Updated: December 16, 2024
The Paddy Power World Championships started relatively calmly last night. Reigning champion Luke Humphries started his title defense with a solid 3-0 win over Frenchman Thibault Tricole, but perhaps the most important topic of discussion was Keane Barry’s 3-1 triumph over Kim Huybrechts.
The highlight of this afternoon’s session was Jermaine Wattimena’s convincing straight sets victory over James Wade. The Dutchman only lowered two legs.
The Americans’ focus tonight was on Texan Leonard Gates, who had a difficult opening match against Scotland’s Cameron Menzies. It didn’t take long for “Soulger” to make an impression and complete the first set in style! Impressive clears of 138, 120 and 85 (on the bull) left Menzies stranded.
In the first four games of the second set, darts were played, but the Scot chose the right moment to hold the shot and in the fifth set the score was even. Nice outs of 66 and 76 set up Gates well, and he took third on straight legs. In the fourth set, there was a tie-break in the fifth game, but this time “Soulger” reached the finish line at the right moment with a time of 122 seconds and advanced to the second round. His spirits rose again in Wednesday’s final match against Nathan Aspinall.
Live scores and updates can be obtained from the PDC website Here
