David Munyua created history by becoming the first Kenyan to win at the World Darts Championship, stunning Mike De Decker in his 3-2 comeback victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Munyua had already created darting history by becoming the first representative from Kenya at Alexandra Palace, but went a step further with a momentous triumph against former World Grand Prix champion De Decker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 30-year-old had trailed 2-0, but survived three match darts from the Belgian number one in the fourth set before holding his nerve to level the game at 2-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Munyua, who qualified through the African Darts Group Qualifier, then took out a clutch 135 checkout on the bull in the final set, before reeling off two more legs to win and cement himself into Alexandra Palace folklore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a really big moment for the sport itself and for Africa,\u201d announced Munyua, who will face either Kevin Doets or Matthew Dennant in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was crazy, it\u2019s too much to express right now. I did not expect it, but I\u2019m so excited to have won. Being the first Kenyan to play at the World Championship, I\u2019ve never been in this kind of a venue before with the noise and the pressure. Everyone back in my country is going crazy about it. It is a special feeling for me and players back in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen survived a huge scare against Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, coming out 3-1 winner despite at once stage falling behind by a set and two legs to nil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three-time World Champion rallied and won nine of the remaining 12 legs to edge through, surviving nine set darts from Tatsunami in the fourth and final set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t the best performance, but at least I won,\u201d said Van Gerwen, who plays Krzysztof Kciuk or William O\u2019Connor in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe most important thing in round one of the World Championship is to survive and win. Everyone was thinking ‘Michael will whitewash him 3-0’, that’s not how it works anymore. I shouldn’t put myself in that position. I’m bigger than that, but that’s darts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motomu Sakai also created an Alexandra Palace legacy on his debut as he stunned Thibault Tricole 3-0 with an enigmatic performance to set up a round two clash with Andreas Harrysson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Japanese trailblazer took out a whopping 148 checkout before winning the second set, and took the final stanza in straight legs to secure a memorable victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just feel very happy,\u201d said Sakai, who won four PDC Asian Tour titles in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe more I dance, the more my darts fly well! I could hear all the support from behind me, it was giving me a lot of power – thank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dave Chisnall hit 47% of his double attempts to power past Fallon Sherrock 3-0 and will face Ricardo Pietrezcko in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chisnall, a former semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace, dropped one leg in racing to a 2-0 lead in cruising to a straight-sets win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jermaine Wattimena battled through a tough affair against Dominik Gruellich to win 3-2 and set up a round two clash with former semi-finalist Scott Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman had trailed 2-1, but dug deep, rattling off six legs on the spin to see out the final two sets and complete the comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Joyce eased past Owen Bates in a straight-sets victory, restricting his opponent to just a sole leg across the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joyce averaged over a ton in the opening two sets and finished the match with a trademark exemplary performance on the outer-ring, hitting 64% of his doubles, to earn a round two tie against Krzysztof Ratajski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ratajski himself progressed thanks to a 3-0 demolition job over Alexis Toylo, winning nine of the 11 legs on offer in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Polish number one averaged over 97 and hit 50% of his double attempts during his standout performance of Thursday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Callan Rydz swept aside Patrik Kovacs with a whitewash win to ensure his progression to round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A two-time quarter-finalist at Alexandra Palace, Rydz took out a double-double 92 checkout early on in the final set before sealing the match with a 14-dart break, and will play Friday\u2019s winner of Daryl Gurney against Beau Greaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round one will conclude today, with the last 16 players to compete battling out across a bumper double-session, with World Cup winner Josh Rock stealing the headlines in the afternoon session as he faces Gemma Hayter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock\u2019s Northern Irish World Cup winning partner Daryl Gurney clashes with Women\u2019s series winner Beau Greaves in a tantalising match, as former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall locks horns with Lourence Ilagan. David Munyua created history by becoming the first Kenyan to win at the World Darts Championship, stunning Mike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-7290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Round One: <\/strong>Callan Rydz 3-0 Patrik Kovacs (3-1, 3-1, 3-1); Motomu Sakai 3-0 Thibault Tricole\u00a0(3-2, 3-2, 3-0); Ryan Joyce 3-0 Owen Bates (3-0, 3-1, 3-0); David Munyua 3-2 Mike De Decker\u00a0(1-3; 2-3; 3-2; 3-2; 3-1); Jermaine Wattimena 3-2 Dominik Gruellich (3-1; 2-3; 2-3; 3-1; 3-0); Dave Chisnall 3-0 Fallon Sherrock (3-1; 3-0; 3-2); Michael van Gerwen 3-1 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami (1-3; 3-2; 3-1; 3-2); Krzysztof Ratajski 3-0 Alexis Toylo (3-0; 3-1; 3-1)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"