It was a darting disaster for John Part, as he crashed out of the World Championship in the 1st Round.
Unicorn’s three-times World Champion was suffering from an ear infection but he also suffered at the hands of Denmark’s Per Laursen.
And the Canadian only has himself to blame for missing out on a 2nd Round showdown with Phil Taylor, because he had a nightmare on his doubles and it cost him the match.
It was THE shock of the tournament so far and Part cut a dejected figure after the defeat.
But sadly, 23 missed darts at doubles tells the story.
Part actually banged in seven 180s but he failed on the finishing and is out of the biggest tournament in the world at the first hurdle.
And to lose in three straight sets will go down as one of the low points of Part’s career – especially on the stage where he won his third World Championship only three years ago.
It was obvious that he was feeling under the weather, but he won’t use that as an excuse. Ultimately, he paid a heavy price for his poor finishing.
He lost all three sets by 3 legs to 2 and he missed darts to win all three sets – that’s how frustrating it was for Part.
Laursen took the chances that were gifted to him by the Canadian….it was as simple as that.
It is also a massive blow to Part’s chances of staying in the elite top 32 in the world and he will no doubt go home now and have a long, hard think about the future. There will be a lot of soul-searching over Christmas, that’s for sure.
But it was a successful night for Unicorn’s World No.15 Wes Newton!
A new nickname and a new baby on the way and hopefully, a new consistency in the TV ‘Majors’ for 2011….
He is now known as ‘The Warrior’ and will become a Dad for the first time in the summer, with partner Stacy due to give birth in June.
And despite feeling a little under the weather, he was still far too good for American Darin Young, sweeping to a straight sets victory.
“It is an important win for me,” he said. “I have never been past the 2nd Round at the World Championship and feel I am due for a good run here.”
He will now face either Kevin Painter or Brendan Dolan in that 2nd Round.
Newton won the first five legs of the match with plenty to spare….finishes of 81, 64 and 122 gave him the opening set.
Young briefly threatened to hit back in the second set, as he missed four darts to win it and Newton pinched it – winning the deciding leg in 24 darts!
But that proved to be the pivotal leg and he coasted through the third set to an easy win.
Kirk Shepherd will look back and reflect on a missed opportunity….there was no World Championship fairytale this time for the 2008 Alexandra Palace runner-up, as he was beaten by Wayne Jones.
Remember, he received that 11th hour place at the event after Australian Rob Modra was forced to withdraw because of visa problems.
And for a while, it looked good for Shepherd….he won the first set against the throw and it included a terrific 158 finish.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t follow that up and Jones won six consecutive legs to move two sets to one in front….Shepherd did have chances though, but missed four darts to force a deciding set and Jones won it on D8.
Sunday results:
Preliminary Round (best of 7 legs):
Per Laursen 4-2 Boris Krcmar (Croatia)
1st Round:
Wayne Jones 3-1 Kirk Shepherd
Robert Thornton 3-1 Nigel Heydon
Wes Newton 3-0 Darin Young
John Part 0-3 Per Laursen
Meanwhile, the Unicorn duo of James Wade and Kevin Painter start their World Championship bids on Monday night, when they take on Spain’s Antonio Alcinas and Brendan Dolan respectively.
By STUART PYKE at the Alexandra Palace
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC