Tres Bien Thibault

Former Lakeside World Finalist Thibault Tricole made history on Day 4 of the 2024 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, recovering from a set down to defeat good mate Mario Vandenbogaerde 3-1 in the 1st Round.

“I am so proud to be here, Mario is a good friend of mine on the circuit. He didn’t play his best game, but I took advantage of his mistakes, and I am very happy to win.”

The French Touch before the game was exited and relished the opportunity to play on the Alexandra Palace stage for the first time, saying the opportunity to play a World Champion in Rob Cross was his motivation for the battle.

The Winmau player will face Voltage in the final match of Thursday’s afternoon session at the Alexandra Palace, hoping to make even more history for Darts in France.

“There was a lot of media attention before this game, so winning my first game – I think this will be a good moment for the sport in France.”

Thibault appearing as the first French international at a PDC World Championship, surrendered a 2-0 lead in the opening set with Mario including a 109 checkout to hold throw in the third leg, taking a 1-0 lead at the first break.

Tricole found a crucial break of throw in the fourth leg of the second set as opponent Vandenbogaerde threw for a 2-0 lead in a race to 3. The Frenchman found tops to level the match at 1-1 going into the second interval.

The third set also went the distance with the former Lakeside finalist again taking a 2-0 lead on the world stage. It was a case of dart ja vu as Mario responded with a ton plus checkout (101) to force his way back level at 2-2, but this time the set went in favour of the Auray born player.

The French Touch finished at a rate of 45.83% on his Alexandra Palace debut, including 3 180s and an average of 85.21 in North London.

Every set in the contest went to 5th and final legs, with Tricole showing character to come through high pressure legs after winning 3 out of the 4 deciders.

Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price opened his campaign with a 3-0 victory over Connor Scutt in the final match of the night, with the Iceman including 5 180s and an average of 98.01 in reaching the Last 32.

Tuesday at the 2024 World Darts Championship sees recent Red Dragon signing Keegan Brown take on Croatian international Boris Krcmar, for the right to face 12th Seed Dirk van Duijvenbode.

3 Time World Champion Michael van Gerwen features in the evening session as he starts his campaign for a 4th World Title.

Mighty Mike comes into the capital as the Number 2 Seed having claimed a record-breaking 7th Premier League title as well as the World Series of Darts Finals, facing Irish youngster Keane Barry for a spot in Round 3.