‘Burgeoning’ Ricky Evans made a ‘box office hit’ by defeating seventh seed James Wade in the World Championship Classic at Alexandra Palace on Monday.
Evans gave Wade another early exit, and Wade survived match darts to win a tough tie-break set to advance to the third round.
Kettering averaged 88.19 points, hit the 180’s eight times, had a checkout success rate of 36 percent, finished above 2 tons (144 and 128), won a dramatic game, and advanced to the third round for the third consecutive year.
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Evans dedicated this victory to his late sister Elisha, who passed away earlier this year.
“Imagine coming to darts and winning 3-0. What’s the point? Let’s make it interesting!” said Evans, who won the match with 12 darters for a 99.
“What’s the point of playing boring? Every year I say I’m a weirdo, but I’m a box office hit!
“I literally thought, ‘Here’s my chance, Wadey’s going to do this.’ But there’s still a chance. Come on!”
Evans’ sister Elisha tragically passed away suddenly in early March, and the 35-year-old added: “My sister hit a double there.”
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Evans pinned this sensational 144 during his match against Wade
The world No. 40 got off to a great start, scoring a 128 checkout to win the first set.
‘The Machine’ Wade fought back with an incredible 170 finish and leveled up, but Evans sealed the third set in the deciding leg.
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Wade hooks ‘Big Fish’ in captivating encounter
Wade hit the gas pedal with 12 darts in the next opening leg, then tied the match with an 80 finish and his signature double 10.
When the score was locked at 2-2, Evans was penalized for a foul pitch. He then returned to Oce to clean up a double-two before giving a sarcastic thumbs-up to referee Charlie Corstorphin.
Evans missed a total of seven match darts but was elated after finally defeating Wade with a double 16 in the 10th leg of the final set.
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Evans sarcastically pointed at referee Charlie Corstorphin after being penalized for a foul throw.
“Great finish from Evans.”
Abbi Davis of Sky Sports Darts:
“It was exhilarating, but tiring. Both players traded blows.
“It looked like a James Wade fight and Ricky Evans looked like it was over at times, but both players came back to life many times.
“It was Evans who scored and found the double when he needed it. He’s in the third round for the seventh time.”
Glen Durrant of Sky Sports Darts:
“Evans is an emotional guy, but it was a really great fight! Kudos to Wade, who didn’t know when he lost.
“Great finish from Evans under the circumstances!”
The end of the road for cult hero Munyua
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Great action from Kevin Deutz’s win over David Munyua…
David Munyua’s World Championship run came to an end in the second round as Kevin Dautts maintained a strong standard to take the win.
“The crowd was very hostile, but as you know, he (David Munyua) is the people’s champion. It’s amazing that someone from Kenya made it to the second round!” said Doets, who is known as “Hawkeye.”
Dorts averaged 90.12 points despite missing 23 darts on a double out of 32 attempts.
He will face either Nathan Aspinall or Leonard Gates in the third round for the second consecutive year.
Kenya’s King Munyua now hopes to inspire his people, saying, “If Munyua is doing it, why aren’t they doing it too? Nothing unites Africa like sport. I’m sure everyone across Africa will be celebrating David Munyua.”
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Munyua returned to the Ally Pally stage and made quite an appearance.
Former world semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens took advantage of Wessel Nijman’s poor doubling to whitewash the Dutchman and advance.
The “German Giant” averaged 90 RBIs and hit three hits in the 180-second range, defeating the spendthrift Niziman. Niziman hit 20 percent of his doubles, setting up a matchup with former world champion Luke Humphries or Paul Lim.
Madaas Razma fought back from a 2-0 deficit in the fourth set to beat Scotland’s Darren Beveridge 3-1 and reach the third round for the third consecutive year.
In addition to checkouts of over three tons: 121, 110 and 100, the Latvian player averaged 97 in doubles, hitting almost 60 percent.
“It was my best performance on this stage,” Razma said.
The fight between Luke Humphries and 71-year-old Paul Lim will headline Monday night, with Jan van Veen, Nathan Aspinall and Charlie Manby also in action.
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