Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship - live on Sky Sports Darts. We're back on Wednesday for a double session at 12.30pm and 7pm with Callan Rydz vs Josh Rock and Michael van Gerwen in action
Wednesday 21 December 2022 10:35, UK
Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years to make a winning start to his 30th World Darts Championship appearance, as Fallon Sherrock suffered a first-round exit at the Alexandra Palace.
'The Queen of the Palace' won the opening set and had the better of the scoring against her opponent, although was left to rue a string of missed opportunities as she fell at the first hurdle for the second successive year.
Sherrock fired a 180 in her first leg of the match and broke Evans twice - including with a 14-darter - on her way to taking the opening set with a 17-dart hold, then won a fourth straight leg to leave her playing partner struggling.
Evans responded with a 122 checkout and edged a close second set in a final-leg decider, before prevailing in a nerve-wracking decider in the third when Sherrock wasted several set darts and then busted in her next visit.
Sherrock took out 76 to grab an early break in the fourth and held throw in her next visit, only for Evans to respond with a 16-darter and then take advantage of a missed set dart by his playing partner to see away D8 and move within a leg of victory.
Evans then capitalised on a slow start to a must-win leg from Sherrock to leave him ahead with the throw, with the 32-year-old signing off in style as he took out 107 for a 15-dart leg.
"I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't expect it to be that tough!" Evans told Sky Sports. "She is good! People are cheering because there's a lady playing, but they don't respect how good she actually is at darts. She was the better player in that game! I got away with that and I'm so happy to win - I'm chuffed to bits."
Van Barneveld recovered from losing his opening set to beat Suffolk star Ryan Meikle 3-1 in the final match of the evening, booking the Dutchman a third-round clash with world No 1 Gerwyn Price.
Meikle started strongly and followed a 12-darter by breaking Van Barneveld - who suffered food poisoning in the build-up - in the next leg to take the opening set, only to see his 55-year-old opponent require just 39 darts to rattle through the second set in straight legs.
Van Barneveld broke in the opening leg of the third after the Englishman wasted six looks at double and went on to win the set in a final-leg decider, then dominated the fourth as Meikle began to fade.
Meikle failed to hold throw in the second leg to move Van Barneveld to the brink of victory, which he secured with a 15-dart leg in the next to reach the third round for the first time since 2018.
"I am playing really well and I believe in myself," Van Barneveld told Sky Sports. "I am so happy that I won tonight. I love this game and when I retired, I was never ever feeling happy.... and I was thinking to myself 'I have more in the tank, I am not finished yet'".
Debutant Jimmy Hendriks recovered from losing the opening set to beat Jamie Hughes 3-1 in a low-scoring encounter and earn a tie against Brendan Dolan in the next round.
Hughes edged a torrid opener, as the pair combined to miss 33 double attempts before Hendriks claimed a scrappy second - where both struggled with mid-70s averages - by taking out 72 for a 15-dart leg.
Hendriks won an improved third set in a final-leg decider then broke Hughes in the fourth by taking out tops with successive darts in a 104 finish, with victory in the next leg completing a gritty win.
Jim Williams fought back twice from a sent down to defeat Sebastian Bialecki in a five-set thriller and set up a second-round meeting with four-time World Championship semi-finalist James Wade.
Bialecki won the opener in straight legs after his playing partner wasted eight darts at double, only for Williams to bounce back from an 11-dart hold by the Pole in the second set to claim the next two legs in 13 and 15 darts respectively to level the match.
Williams fired a super 154 finish but lost the third set when Bialecki made a 136 checkout in the final-leg decider, although the Welshman won the fourth in straight sets and nailed a spectacular 130 via the bullseye early in the fifth to complete a hard-fought victory.
The first round draws to a close, with the final two second-round spots confirmed, while Michael van Gerwen headlines the evening action as he looks to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time since 2019
Van Gerwen has celebrated Premier League, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals victories over recent months, and now he is determined to cap off a stunning season in sensational style as he begins his title bid against Lewy Williams.
Mervyn King takes on Danny Baggish and Gabriel Clemens has been handed a tie against William O'Connor, while Stephen Bunting rounds off Wednesday's action against Leonard Gates.
John O'Shea faces Darius Labanauskas and Martijn Kleermaker takes on Xicheng Han to complete the first-round schedule earlier in the day, while Josh Rock has been given a tough task against last year's quarter-finalist Callum Rydz and former semi-finalist Dave Chisnall plays Andrew Gilding.
Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship - live on Sky Sports Darts - all the way through to the final on January 3.
