James Wade became the first seeded player to crash out of the World Darts Championship after being thrashed by Jermaine Wattimena in the second round at Alexandra Palace.
Wade – a four-time World Championship semi-finalist – had been considered a potential contender to challenge for the Sid Waddell Trophy but has been defeated in his opening fixture for the third consecutive year.
The Englishman won the opening leg with a 13-darter, only for Wattimena to take control of a one-sided contest by winning the next eight legs to move two sets and a break up against the 16th seed.
Wade briefly halted Wattimena’s run by taking out tops for a 15-darter, only for the Dutchman to wrap up victory inside 20 and leave him facing either compatriot Wesley Plaisier or two-time world champion Peter Wright after Christmas.
How Wade made early Ally Pally exit
An early indication of Wade’s struggles on doubles came when he missed a dart at tops to break early in the opening set and two to hold on double 10 in the next leg, with Wattimena then capitalising on more poor finishing to wrap up the opening set with a 16-darter.
Wade squandered chances at double in every leg of the second set, where Wattimena raced through in straight legs, then fell further behind when his opponent followed a 13-dart hold by firing in a stunning 126 checkout to break again.
A 15-dart hold only raised brief hopes of a comeback for Wade, who then wasted four more double attempts – taking his conversion rate to two from 16 – in the next leg and allowed Wattimena to ease his way into the next round.
Wade’s loss means he remains without a win on the Alexandra Stage since New Year’s Day 2022, while Wattimena – who averaged 99.17 and posted two maximums – is through to the third round at the World Darts Championship for the first time in four years.
James Wade won just two legs against Jermaine Wattimena in a one-side contest at the Alexandra Palace
“I’m over the moon,” Wattimena said. “It was a good day for me. I played well, my finishing was good and I’m more than happy.
“I’m difficult to beat at the moment. As you can see the past few months, I’ve been playing well. I’ve beaten big players on stage and I can beat everyone at the moment, so I can make some history.”
What else happened on Monday afternoon?
Plaisier twice came back from a set down to beat Ryusei Azemoto in a low-scoring contest, where both players struggled with their averages and their finishing. The first maximum came midway through the fourth set, before Plaisier improved in the later stages of a lengthy clash to rattle off six consecutive legs and wrap up victory.
Luke Woodhouse won each of the first seven legs on his way to a straight-sets win over Laurence Ilagan, posting a 94.38 average and firing four maximums to set up a date with World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker.
Boos all round for Luke Woodhouse as he refused a bull finish for a big fish!
Kai Gotthardt overcame a broken dart barrel and falling a set down to defeat Alan Soutar 3-1 on his World Championship debut, with the German now facing Stephen Bunting in the next round.
Gotthardt had to leave the stage to get the issue fixed during the opening set, won by Soutar, before capitalising on wayward finishing by the Scot to win eight of the next legs on his way to an impressive victory.
Kai Gotthard saw the barrel of his dart snap during a bizarre incident in the opening set of his first-round match
What’s next?
Monday’s evening session opens with Niels Zonneveld against Robert Owen before Connor Scutt plays Ben Robb, with Cameron Menzies in action against Leonard Gates and then Gerwyn Price taking on Keane Barry in the headline match.
Tuesday’s afternoon line up is James Hurrell vs Jim Long, Kevin Doets vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven, Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas and World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker vs Luke Woodhouse.
Then, from 7pm, we have Jeffrey de Graaf up against Rashad Sweeting, Ricardo Pietreczko facing Xiaochen Zong, Ryan Meikle playing Fallon Sherrock – with a chance to face Luke Littler on the line – and Peter Wright vs Wesley Plaisier.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
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