Sophie McKinlay knocked out four-time World Champion Lisa Ashton on Sunday night in another major shock in 2024 hosting.
Sunday evening also saw brothers-in-law Mike Gillet and Aaron Turner win their first games at the 2024 WDF Lakeside World Championships.
The new seeding system may come under more scrutiny as more and more fail to live up their billing.
McKinlay holds nerve to defeat Ashton
Sophie McKinlay announced her arrival on the world stage on Sunday night, surviving match darts from Lisa Ashton to beat ‘The Lancashire Rose’ 2-1.
McKinlay won the opening two legs in 19 and 16 darts and defied a 120 out from Ashton to take the first set 3-1.
Ashton found her form in the second set, taking it by the same scoreline, but found herself 2-1 down in the deciding set following a 15-darter and then a 96 finish from McKinlay.
‘The Trophy’ missed four match darts to win the set 3-1, with Ashton capitalising to take out 74 in two darts. It was then Ashton’s turn to miss match darts in the final leg of the match, with McKinlay finding double 7.
McKinlay, who is also competing in the Girls World Championship this year, will return on Thursday evening to face Germany’s Irina Armstrong.
Prior Stands Up
Cliff Prior became the first seed in this year’s Men’s World Championship to win a game on the Lakeside stage, defeating close friend and travel partner Scott Walters 3-1.
Walters, who beat Craig Brown on Friday night, took a scrappy opening set 3-0 before Prior levelled it up going into the break by taking the second set 3-2.
Prior took control after the break, winning six legs on the spin and sealing a 3-1 victory with an 80 finish.
Sussex man Prior will be back in action on Thursday afternoon to take on either Peter Machin or Mike Gillet.
Gillet impresses to book Machin meeting
Mike Gillet produced a 91.64 average in the final game of the evening to impressively book his place in the second round of the Men’s World Championship.
The Welshman raced to the first set against Ky Smith, taking it 3-1 with a pair of 14-darters and two maximums. He repeated the trick in the second, pinging back-to-back 15-darters with 68 and 95 finishes to eliminate the Australian.
Gillet, who was competing at Lakeside for the second time, is back in action on Monday evening against another Australian, Peter Machin.
Regnaud Takes Kiwi Derby
It was a bit of a battle but Nicole Regnaud defeated compatriot Wendy Harper in straight sets to become the first confirmed quarter-finalist in the Women’s WDF World Championship.
Regnaud opened the match with a 15-darter and sealed the first set with a 95 out.
She trailed 2-0 in the second set to her more experienced counterpart but rallied to win three legs on the spin, pinning double eight to seal a 2-0 win and a spot in the last eight.
‘Renegade’ will face Deta Hedman or Kirsty Hutchinson in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Turner’s Third Time A Charm
It was third time lucky for Aaron Turner on the Lakeside stage as ‘Azza’ defeated Jeff Springer Jr to book a spot in the second round.
Turner won the first set 3-1, sealing it with a 47 checkout, and then repeated the trick in the second, pinning a match-best 16-darter to triumph 2-0 with an average just shy of 80.
Turner will be back on Wednesday afternoon to take on Northern Ireland’s 14th seed Barry Copeland.
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Images: Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics and WDF
