By Stan Ashcroft
The final day of the PDC World Darts Championship round one was concluded with Thursday’s evening session at Alexandra Palace.
The highly anticipated round one pairing of Daryl Gurney vs Beau Greaves was the centrepiece of the night. The Asp also returned to Ally Pally, free of any troubles as he sought to find his form of old.
MATCH 1: William O’Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk
The evening couldn’t have got off to a better start as both players brought their A game to the oche. But Willie O’Connor was simply something else, playing the best darts of his life.
Opening the match with a 12-darter with a 167 finish, the Irishman showed his capabilities from the off. Kciuk could only hold his throw across the next four legs as O’Connor stayed ahead, winning the set 3-2.
‘The Magpie’ was able to break Kciuk’s throw twice in the second leg with 14 and 11-darts on each occasion. O’Connor was unstoppable collecting his fourth straight leg for the set.
Three more straight sets completed a double set whitewash and took ‘The Magpie’ to seven consecutive legs. He found winning, as easy as noticing something shiny in sunlight. With 102.36 average and seven maximum scores verses his opponent’s two, the Pole didn’t even get another opportunity to hit a double following the first set.
If this match was anything to go by, O’Connor will be a formidable force in this tournament as Three-time World Champion Michael Van Gerwen is his next target round two. Van Gerwen could really struggle
Result: William O’Connor 3 v 0 Krzysztof Kciuk
MATCH 2: Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves
The World Cup champion faces the young prodigy who defeated Luke Litter in the Youth Championship. 21-year-old Beau Greaves entered this match as favourite and is possibly the first woman player to do so at a World Darts Championship. Before the game, Daryl Gurney labelled Greaves as “possibly the best woman player ever” is high praise from the 22nd seed.
Greaves started the game as both players kicked off with two perfect darts. Gurney had one dart to break throw but failed to hit tops. Greaves forced Gurney to checkout 90 in the second leg as both held their throw. The third leg saw both players miss a couple of darts to go ahead, but the Northern Irishman was the one to take advantage and break throw.
Greaves outscored Gurney and could afford to miss D20 on her first visit as she checked out D10 on the second, to regain the darts again. However, Gurney took his time after witling 140 down to 40 as the Ally Pally crowd booed him. One dart was enough to earn him the third leg and go one set up against the throw.
‘Super Chin’ was the man to take the first leg of set two. Greaves also held her throw to claim the second and followed it up with a 180 for a chance at a break of throw in leg three. A 128 checkout, with a bullseye finish secured her second leg and she continued to batter the treble twenty leaving Gurney on 247 before she hit D8 to even the match 1-1.
‘Beau n Arrow’ aimed her way to hold throw as she held the darts in the third set. Gurney did the same in the second but only after a couple of let off missed doubles from Greaves. There were then back-back-to back break of throws and Gurney was able to break again after Greaves missed a dart for the set.
‘Super Chin’ had made the most of grabbing the big moments, but Greaves wasn’t out of it yet. Winning leg one against the throw created an opportunity for her to come straight back. Neither player were playing to their full potential but Greaves was emerging as the dominant player winning the set 3-0, against the throw, levelling up the match.
Both players were close to high tonne-plus checkouts but failed to hit the doubles when required. The deciding set saw a gigantic 144 checkout from Gurney, the highest of the match, which earnt him the chance to throw for the game. Three missed match darts were thrown before he won it with D4. Greaves nearly checked out 148, if it weren’t for falling short on the D14.
Result: Daryl Gurney 3 v 2 Beau Greaves
MATCH 3: Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
‘The Asp’ arrives at the end of 2025 feeling as confident as ever, without injury or any signs of the cursed ‘dartitis’. Nathan Aspinall walked on to the beloved crowd favourite, Mr Brightside, and was hoping he would be seeing the bright side of his round one fixture against Lourence Llagan. The Asian championship tour winner from the Philippines was participating in his tenth World Championships.
Aspinall produced a 15-dart hold of throw at the start of set one. With leg two underway, Llagan ‘The Gunner’ felt the Ally Pally wasp and appeared spooked, skipping across the stage to escape it. He was still able to hold his throw and win leg two, as did Aspinall and Llagan once again, to take it to the final leg. ‘The Asp’ couldn’t produce a tonne-plus visit as the Filipino chucked a 180 and checked out 40 on his fifth attempt.
A great couple by visits from Aspinall left him the 114 to break the throw. 20, T18 and D20 saw ‘The Asp’ strike a lead in set two. The doubled this lead with leg two and continued to throw 140s in leg three, but Llagan held throw. Aspinall made it through the last leg to win set two.
Llagan threw a 14-leg dart to break throw in the third leg of set three. Aspinall needed to pull something out of the bag as it was Llagan’s turn for the set. The man from Stockport responded with a 180 and a bullseye finish to turn the game on its head and throw for the set. Two more 180s from Aspinall guided him to win the second set.
Aspinall made a bit of a mess of the second leg in set four. Llagan couldn’t take advantage, as player won their respective legs one after another. In the final leg, Llagan held the darts as both players were consistent with tonne-plus visits.
With a T20, T20, bull ‘The Asp’ checked out the big fish to win the match. An impressive way to finish considering how well Llagan matched Aspinall throughout the game. However, when Llagan bridged the gap on Aspinall’s throw, he didn’t always make it count which is why he won’t be facing
Result: Nathan Aspinall 3 v 1 Lourence Ilagan
MATCH 4: Keane Barry v Tim Pusey
Rebranded as ‘The Thunder from down under’ Tim Pusey debuted his new nickname in the final game of round one. In his seventh campaign, Keane Barry, from Ireland was the debutant’s challenger. Still only 23-years-old, Barry went into the game with plenty of experience over his senior, aged 33.
Pusey put in a maximum score in the first leg as Barry held the darts. But the Irishman missed a visit to checkout 40 and Pusey took the first leg with a break of throw. The Australian doubled his lead with the next leg but Barry came back with three legs on the spin to win set one, finishing with a 108 checkout.
Barry broke Pusey’s throw straight away as the Australian missed a visit for tops. Pusey then had the chance to break straight back but with more missed chances on doubles, it allowed Barry to win his fifth and sixth consecutive legs with a 13-darter to top off the set.
Pusey checked out a 103 against the darts which he had hoped would stop the rot and inject some more life into his game. But Barry bit back, breaking Pudsey’s throw once again. ‘Dynamite’ Barry was explosive with his doubles and often finished on the second time of asking.
Just as all things looked lost for Pusey, he nearly checked out the 164 before missing the bull. He was given another bite of the cherry but didn’t take it as Barry closed the curtains on the match and sent the debutant back down under. Martin Schindler awaits the winner in round two.
Result: Keane Barry 3 v 0 Tim Pusey