Nervous Nathan Aspinall stumbled in his World Darts Championship opener on the same night as Christian Kist failed to throw nine darts, narrowly overtaking Renner Leonard Gates.

Aspinall suffered a heavy defeat at the same stage last year but narrowly avoided an upset this time, progressing after Christmas with a 3-1 victory.

Gates, who beat a tearful Cameron Menzies in his first-round match on Monday, dominated the opening two sets before Aspinall eventually took a narrow lead.

“I’m relieved to be through it. It was a very tough darts match,” said Aspinall, who will face Andrew Gilding, Martin Lookman or Nitin in the last 32. Kumar.

“I felt really good going into the game, but I put too much pressure on myself tonight. I’ve gotten a lot of attention over the last few months because I haven’t played well.

“I came here to prove how good I am and go further in the competition. It wasn’t pretty but I won the competition and now I can enjoy Christmas and come back stronger after the break.”

The American scored 106 points in the first set, but Aspinall immediately won the first set with 114 points in the next game.

But the No. 12 seed performed extremely poorly in the second-set loss, averaging less than 80 points per game. Still, he would double dart over the top to take a two-set lead, but his line was equalized by Gates.

Aspinall improved slightly in the final two sets but endured some tense moments along the way, including rejecting several match darts as Gates threatened to force a decider.

The two-time semi-finalist knows he has to play better if he wants to go far again at Alexandra Palace.

Kist throws stunning nine-dart but fails

Kister’s nine-dart was the 15th at the World Championships and the first since Michael Smith’s famous “I can’t speak” perfect leg in the 2023 final.

However, the Dutchman could not recover from the incredible moment and won the first set against his opponent Madarazma He kept his cool and won the next three sets in style, setting the stage for a match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

However, Kist did win £60,000 for his nine-dart, as did a lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, and event sponsor Paddy Power also donated £60,000 to Prostate Cancer sterling to mark the occasion.

“Nine darts is an amazing moment and hitting double twelve feels great. It’s a great moment for everyone and I hope Chris enjoys the money,” Kister said.

“Maybe next month I’ll go on holiday with the winnings. I lost the match though, so I’m a bit disappointed with the first round exit.”

Ricky Evans He was nowhere near his “quick” best in the opening game against Gordon Mathers and was forced into a final decider.

Evans eventually won at 109 and set up a second-round meeting with sixth-seeded Dave Chisnall, the first over in an otherwise sloppy contest. Many achievements.

In the first game of the night, a dejected Jim Williams missed five match darts in the opening round and lost 3-2. Paul Nebrida.

To make matters worse for the Welshman, he also missed three darts in the first set. Ross Smith awaits Nebrida’s next round.

What to do next?

Another great day of action on Thursday 19th December, with the afternoon action returning at 12.30pm on Sky Sports Darts Live with the following line-up: Chris Landman VS Lok Yin Lee, Callan Rydz VS Romeo Grbavac, Martin Lukeman VS Nitin Kumar and No. 27 seed Gabriel Clemens face Robert Owen in the second round.

Live on Sky Sports Darts from 7pm, former world champion Michael Smith headlines the evening’s action, with the 2023 champion and second seed taking on Kevin Doets. The night concluded with three first-round matches including Nick Kenny vs. Stowe Buntz , Mensur Sujovic vs. Matt Campbell and last year’s semifinalist Scott Williams vs. Nico Springer.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? You can watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel until January 3rd. Live stream darts and more top sports with NOW.