Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock survived testing encounters to progress at the World Darts Championship, as round one came to a close last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last nights action at Alexandra Palace saw the final eight matches of round one played across a bumper double session, as Aspinall began his campaign by winning a rocky affair against Lourence Ilagan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Stockport star initially trailed after Ilagan took the opening set, but battled back in trademark fashion to level the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aspinall, a former UK Open winner and World Matchplay champion, then won two set-deciding legs – including a match-winning 170 checkout – to cap a tough victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I really felt the pressure – I was shaking the whole way through,” admitted Aspinall, who will face Leonard Gates in round two for the second successive year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I put myself under so much pressure tonight but I got the win, and that’s the most important thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Full credit to Lourence there, he played a fantastic game and put me under pressure. Maybe I needed that challenge to realise why I’m doing this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My game is at the best place it’s ever been, I’ve never played better. I know I’ll beat Leonard – he’s a great player, but I won’t feel that nervous again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock opened his World Championship title bid with a 3-1 victory despite a spirited performance from debutant Gemma Hayter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Northern Irish World Cup winner took a 2-0 lead but conceded a set to Hayter, before closing out the fourth stanza in a set-deciding leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a nerve-racking first set,” confessed Rock, who will play Australia’s Joe Comito in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The first game is always the hardest game. I’m not happy with the performance – personally, I underestimated Gemma.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When it comes to round two against Joe Comito, I will not perform like that, I assure you. I’m not here to make up the numbers, I’m here to win the trophy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock’s World Cup winning partner Daryl Gurney came out the victor in a thrilling 3-2 triumph against a valiant Beau Greaves – despite the Women’s Series champion winning 11 legs her opponent’s ten across the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves hit a fantastic 128 on the bull followed by the tournament’s first ten-dart leg to level the game at one set apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with the game poised at 2-2, Gurney took out a crucial 144 checkout in the final set to break, before holding throw to see out a hard-fought victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I look at her as a great dart player – she is one of the best players on the planet,”\u00a0said Gurney, who will play Callan Rydz in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m very glad that the 144 went in. If that didn’t go, I would have been 2-1 down and throwing against the tide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Callan is one of the best dart players as the world. He is going to be really difficult, it will be a struggle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William O’Connor delivered one of the strongest performances of the World Championship so far, crashing in seven maximums and posting a tournament-high 102.36 average in his 3-0 demolition of Krzysztof Kciuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Irishman took out a whopping 167 in the opening leg of the contest and restricted his opponent to just four attempts at double throughout the match to set up a tantalising round two clash with Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keane Barry made it a double success for Ireland as he swept past Australian debutant Tim Pusey in straight sets, averaging 93 and landing 53% of his chances at a double as he progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Doets advanced to round two for the third consecutive year thanks to a 3-1 victory over Matthew Dennant, and he will now face Kenyan trailblazer David Munyua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman, who made the last 16 at Alexandra Palace 12 months ago, conceded the first set but rallied to win the next three stanzas and complete a comeback win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gates also made it three opening round wins out of three on the Alexandra Palace stage in his 3-2 victory over Mickey Mansell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American never trailed in sets across the game and maintained his composure in the deciding stanza to see out the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Meikle proved too strong for Jesus Salate, inflicting a crushing 3-0 defeat on the Argentinian debutant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Suffolk arrowsmith won six consecutive legs to take the opening two sets, hitting 53% of his doubles to set a round two tie with Jonny Tata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round two begins on Saturday with a whopping double session, as all round one winners prepare to return across four days of festive darting drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday afternoon sees Dutch star Dirk van Duijvenbode take on James Hurrell, and Dave Chisnall locks horns with German number two Ricardo Pietreczko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the evening, former World Champion Michael Smith kicks off proceedings against Niels Zonneveld, and former Masters champion Stephen Bunting faces Nitin Kumar in a blockbuster tie. Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock survived testing encounters to progress at the World Darts Championship, as round one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7312,"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-7311","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>Kevin Doets 3-1 Matthew Dennant (2-3; 3-1; 3-2; 3-2); Ryan Meikle 3-0 Jesus Salate (3-0; 3-0; 3-1); Leonard Gates 3-2\u00a0Mickey Mansell (3-2; 0-3; 3-1; 1-3; 3-0); Josh Rock 3-1 Gemma Hayter (3-1; 3-0; 1-3; 3-2); William O’Connor 3-0 Krzysztof Kciuk (3-2; 3-0; 3-0); Daryl Gurney 3-2 Beau Greaves\u00a0(3-2; 1-3; 3-2; 0-3; 3-1); Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Lourence Ilagan (2-3; 3-1; 3-2; 3-2); Keane Barry 3-0 Tim Pusey (3-2; 3-0; 3-1)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"