Dean Winstanley hit a nine-dart finish at the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship on Sunday afternoon but exited the event to Vincent van der Voort, as James Wade and Mark Walsh also progressed to the third round at Alexandra Palace.
Winstanley capped a tremendous first year on the PDC circuit with his first competitive nine-dart leg, which he hit during the third set of his clash with the Dutchman yesterday afternoon.
Winstanley trailed by two sets at the time, but hit two 180s and then took out 141 with treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to complete the perfect leg, becoming only the third player – behind Raymond van Barneveld, with two, and Adrian Lewis – to achieve the feat in the PDC World Championship.
The Yorkshireman then hit back to level the game at two-all, but missed darts to win the next two sets as van der Voort took both in a decider to condemn Winstanley to defeat.
Winstanley will pocket a £15,000 bonus for his nine-darter should no other player achieve a perfect leg in the remainder of the event to claim a share of the prize.
However, he admitted: “I’m distraught to have lost, but I’ve made a great impact and I’m proud of what I’ve done.
“I’m over the moon to have hit a nine-darter on TV, especially in the World Championship, and I’ve proved to everyone that I can mix it with the best.”
Van der Voort (pictured) will now play James Wade in the third round next Thursday as he bids to win through to the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.
“In the first two sets I was totally in control and I felt great but the match changed after the nine-darter and I felt I had to do something special to win,” he said.
“I think things turned back in my favour when I took the fifth set and I’m impressed with the way I closed out the match under that kind of pressure.”
World number three Wade, twice a semi-finalist, booked his last 16 spot with a 4-2 defeat of Steve Beaton, hitting four ton-plus finishes in another solid performance.
The pair shared the opening four sets before Wade took out 130 to edge the fifth, and when Beaton wasted his chance to level in the deciding leg of set six – bursting his score on 122 – the left-hander completed the victory with a 120 checkout.
“I’ve over the moon to have won but I’m disappointed that I didn’t play as well as I wanted to,” said Wade.
“My darts weren’t landing as they normally do and it was frustrating for me because I’ve practised so hard, but hopefully it will come right against Vincent.”
Mark Walsh, meanwhile, will have the chance to win through to the quarter-finals for the first time in the World Championship when he plays Wes Newton next Thursday, after he defeated Justin Pipe 4-2 in their contest.
Walsh won six of the game’s first seven legs to assume a two-set lead and also held a 3-1 advantage before Pipe cut the gap to one – but he crucially missed two darts to force a deciding set as the former UK Open finalist progressed.
The game had been halted for five minutes during the fifth set when the stem on one of Pipe’s darts snapped and the Taunton ace was unable to free the base from his barrel, with Walsh briefly lending one of his spare darts to his opponent whilst the problem was fixed backstage.
“It was going through my head that I can’t let him beat me with one of my own darts!” admitted Walsh. “As soon as that set was out of the way I got my focus back and did the business in the end, and I’m delighted to be through.
“It makes your Christmas dinner so much better when you’re still in the World Championship. It’s the biggest tournament in the world and it’s fantastic to be in the last 16 – but I want to get to the last eight now.
“I’ve got to up my game against Wes Newton because he’s playing some fantastic darts. He’s a heavy scorer and his finishing is second to none and I know what I’ve got to do against him.”