pm – the line-up reads as follows: Chris Landman vs Lok Yin Lee, Callan Rydz vs Romeo Grbavac, Martin Lukeman vs Nitin Kumar and 27th seed Gabriel Clemens in action second against Robert Owen.

From 7pm, live on Sky Sports Darts, former world champion Michael Smith led the evening’s session, the 2023 champion and second seed will take on Kevin Doets to close the night, while the first three matches include Nick Kenny vs Stowe Buntz. , Mensur Suljovic vs Matt Campbell and last year’s semi-finalist Scott Williams vs Niko Springer.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch the game until January 3 on the Sky Sports channel. Check out the best darts and games NOW.