DAY 4 of the 2024 World Championship saw last year’s semi-finalist Dennis Nilsson and England’s Reece Colley among the winners.
Sweden’s Nilsson (main picture) was a semi-finalist at Lakeside last year and he got off to a winning start once again on Monday afternoon after defeating Howard Jones 2-0 in the session’s opening game.
Nilsson broke the Jones throw in a scrappy opening leg of the match and proceeded to improve from there, pinning double eight to take the first set 3-1.
Australia’s Jones, who booked a debut through the South Australian Classic, showed his class by taking out 90 on the bull in the second leg of the second set but was unable to make further inroads, Nilsson pinning 96 in the following leg before sealing victory with an 18-darter.
Dennis finished with an 84.26 average and will take on Gary Stone on Wednesday evening in the second round.
Schnier Shines
Austrian debutant Hannes Schnier produced an impressive display to defeat Laszlo Kadar and book his spot in the Men’s World Championship second round.
Schnier played in the PDC World Championship 15 years ago and that stage experience was handy on his Lakeside debut, as ‘The Ram’ opened the match with a 13-darter and sealed the first set 3-1 by going out in 16 darts.
Schnier started the second well with a finish of 80, but Romania’s experienced Kadar dug in to respond, taking out 50 and then a tournament-high 164. Schnier rallied to pin 61 to force a deciding leg, where he missed a match dart that Kadar punished.
‘The Ram’ responded well to that missed dart, opening the third set with an 81 out followed by a tops tops 140. He couldn’t convert it to 3-0 though, as two more match darts went begging and Kadar punished him with successive 16 and 14 dart legs.
The final was nervy, with Schnier hitting tops after both men had missed tops. Schnier ended with a 90.91 average and will return on Wednesday afternoon to face Jason Brandon.
Colley Downs Johnson
Reece Colley will face Neil Duff on Tuesday night after defeating Darren Johnson 2-1 in the final game on Monday afternoon.
Colley, who won the Gold-ranked World Open in October to secure a second Lakeside berth, pinned a 115 finish to take the first 3-0.
Experienced Yorkshireman Johnson rallied to win the second set, getting on the board with a 73 finish before finding successive 19-darters to repeat the favour 3-0.
Momentum swang back in the favour of Colley in the third set, who upped his game throughout, finishing with three 180s and sealing victory with a 13-darter.
Rietbergen into Round Two
Lerena Rietbergen was a winner in the final first round game in the Women’s World Championship, defeating Maud Jansson 2-0.
Rietbergen had accumulated the third most ranking points in WDF Women’s events in 2024 and she made the stronger start, breaking Jansson’s throw in the opening leg.
Doubles proved problematic for both players throughout, although after Jansson won the third leg of the first set, Rietbergen won four legs on the spin to seal a 2-0 win.
The 21-year-old Dutchwoman will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon against Rhian O’Sullivan.
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Images: Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics and WDF
