Mickey Mansell he worked hard but qualified for the second round of the 2025 championship PDC World Darts Championships. The 51-year-old Irishman from Northern Ireland did not perform at his best in the match against Japan Tomoya Gotobut scored a narrow 3-1 victory and will now face the seventh seed Jonny Clayton.
Mansell seemed to be in complete control of the match after taking a 2-0 lead in sets. But for “Clonoe Cyclone,” who, like his opponent, wasn’t averaging pitching in the early 1980s, it wasn’t exactly dazzling. Goto kept things exciting by winning the third set, and in the fourth, Mansell needed a fifth and deciding game to claim victory. For Mansell, in his ninth appearance at the World Darts Championships, it is only the fourth time he has managed to win a match.
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“Every time you win a game in Pally’s ally he’s brilliant and that’s what it’s all about. You come here and want to win the game and then everything goes on.” – explained the recent Grand Slam Darts semi-finalist at the post-match press conference. “I heard a lot of things about the Grand Slam about how well I finished the tournament, but I didn’t perform as expected tonight. But I was under a lot of pressure, thinking I had to score first.”
Mansell has been a familiar face in the PDC for a long time, but he has never actually managed to make it down the upper echelons of the Order of Merit. “I’m usually too busy looking at the rankings to look up,” he admits. “But after the Grand Slam, my attitude definitely changed. I want to be in the top 32 or top 16. Look, it sounds good, it’s brilliant, but the reality is it’s not easy to get there.”
Mickey Mansell in action at the World Darts Championships
Mansell returns to action on Monday afternoon when he faces seventh-seeded Clayton. “I now have a few days to get ready for Jonny and I will because I know Jonny will be ready for me!” Mansell looks on with a smile.
