Dave Chisnall crashed out of the World Darts Championship after suffering a dramatic final defeat to Ricky Evans, while former world champion Rob Cross was also thrown out in a remarkable session at Alexandra Palace.
Chisnall won the opening set of the turning contest but needed to recover from 2-1 down to extend their epic clash to the final set, where both players survived darts to go into extra legs.
Evans opened the box 110 on the way to the go-ahead and saw Chisnall recover from a shocking miscalculation as Rapid Ricky recovered the throw.
In an epic Christmas encounter, Daryl Gurney won against Florian Hempel and world junior champion Jian Wen Win, who was knocked out by Riccardo Pietrecko, before Cross beat Scott Williams 3-1 in the final match of the evening.
Cross’ early exit made him the 14th seed to be eliminated in the last round of 64 this year, the highest in tournament history since Williams defeated eventual champion Luke Humphreys in last year’s semi-final – the last to claim his third place stage.
In an early Christmas classic incredible session
Evans brought the festive cheer with his Christmas-themed tee and a Shaquin Stevens walk, only for Chisnall to take early control, opening with a 12-dart break and holding the next.
Chisnall responded to Evans’ stunning 126 and missed the Big Fish attempt to clinch the set by 15, but wasted a dart on D5 late in the second, allowing Rapid Ricky to break the throw and level.
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Moments after Chisnall almost landed at 170, Evans nailed a big 126 to fight back in the first set.
Evans took the lead to seal the third set at 13, but watched Chisnall break cleanly in the fourth as Cheesy had to come from behind three times to take an enthralling final set.
Both players missed the game’s darts in a chaotic close, where Evans extended the contest with a remarkable 110 cash to pull back, then found a 17-dart handle to clear the leg.
Chisnall survived an untimely false finish to find the Madhouse on his next visit and pulled the rally into the 11th and final round, where Evans took off his shirts to finish 52nd and spark wild celebrations.
“I played a world-class darts player there and I played pretty well,” Evans said Sky Sports. “It’s nice to say that I won a game and I played well. usually it’s boring.I wish I beat Chizzy 3-0 because my tics would hit a little slower.
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Evans gives a brilliant and entertaining post-match interview with Abigail Davies and mocks the Alexandra Palace crowd for supporting him in his win over Chisnal.
Gurney survives the scare as Cross advances
Another upset looked on the cards as Gurney took a set against Hempel, who was on the verge of taking the second set to a decider, when the Northern Irishman fired a 156 in the box to break at 15 to level the match.
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Daryl Gurney leveled his match with Florian Hempel with a huge 156 to make it 1-1.
Hempel took the second set with straight legs and came within striking distance of victory in the fourth set before Garney hit a 13-dart leg to level the match and then broke the German in the final set.
Garney held the next shot en route to sealing a hard-fought victory, leaving him in the third round with seventh-seeded Jonny Clayton, while Cross had another famous exit after a disappointing loss to Williams.
Cross took a toss in the opening set before Williams took the second with a 14-putt in another deciding leg, with the contest also threatening to go the distance when Cross fired a 130 early in the third set.
Williams won the next three legs to take a set ahead, taking advantage of a poor finish from Cross, before securing victory in the next set and avenging a loss to the Englishman two years earlier; the final leg.
Elsewhere, Van Veen missed eight darts to break his opponent with an unbroken open leg and saw Pietrecko run away in the opening set, though he responded by firing a brilliant 127 darts en route to leveling the contest in the second.
Pietrecko took the lead when he finished with 122 in the third set, which he won in straight legs, then broke Van Veen in 16 balls to take the toss next time to reach the third round for the second year in a row.
Clayton gets over the ultimate epic and the Rock flows
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Johnny Clayton and Mickey Mansell battled it out in an epic final set that included three ton-plus finishes, a 10-dart leg, lots of darts and sudden death.
Clayton looked to be reaching the finish line as he won six legs in a row, only for Mickey Mansell to force a deciding set, then produced stunning finals of 136 and 154 to cruise to victory within one round.
The Welshman won the next two legs to extend the contest and both players missed match darts, taking the set to a final leg shootout where he used the darts to find a way over the line.
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Mansell hit a 136 cash, followed by a 154 finish in the deciding set against Clayton.
Elsewhere, Josh Rock beat Rhys Griffin 3-0, losing just two legs, to set up a last-32 tie with Chris Dobey, while the other two seeds in action on Monday afternoon also went through.
Polish No. 1 Krzysztof Ratajski beat Alexis Toilo 3-1 and Andrew Gilding beat Martin Lukeman by the same scoreline, with Ratajski now playing Kevin Doets, who stunned former world champion Michael Smith, and Gilding taking on Nathan Aspinall.
When will the third stage take place?
Darts return after Christmas on 27th December with four consecutive doubleheaders at Alexandra Palace for rounds three and four to be completed by 30th December.
World No.1 Luke Humphries takes on Nick Kenny, reigning Premier League champion Luke Littler takes on Ian White, Michael van Gerwen takes on Brendan Dolan and former world champion Gerwyn Price entertains Joe Cullen.
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Luke Littler won the final set against Ryan Meikle in just 32 darts to set up a third round meeting with Ian White.
They have New Year’s Eve off before the quarter-finals, which are played over two sessions on New Year’s Day, with the semi-finals on 2 January and the final on Friday 3 January.
You can find the full schedule for this year’s tournament here here.
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