Twentieth seed Ryan Searle is out of the PDC World Darts Championship after losing in the third round in a thriller to Ryan Joyce at Alexandra Palace.
Searle came back from a two-set deficit to finish with an average of 100.97, but Joyce, a 2019 quarterfinalist, defeated him in the deciding set to win 4-3.
With the score at 2-2 in the seventh set, Joyce brilliantly made 113 plays to gain the advantage and then won the next match against darts to secure the victory.
He will now face the winner of Saturday’s match between the teenager and fourth seeds Luke Littler and Ian White in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, 12th seed Nathan Aspinall advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in five years with a 4-0 victory over 21st seed Andrew Gilding.
Aspinall’s victory hinged on his ruthlessness in doubles, with the 33-year-old from Stockport hitting six of seven darts to the outside in the first two sets.
Gilding missed two darts to win the second, then was broken in the decisive third as “The Asp” scored 101, his only 100-plus shot in the match.
An average of 92.17 is well below Aspinall’s expectations, but his six 180s came at key moments and he backed it up with a valuation percentage of 60%.
Ricardo Pietreczko awaits Aspinall in the next round after storming to a 4-1 victory over England’s Scott Williams, who reached the semi-finals last year.
The German played two sets and responded brilliantly to Williams’ withdrawal, averaging 118.66 in the fourth set before sealing victory with a stylish total of 121 points.
