Matt Campbell will face Ryan Searle on Sunday afternoon in the second round at the stadium PDC World Darts Championships after he took it off Mensur Suljovic in the deciding set on Thursday evening 3-2.
Campbell, who was fortunate enough to enter the tournament after qualifying in the final qualifier, also suffered a blow as he won the North American Championship but was unable to win prizes because he had held his Tour Card for more than two years.
He also hadn’t been in great shape for some time on tour, so he didn’t qualify properly. However, going through the last qualifications, he earned a place and took full advantage of it in the match against the Austrian.
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Campbell started the better of the two, with the Canadian number one winning the first set in the deciding match. He scored a double 20, confirming that he also scored 116 in the opener.
The Gentle, however, responded after a difficult match from the very beginning, securing the second set at double 16 for parity. They both averaged around 88 points and hit two 180s apiece, so they were very evenly matched.
However, Campbell was clinically symptomatic in two of the remaining three sets, at different times. He was leading 2-1 and the best moment of the match was a 160-point check, after which he sent Suljovic a statement saying that he would come and win the match without answering and get back in the lead.
However, Suljovic responded. In the deciding set, he won the fourth set and sent it to the end. However, the Austrian was overtaken in the decisive set. Campbell sealed the win by calling 89 on a bull. This happened after Suljovic shot for 180, although he left a shout of 125 at the end, which he missed anyway. He has never lost in a draw and now faces Ryan Searle.
