NSW Darts Masters winner Rob Cross won his first match of the World Championships on Thursday afternoon.
He defeated the Frenchman Thibault Tricole. It was a poor match but Cross did enough to win. He only got into better form in the third set, which he won three nil.
Cross said to the PDC afterwards: “I played poorly tonight. I got better in the third set. I wont play like that again, I promise you that.”
Earlier in the afternoon Mickey Mansell beat Xiaochen Zong three nil. Many felt the Chinese player would be the best out of Asia this year. He was upstaged by Hong Kong and Japanese players.
It was a disappointing match from Zong who made a match of it in the first set. His second and third sets saw him less competitive, only winning a leg of seven.
Barry Van Peer then completed the first round matches. His upset win over Luke Woodhouse was built off a first set deciding leg win. Each player won alternate legs. In the fourth leg Van Peer missed match darts.
He came back in the fifth set and put it behind him by winning three nil.
In the third game in the afternoon Madars Razma of Latvia beat the Belgian competitor Mike De Decker. He won it in four sets. The last two sets went to deciding legs. Razma won both to take the match 3-1.
First match up at night and Luke Littler won through. He won the first set well. Littler then took the second after Gilding missed two set darts. Gilding then won the next set three nil. He threw away a lot of check out darts in the fourth set and boy wonder took up the challenge and won the match.
Then Scott Williams eliminated Danny Noppert with a 3-0 win. Noppert missed darts for sets one and two.
In the third match Hugo Leung lost out to Gabriel Clemens. Clemens won the first two legs. He then lost the next without winning a leg. The fourth leg saw the same scoreline but it went to Clemens. He therefore won the match 3-1.
The final game saw Damon Heta eliminate Martin Lukemen 3-1. Heta survived a deciding leg in the first set. He won the second set 3-0. He dropped the third set, only winning one leg in it. He then won the fourth leg 3-1 to take the match.
In a PDC interview after the match Heta said “Round One is about winning, not about the performance.
We can go and have a good Christmas now and come back after the break.
I am pleased to have got through this round.”
Matches continue tomorrow.
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