A nervy Nathan Aspinall stumbled through his World Darts Championship opener, edging past Leonard Gates on the same night that Christian Kist hit a nine-darter in defeat.
Aspinall, who suffered a shock loss at the same stage last year, just about avoided an upset this time round, booking his progress post-Christmas with a 3-1 win.
Gates, who defeated a teary Cameron Menzies in his first-round match-up on Monday, showed glimpses across the shared opening two sets before Aspinall eventually edged clear.
“I’m relieved to come through that. It was a very tough game of darts,” said Aspinall, who will face either Andrew Gilding, Martin Lukeman or Nitin Kumar in the last 32.
“I felt really good coming into the tournament but I put myself under too much pressure to perform tonight. I’ve been under a lot of scrutiny over the last few months because I’ve not been playing well.
“I’m here to prove how good I am and go deep in the tournament. It wasn’t pretty, but I won the game and now I can enjoy Christmas and come back stronger after the break.”
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Check out the best of the action from night four at the World Darts Championship
The American checked out 106 for a break of throw in the first set, only for Aspinall to immediately better that with a 114 in the subsequent leg to take the opener.
But the 12th seed was desperately poor in losing the second set, averaging less than 80. Despite such struggles, he would have two darts at tops for a two-set lead but would fluff his lines as Gates instead levelled things up.
Aspinall marginally improved over the final two sets but survived some nervy moments along the way, including spurning a couple of match darts as Gates threatened to force a deciding set.
The two-time semi-finalist will know he will have to play much better if he is to have another deep run at Alexandra Palace.
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Who had the better walk-on between Aspinall and Gates before their second-round match at the World Darts Championship?
Kist makes stunning nine-darter but loses
Kist’s nine-darter was the 15th ever at the Worlds and the first since the famous “I can’t speak” perfect leg from Michael Smith in the 2023 final.
The Dutchman, however, was unable to bounce off his incredible moment to win the first set as his opponent Madars Razma kept his cool and won the next three sets in style to set up a match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Kist does win £60,000 for his nine-darter though, as did a lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to mark the moment.
